In 1997, Linghua, an 18-year-old girl from Ordos, with her love for music and vision for the future, bid farewell to the vast grassland of her hometown and came to the bustling city of Shenzhen alone. Her voice hides the vastness of the grassland, and her eyes sparkle with a vision for the future.
As soon as Linghua graduated from an art school in Ordos, she embarked on a journey to chase her music dream without hesitation.
The gears of fate quietly turned, and in Shenzhen's Golden Age Ballroom, Linghua and 25-year-old music director Zeng Yi met. This collision is like two meteors meeting in the night sky, and the brilliant light illuminates Linghua's life.
At first, Zeng Yi served as Linghua's guide and mentor. Together with another girl, they formed a band called "Hair Nerves", which means "refreshed", a name that expresses their love for music and their hopes for the future.
However, the girl chose to quit soon after, and Linghua and Zeng Yi did not give up, they changed the name of the band to "Cool Fire" and continued to explore the path of music.
Linghua and Zeng Yi, she is from the grassland, he is from the city. Their combination is like a collision of tradition and modernity, bursting out with a unique spark of music. Although their backgrounds are different, music is their common passion.
In the future, they will face many challenges, but at this moment, their eyes are full of love for music and their hearts are full of expectations for the future.
Although the future is uncertain, Linghua and Zeng Yi firmly believe that as long as they stick to their dreams, they will definitely bloom the most beautiful flowers. This young musical duo is about to embark on a musical journey full of unknowns and write their own legendary story.
Although they don't yet know what kind of future this encounter will lead them to, they are ready to take on any challenge.
From 1997 to 2003, Linghua and Zeng Yi spent six years constantly sweating and determined to nurture their musical dreams, which was a kind of tempering for them. Every day is a test of will for them, and every day is a grind of passion for them.
Their lives are completely reversed day and night. Linghua and Zeng Yi's schedule is amazing, performing until half past one in the morning every night, and after a short break, they start rehearsing until six o'clock in the morning, and continue the new cycle at two o'clock in the afternoon.
This pace of life is a huge challenge for anyone, but they are willing to be tired and tired like vines wrapping around their bodies, but their eyes are still bright, because there is a dedication to music shining there.
In 2003, the gods of fate finally favored the hard-working musicians. At that time, producer He Muyang was making a public welfare song for the fight against SARS, and he saw the performance of "Cool Fire" on TV.
At this time, Linghua's infectious voice was like a lightning bolt, instantly hitting He Muyang's heart, and this chance encounter became a key turning point in the fate of Linghua and Zeng Yi.
He Muyang was moved by their talent and decided to create a new image for them. He gave the duo a new name full of meaning, "Legend of the Phoenix", as if to herald their imminent rebirth and creation of their own legend.
Under the guidance of He Muyang, Phoenix Legend released their first single "On the Moon". This is a musical work that incorporates ethnic elements, and upon its release, it recorded an astonishing 79 million downloads in the era of mobile phone ringtones.
This song created a precedent for the combination of ethnic music and rap music.
This huge success lit a flame of hope in the eyes of Linghua and Zeng Yi, who understood that years of perseverance had finally paid off, and this was only the beginning. They clasped each other's hands tightly, ready for the coming starry light.
After six years of hard work, they finally waited for the spring that belonged to them.
The year 2005 was an important turning point for the Phoenix Legends. This year, they participated in the first "Avenue of Stars" singer audition held by CCTV. On this stage of national attention, Linghua and Zeng Yi relied on their unique musical charm to pass all the way, and finally won the runner-up crown in the national finals with their solid singing skills and unique national style.
This match has made countless viewers familiar with the name of the Phoenix legend. Linghua's unique voice is like a call from the grassland, Zeng Yi's steady singing voice is like the rhythm of the city, but the two different styles can be perfectly integrated, as if the magic of music attracts the audience.
Three years later, in 2008, a new stroke was added to the history of the Phoenix legend - they finally appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. When they stood on this stage that the people of the whole country were concerned about, they were both excited and uneasy in their hearts.
They knew it was the perfect time to showcase their unique musical style to a national audience, and it was the culmination of years of hard work.
However, the road to success has not been so smooth. Just as their famous song "On the Moon" was sung by the popular singer Ji Minjia in the popular talent show "Super Girl" and became popular, Linghua couldn't help but feel a little lost in her heart, as she later admitted in the show, "There is something wrong in my heart".
After all, it was the work that she and Zeng Yi worked so hard to create, but it turned out to be interpreted and widely known by others.
But at this juncture, producer He Muyang's words made her feel inspired: "Now that people all over the country are listening to the songs of the Phoenix Legend, it is only a matter of time before you become popular all over the country." This sentence is like a shot in the arm, allowing Linghua and Zeng Yi to regain their confidence and firmly move towards their musical journey.
In order to keep the stars shining, they know that they need to put in more effort and persistence. The story of the Phoenix saga has just turned a wonderful page, and with their debut on the national stage, more challenges and opportunities await the musical pair.
In 2009, the album "The Most Dazzling National Style" released by Phoenix Legend detonated a huge craze in the music scene. The album sold an astonishing 50,000 copies in its first week upon release, and the industry paid attention to it.
Then, in 2010, their single "Moonlight on the Lotus Pond" created an amazing record of more than 100 million yuan in CRBT download revenue, setting a new benchmark for pop music CRBT revenue at that time.
