Chinese Singer Wei Wei, who disappeared from the public eye for nearly 10 years, recently revealed in an interview with mainland media that after participating in the second season of “I Am a Singer,” she went to a remote mountain in Thailand for treatment due to severe chronic back pain. During her time there, she experienced a serious car accident that resulted in her spine being temporarily fractured.
Wei Wei recently sat down for an interview with mainland media outlet “Yitiao.” When discussing her “disappearance for nearly 10 years,” she shared, “I started performing at the age of 8, and as a child, I had to perform twice a week in a theater with over 1,000 people. I continued performing until I was 48 years old. Over the decades, the chronic pain became severe, my entire spine became stiff and I couldn’t move, which affected my ability to sing.”
At 61 years old, Wei Wei participated in the second season of the music competition show “I Am a Singer” on Hunan TV in 2015. Her choice of a revolutionary song led to her being eliminated and caused a sensation. Following this, she traveled to a renowned treatment center in Koh Samui, Thailand, to seek treatment for her spine disease, where she “rented a house on a mountaintop.”
“After three years, I finally can stand and walk upright,” Wei Wei revealed. However, when she had recovered from the accumulated chronic pain in her body and was heading down the mountain to celebrate with her children, the brakes failed, leading to a car accident that resulted in her spine being fractured again. She had to return to the mountains for treatment and recovery for nearly 6 years. She described the incident, saying, “At that time, my whole spine was broken, with only the skin on the bones left connected. If it hadn’t been treated later, my lower body would have been completely paralyzed by now.”
According to a report from “Phoenix Entertainment,” Wei Wei, known for her international style, brought a rendition of the popular song “The Sun Is the Reddest, Chairman Mao Is the Dearest” on stage during “I Am a Singer.” She interpreted the first half in a deep tone and adapted the second half into a rock version. Despite her strong singing abilities, she made a noticeable song selection mistake, leading the audience to mock her for appearing like they were watching the Spring Festival Gala, and she was directly eliminated by the audience’s vote.
The news generated significant reactions among viewers. Many people responded to Wei Wei saying, “Don’t assume all Hunan people are Mao fans!” A person from Nanjing, Jiangsu, criticized, “This is just ridiculous, singing this notorious song makes me want to vomit!” A listener from Shanghai suggested, “Songs that mislead Chinese history like this should be banned.”
Apart from the revelation of Wei Wei’s disappearance for nearly a decade, there is also curiosity about her family life.
In 1992, Wei Wei met Swedish pianist Michael Smith, who was visiting China. They got married in 1994 and had three sons together: Wei Ziming in April 1994, Wei Zirui in 1996, and Wei Zisheng in 1998.
In 2004, Wei Wei divorced Michael Smith and returned to China to settle. After the divorce, she moved back to Beijing with her three sons and raised them on her own.
Records show that Wei Wei, born Zhang Juxia in 1963 in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, formally started her career after winning the second prize in the popular group at the CCTV Youth Singer TV Awards in 1986. She rose to fame in 1989 after singing “Dedication of Love” on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. As a well-known singer in the Chinese pop music scene, Wei Wei has performed multiple sports event songs like “Asian Spirit,” “Flight of Life,” and “Love Each Other.” Currently residing in Beijing with her three sons, Wei Wei sang “Asian Spirit” again in the opening ceremony of the Beijing National Stadium in April 2023, 33 years after her first performance of the song, seemingly indicating a decline in her popularity.