Yao Beina (simplified Chinese: 姚贝娜; traditional Chinese: 姚貝娜; pinyin: Yáo Bèinà; September 26, 1981 – January 16, 2015), also known as Bella Yao, was a Chinese singer and songwriter. She debuted as a professional singer with her portrayal of the diva of the musical Jin Sha (金沙) in 2005.^[1] After graduating from China Conservatory of Music in the same year, she started her singing career in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Political Department of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

Yao won the champion of pop singing in the 13th CCTV National Young Singer Contest in 2008 by earning the first and the only full score throughout the history of the contest.^[2] She performed at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.^[3] In June 2009, she retired from the military and transformed into a pop singer. Her first album Yao Beina (姚贝娜), named after herself, was released on June 8, 2012.

Yao was best known for recording the soundtracks and theme songs of movies and TV shows, such as Empresses in the Palace, Painted Skin: The Resurrection, and Back to 1942. She also recorded the Mandarin version of "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. In 2013, she was invited to compete in The Voice of China Season 2 and gained great popularity.

Yao was born on September 26, 1981 in Wuhan, Hubei, China, to a family of musicians. Her father, Yao Feng (姚峰; Yáo Fēng), was an associate professor at Wuhan Conservatory of Music^[4] and her mother, Li Xinmin (李信敏; Lǐ Xìnmǐn), was a vocalist of the Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble.^[5] Yao's first name, Beina, was given by her father as his vocal teaching was greatly inspired by the lectures given by Italian operatic baritone Gino Bechi during his visit to the Central Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing, China, in September 1981, shortly before Yao's birth.^[6]

Yao started learning piano at the age of four under the supervision of her parents.^[7] She was first found to have absolute pitch by her father when she was six years old as she could accurately identify keys by listening to the piano, and this ability was validated by several noteworthy musicians during her singing career later.^[8][9][10] She debuted as a singer on stage at a local television at the age of nine, since when she occasionally performed at galas and contests.^[11]

Yao attended Wuhan No. 45 Middle School from 1993 to 1997 when she was determined to make singing a career.^[12] She majored in popular music when she was admitted to the Affiliated High School of Wuhan Conservatory of Music as the top scorer in 1997, when her father, the founder of the Department of Vocal Music at Wuhan Conservatory of Music, was the only professor in the major of popular music. To avoid the conflict of interest, her father did not intervene in her admission process and legitimately became her advisor.^[7] Due to her father's job transfer to Shenzhen in 1998 and the suspension of the major of popular music therewith, Yao transferred to folk music under Professor Feng Jiahui (冯家慧).^[7]

In 2000, Yao was admitted to China Conservatory of Music with the highest score among her class in high school and ranked the seventh among the 15 admitted students nationwide.^[13] She continued majoring in folk music in college under Professor Dong Hua (董华) and Professor Ma Qiuhua (马秋华).^[14] During her undergraduate years, she was invited to perform at several important galas in China, South Korea, France, and Russia.^[15]

In April 2011, Yao noticed a faint trace resembling a dimple on her left breast and visited several hospitals for diagnosis, yet no examination results showed abnormalities.^[33] With her experience of treating atypical hyperplasia when she was in college, Yao doubted the good results and returned to Dr. Cao Yingming (曹迎明) from the People's Hospital Affiliated to Peking University, the only doctor who recommended surgery.^[34] She was admitted to the hospital on the same day as her visit and decided to remove her whole left breast without hesitation.^[33] She mentioned that experience in an interview, "People say my decision was rare, but I don't think there is anything special. Breast diseases are common nowadays. Instead of worrying and being afraid to preserve the breast, it's better to cleanly cut it off."^[33] On May 31, 2011, Yao underwent an eight-hour surgery for breast removal and reconstruction,^[33] followed by eight sessions of chemotherapy in three months. On August 2, 2011, with a PICC line on her right arm, she performed in a concert at Hubei TV.^[35] Later in the same month, she recorded soundtracks for Empresses in the Palace.^[36] In both 2012 and 2013, Yao participated in the Pink Ribbon charity events organized by Trends Health (时尚健康) magazine;^[37][38] on September 26, 2013, her 32nd birthday, she released the covers of Trends Health she photographed in the nude with the slogan "That scar is my exclusive pink medal" (“那道疤是我独有的粉红勋章”) and became a spokesperson for the Pink Ribbon, hoping to leverage her personal experiences and influence to raise awareness about breast health.^[38] On the same day, she was designated as the Anti-Cancer Advocacy Ambassador for Beijing Cancer Hospital.^[39] By sharing her own experiences treating breast cancer, she aimed to inspire the patients to build confidence to overcome the disease.^[39] On December 9, 2013, Yao released the extended play Half of Me (1/2的我), including a song "Fire of the Heart" (心火) describing her struggle and pain when she fought breast cancer in the past two years.^[40]