Standing at the peak of their careers, Linghua and Zeng Yi were so excited that tears of joy flashed in their eyes. Years of dedication and hard work have finally paid off sweet fruits, and their music has gained more and more recognition and love.
However, they soon realized that success was not a journey of flowers and applause.
It was in this heyday that Phoenix Legend encountered the dilemma of being questioned by the whole network. People have raised all kinds of questions about their relationship, how they split their accounts, and even the reason for their popularity. Among them, the most widely discussed is their music style that skillfully combines traditional Chinese music elements with modern rap-rock elements.
In that era when Internet divine comedies such as "Nervous", "Jiangnan Style" and "Little Apple" emerged one after another, the music style of Phoenix Legend caused a lot of controversy.
In the face of overwhelming criticism, Linghua and Zeng Yi felt as if they were oppressed by a boulder, and confusion and pain arose. However, these voices did not defeat them, but rather held them together.
Every time I recall Zeng Yi's firm oath to her: "Linghua, no matter what decision you make, I will support you unconditionally and accompany you all the way to the end" This pure friendship and dedication to music have become their strong backing to resist the wind and rain of the outside world.
It is worth mentioning that before the two debuted, the boss of Peacock Records took a fancy to Linghua's unique voice, hoping to sign her alone and build her into the first female knife singer.
But Linghua insisted on signing a contract with Zeng Yi, otherwise she would give up this opportunity, and in the end, the company adopted a "buy one get one free" method and signed the Phoenix Legend duo, which also highlighted the deep friendship between the two and their determination to fight side by side.
Despite the constant skepticism from the outside world, the popularity of Phoenix Legend has not been affected by this. They have proved in their own right that true music can stand the test of time and skepticism.
Linghua and Zeng Yi firmly believe that as long as they unswervingly adhere to their musical concepts, they will eventually win the understanding and love of more people.
2021 is an unexpected turning point for Phoenix Legends. They participated in a music variety show, and sang "Under the Sea" written by lyricist Tai Jingnong in the show.
Unexpectedly, in the national audience scoring link, they suffered a fiasco, and they were ruthlessly eliminated, and this defeat should have been a blow, but it unexpectedly became an opportunity for them to "debut" again.
Linghua's bright and passionate voice, combined with Zeng Yi's solid, heavy and powerful singing voice, the voices of the two complement each other between rhythmic and emotional, and vividly interpret the artistic conception of "a whale falls into the sea, and all things grow without withering".
This version of "Under the Sea" quickly became popular on the Internet, with more than 340 million views, dominating the major hot search lists for many consecutive days, triggering a new round of "Phoenix fever".
Linghua expressed this opinion on the show: The song "Under the Sea" has saved many people. She admits that the singing of this romantic and poetic song does challenge their usual atmospheric and rough style, but they still express their emotions unreservedly in the style of the Phoenix legend.
This not only reveals the charm of the song, but also seems to hint at the rebirth of the Phoenix legend itself.
This unexpected success has allowed Phoenix Legend to gain a large number of young fans. Their account became one of the top 100 UP owners of the year on Station B, China's largest video website for young people, and the first video "Mountains and Rivers" topped the list.
The word "national tide" accurately describes the musical characteristics of the two of them who used to be "national style + rhythm and blues".
From "too many square dances" to "steppe bandits" and "Phoenix Baron", the younger generation has a new understanding of this pair of "post-50s" artists. In order to cater to the cultural aesthetics of young people, Phoenix Legend actively played the Internet meme of "catering to young people" on variety shows, showing a different affinity from the past.
The Phoenix Legend has spanned three generations of influence and is now a national icon. In the summer of 2023, the number of video views of their live performance at the Chifeng Guochao Music Festival has soared, exceeding 5 million.
In the video, people found that the three generations of the old, middle and young people at the scene sang and danced together, and even some children were carried on their shoulders to carnival together, and the atmosphere was extremely joyful.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the post-00s young people have become the "main force" of the scene. They sang along with the video, showing their love for the music of Phoenix Legend. This kind of attraction across generations is the best proof of the charm of Phoenix Legend's music.
In 2024, Phoenix Legend officially announced the news of the concert tour, which sparked heated discussions on the whole network. This news occupies three hot searches, and the popularity continues to rise. What's even more surprising is that in just 24 hours, the number of people who booked tickets to grab tickets has approached 500,000, more than 98% of similar performances.
Some fans even sincerely asked if they could get a family package, and the whole family wanted to watch this grand occasion together, which once again proved the status of the Phoenix Legend in the hearts of the people.
Phoenix Saga is probably the only band whose fans are getting younger and younger as time goes on. Once upon a time, they danced happily in their 20s when they sang, and the audience was in their 50s; Now, they are past their prime, and the young people in the audience are only in their early 20s, swaying to the rhythm of their music.
With 25 years of perseverance and strength, they have proved that music knows no age boundary. The legendary singing of the phoenix can make people want to sing aloud, as their lyrics say: "Wumeng Mountain is connected to the mountains outside the mountain, and the moonlight spills on the Xiangshui Beach." "The legend of the phoenix is like the scene depicted in this song, forever young, forever tearful, their legend continues, and there are many more wonderful things to write in the future.