Zhang Lu (singer)

She was born Zhang Xiuying (张秀英) in Suzhou in 1932.[1][2][3] Her family moved to Shanghai when she was a young child.[1]

Zhang was discovered in the mid-1940s by her neighbor, a broadcaster, who recommended her to sing at a local radio station. She started out singing covers of popular Zhou Xuan songs. By the late 1940s, she had signed with EMI.[1]

She released a series of hits songs, becoming popular in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.[1][4] "给我一个吻" ("Give Me a Kiss"), a Mandarin cover of "Seven Lonely Days," became one of her best-known songs.[1][3] Other hits included "小小羊儿要回家," "不许他回家," and "迎春花" ("Little Lamb is Going Home," "Don't Let Him Go Home," and "Winter Jasmine," respectively).[5]

She was considered a pioneer of Chinese pop music in this period, singing in both Chinese and English and incorporating jazz styles.[1][2][6] Zhang also worked as an actress, including in the films Prisoner of Love in 1951 and The Lark in 1965.[4][7]

In 1952, she moved to Hong Kong.[1][2] She married the Filipino musician Ollie Delfino, whom she had met while performing in Singapore, in the late 1950s. The couple had two sons, Orlando and Alex To.[1][4][8]

Zhang retired in 1975 and moved to Canada in the following decade.[1][2] She returned to Hong Kong when her son Alex became a successful performer, and she occasionally returned to the public eye to perform with him.[1] She died in Hong Kong in 2009, at age 76.[1][8][9]

Her music saw a revival in popularity in 2003, when her songs "All the Stars in the Sky" and "The Plough Song" were remixed for the compilation The Original Shanghai Divas.[6] In 2019, her song "Tiao Yi Ge Man Bo" appeared in Season 3 of the American show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.[10]