Skip to main content

Taiwanese Singer | Chi Lu-hsia

  • Date:2017-07-20
Taiwanese Singer | Chi Lu-hsia

  • Birth Name: 邱秋英
  • Born: 1936
  • Birthplace: Taipei City (Northern Taiwan)
  • Did You Know That …?
  • Chi Lu-hsia (紀露霞), along with Hung Yi-fong (洪一峰) and Wen Xia (文夏), were called the "two kings and queen” of Taiwanese pop music in the 1950s. During that era, Chi had made more than 70 vinyl records, including the celebrated "Awaiting for Your Return (望你早歸)” and "Green Island Serenade (綠島小夜曲).”


Dubbed the "Diva of Formosa,” Chi Lu-hsia is an acclaimed singer who has recorded roughly 2,000 songs during her music career. Masterful in singing with both Chinese and Taiwanese lyrics, Chi possesses one of the most familiar voices known to the people of Taiwan.

During childhood, Chi lived next to a popsicle shop and often sung along to the radio that played pop songs to attract customers. When she was nineteen, she was given an opportunity to sing at FM89.7 Radio Broadcasting after a musician who visited the popsicle shop was impressed by her voice and introduced her to the radio station.

Chi made her singing debut in 1956 at FM89.7, and rose to fame with her unique and recognizable voice through radio broadcasting. She was then invited by the Taipei-based Broadcasting Corporation of China to sing for its "Nice Village” program.

As the program was broadcasted throughout Taiwan and its outlying islands, Chi's singing talent soon caught the attention of advertisement companies. She was invited to record several catchy commercial songs for their products, which in turn made her a household name.

Chi established her status as queen of Taiwanese songs after recording "Sunset Ridge (黃昏嶺),” which was written by notable lyricist Chiu Tien-wong (周添旺) with Leico Record Factory Co., Ltd. The piece remains one of her signature songs today.

During the peak of her career, Chi recorded numerous songs for different record companies almost on a daily basis - her highest record stands at completing 21 songs in a day. Among the thousands of songs she sang, those written by renowned composers Cheng Yu-sian (鄧雨賢), Yang San-lang (楊三郎), Chen Qiu-lin (陳秋霖), and Li Lin-qiu (李臨秋) have become the greatest Taiwanese songs of all time.

In addition, Chi hosted a program called "Chi Lu-hsia's Time” at Zheng Sheng Broadcasting for 15 years, in which she interviewed notable artists including Taiwanese opera singer Yang Li-hua (楊麗花), singer Fong Fei-fei (鳳飛飛), and actress Jenny Tseng (甄妮).

Later, Chi shifted her focus to caring for her family for nearly a decade before returning to the public eye as a singing teacher in 1991 to continue her passionate pursuit of music. In 2017, she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th Golden Melody Awards.

During the awards ceremony, the 81-year-old Chi noted that she would like to continue to sing on and deliver the warmest and the most familiar voice to everyone in Taiwan.