MUSICIAN in TUNE WITH FAME

Song becomes a surprising hit as singer heads off the stage

It should probably come as a big surprise that a Mandarin song, Yi Jian Mei, or One Plum Blossom, from a 1984 Taiwan TV drama with the same title, has become a viral phenomenon.

It's also equally surprising that 65-year-old veteran singer, Fei Yu-ching, who performs the song and announced his retirement with his last concert held in Taipei on Nov 7, 2019, has won over a group of new fans in Western countries with his mellifluous and smoothing voice.

One version of the song has been viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube. According to digital music service Spotify, the song was also hugely popular on the music charts of New Zealand, Norway and Finland.