Cui Jian
Trumpet Player
Considered to be the father of Chinese rock music whose primary instrument has been the trumpet.
He started playing trumpet when he was fourteen years old and joined the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra six years later.
He was banned from performing in Beijing in the 1990s, but he still put on shows, flying in the face of the Chinese government.
His father was a trumpet player and his mother performed in a dance troupe; they raised him in Beijing.
He had a rapping cameo with Public Enemy, a rap group that included Professor Griff, at the 2007 Beijing Pop Festival.