My Family History

Bella, as she was also known, was born to a family of musicians on 26 September 1981 in Wuhan. Her father, Yao Feng, was the former chairman of the Shenzhen Association of Musicians. Under the influence of her family, she had taken up piano since the age of 4. In 2000, she was admitted to China Conservatory of Music with Dong Hua as her mentor. After her graduation, Bella joined the Navy Troupe to become a singer in 2005. During her service in the Troupe, she won several awards in Chinese Young Singer Championships. In 2009, she left the Troupe and signed with a label called 乐巢音尚. 

Her career really took off after coming second in "The Voice of China" in July 2013.  Before that she had sung the theme song of "The Legend of Zhen Huan," a popular TV drama and other theme songs, such as Empresses in the Palace, Painted Skin: The Resurrection and Back to 1942. She also sang the pop version of Let It Go in Mandarin Chinese in the Disney CGI film. Her singing of "Pusa" 姚貝娜 is sublime.

Bella was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2011. Afterwards, she went through mastectomy, chemotherapy and cosmetic treatments. In December 2014, she had a recurrence of the cancer and her situation was reported to have worsened on 15 January 2015. She died a day later in Shenzhen, Guangdong, aged 33. According to her wish, her corneas were donated to two recipients in Shenzhen and Chengdu. Memorial services were held on 20 January.

Bless you Bella. Your beautiful music lives on, as does the memory of a very special lady whose bravery touched the hearts of people throughout the world.