On June 27, 2014, Yao's medical examination revealed that the cancer cells had spread to her bones and liver.^[34] After a month of rest and contemplation, she declined the doctor's recommendation for another round of chemotherapy and returned back to work.^[34] On October 23, 2014, despite coughing up blood backstage, Yao performed "Fish" (鱼), the finale of her stage career, at the recording scene of the musical reality TV show Hi Song.^[41] On October 26, 2014, she completed the final live show in her life before returning to Shenzhen for medical treatment.^[42]

Yao was admitted to the Hospital Affiliated to Peking University in Shenzhen in December 2014. On December 26, 2014, Yao was transferred to the intensive care unit due to her deteriorating conditions.^[43] She expressed her wish to donate her body about 20 days before her passing.^[44] Considering that most of her organs had been impacted by cancer, her parents, on her behalf, signed a consent to voluntary corneal donation on January 9, 2015.^[44] Yao passed away at 4:55 pm CST on January 16, 2015, aged 33.^[45] Two hours after her death, the corneal removal surgery was completed.^[46] Yao's corneas has restored sight for four people and can help at least two more patients.^[47]

In April 2015, Yao's parents auctioned over 600 items of Yao's personal belongings. A series of six auctions titled "Let Love Endure with the Angel Among Us" (“天使在人间——让爱延续”) achieved white glove sales (100% of the lots sold), and the proceeds in total reached RMB 2,511,027.16 yuan, all donated to the Secondary School of Tashkurgan, Xinjiang, China, and dedicated to renovations, music classrooms, and scholarships to support music education in rural area.^[48][49]

On June 14, 2015, Yao was posthumously titled the Moral Exemplar of Guangdong and nominated for the National Moral Exemplar by the government of Guangdong.^[50]

Yao's funeral was held at Shenzhen Funeral Home on January 20, 2015.^[51] Her memorial service was held at 751 D·PARK in Beijing on April 2, 2015, joined by her former colleagues and friends.^[52] Yao's ashes was interred in the Shimenfeng Memorial Park in Wuhan, China, her hometown, in September 2015. On September 26, 2015, Yao's first posthumous birthday, her gravestone and statue were unveiled. Her gravestone is shaped like a seashell as her fans are called "seashells" (贝壳), and it stands on a piano keyboard of 34 keys, representing her age. The main body of the statue is cast in cupronickel with a base height of 0.926 meters and an overall height of 1.81 meters, a deliberate reference to Yao's date of birth (September 26, 1981); on the base of the statue is an inscription by Yao's parents: "A girl who loves to sing, a girl who sings with her life" (一个爱唱歌的女孩，一个用生命歌唱的女孩).^[53]

On April 9, 2015, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Center officially named the asteroid No. 41981 as Yaobeina in memory of Yao, suggested by William Kwong Yu Yeung, an amateur astronomer who first discovered this asteroid at Desert Beaver on December 28, 2000.^[54] IAU describes Yao as:

Yaobeina (1981-2015) was a talented and courageous Chinese singer who won numerous awards for the best Chinese pop song performance. One of Yao's famous songs, “Fire of the Heart”, was about the reflections on her battle with breast cancer. She donated her corneas.^[55]

Yao's first posthumous album, Eternal (永存), was released on April 15, 2015, including 12 songs recorded around 2009 but had not been released.^[56] Her second posthumous album, Born Proud (天生骄傲), was released on September 26, 2015, her first posthumous birthday, including three complete songs (two singles already released and one newly recorded), five demos, and three hummings as the lyrics were unfinished before her death.^[57] The cover of the album is a feather gown designed by Yao for her planned album photo shoots.^[57] Her last unreleased single, "Glory" (风光), was released on January 16, 2016, one-year anniversary of her death.^[58]

Yao's fans produced a memorial album, Extraordinary (不凡), including a song for which her fans composed and the lyrics written by Yao was adopted. The album was released on QQ Music on June 8, 2018.

Yao wished to perform in the musical reality TV show I Am a Singer produced by Hunan Television when she was alive. On April 12, 2019, in the finals of Singer Season 7, Liu Huan (刘欢), the writer and producer of the soundtracks of Empresses in the Palace, performed a medley of three of Yao's songs, "Golden Silk Blouse" (金缕衣), "Bodhisattva" (菩萨蛮), and "Flying Phoenix" (凤凰于飞), by playing Yao's vocal track in "Golden Silk Blouse" (金缕衣) at the beginning and the end of his performance in memory of her.^[59] On August 30, 2019, in Super-Vocal Season 2 Episode 7, Zheng Qiyuan (郑棋元), who co-cast the musical Jin Sha (金沙) with Yao in 2005, added Yao's vocal track during the performance of "Someday" (总有一天), one of the songs in that musical.^[60]

Yao's biography, Yao Beina: A Girl Who Sang with Her Life (姚贝娜：一个用生命歌唱的女孩), was released on September 26, 2022, her 41st birthday.^[61]