Tia Ray (; born 12 December 1984) is a Chinese singer-songwriter from Hunan, China. She rose to fame in 2012 as a contestant in The Voice of China, finishing as one of the final contenders. Ray has since released four commercially successful albums, all of which she co-wrote and co-produced. Prior to breaking into the mainstream, she has spent close to a decade performing in smaller venues, music festivals, and collaborating with musicians in Beijing, where she pursued her studies of performing arts. In 2010, she formed her jazz band The Knutz with Chinese and African-American musicians, with whom she wrote, recorded and performed mainly R&B and neo soul music.
Ray had her international breakthrough in 2018 with the hit Be Apart, which generated 1.8 billion streams and was the seventh best-selling single in the world that year. She has since collaborated with various artists from the United States, including Kehlani, Jason Derulo, Gallant and Far East Movement, blending Chinese elements with traditionally Western music styles. Domestically, she has worked with singer-rapper Jackson Wang from the K-pop group Got7 and Masiwei from Chengdu rap group Higher Brothers.
Ray's popularity in Taiwan and Chinese-speaking communities has grown over the years. In 2021, she released her fourth studio album Once Upon A Moon and received the Most Popular Female Singer of the Year award from state-broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). In 2022, Once Upon A Moon earned her two nominations at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, including Best Mandarin Female Singer and Best Vocal Recording Album. The album also won her the Best Female Vocalist Award at the 15th Freshmusic Awards in Singapore, making her the first mainland Chinese singer to win this award.
Life and career
Ray was born and raised in the town of Huai Hua, in the southwest province of Hunan. Her interest in music began at a young age, after being introduced by her friend to American singer Mariah Carey. In Grade 7 of she won her first award in singing at a school competition. A few years later, she left her hometown for Beijing in pursuit of performing arts studies.
20002010: Career beginnings Inspired by neo soul artists like India Arie, Stevie Wonder, Eryka Badu and Jill Scott, Ray formed her first band Soulside with fellow young musicians in Beijing. Soulside focused on R&B and soul music, which were niche genres in the local live music scene, occupied largely by oldschool rock and jazz musicians. The band gained a following through live-house and festival performances.
In 2010, Ray started her second band The Knutz. They continued to play at emerging venues and record original music.
2012 - 2014: The Voice of China; release of debut album T.I.A. Ray's mainstream breakthrough came in 2012, when she joined the televised singing competition The Voice of China. Her blues-infused rendition of the Chinese folk classic The Curvy Moon () received critical acclaim from the judges. She signed with Gold Typhoon Group, one of China's largest independent music companies before being acquired by Warner Music Group in 2014, and released her debut album T.I.A., writing or co-writing all songs, including the hits Lost In Traveling and Love Can Fly.
2017 - 2018: Breakthrough hit; TIARA In 2017, Ray recorded Be Apart () for the soundtrack of the movie The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes, which became her biggest hit and the seventh highest-selling song on IFPI's Global Singles chart. The following year, she released her sophomore album TIARA and kicked off her first solo concert tour. She collaborated with R&B singer Kehlani on Just My Luck, Jackson Wang on Lucky Rain and Will Pan on his single Moonlight.
2019: International collaborations; 1212 In 2019, Ray released an EP titled 1212, written, produced and recorded mainly in Los Angeles, where she worked with local musicians including The Rascals, frequent collaborator of Ariana Grande, Kehlani and Babyface, whom she met in one of the studio sessions.
During her stay in the city, she also collaborated with hip-hop group Far East Movement on "Paint the Clouds", Gallant on "Trust Myself," and Jason Derulo on "Champion", the theme song of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
2020 - Present: Beijing Winter Olympics theme song; ONCE UPON A MOON, TRIP, and ALLURE In 2020, Ray released Starfall featuring electronic group HOYO-MiX, the theme song of Chinese video game Honkai Impact 3rd.
She recorded the original version of the Beijing Winter Olympics theme song Together for a Shared Future with Hong Kong singer William Chan, which developed into a final version featuring over 200 artists.
In 2021, she released her fourth studio album Once Upon A Moon, spanning singles such as I'm Not Good, Emo Whiskey and Little Too Much. The album earned her two nominations at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, including Best Mandarin Female Singer and Best Vocal Recording Album. She also recorded an hour-long performance of new and old tracks, released together with the album.
In 2022, she released her fifth studio album Trip. In 2023, she released her sixth studio album Allure, which earned her a nomination for Best Mandarin Female Singer again at the 35th Golden Melody Awards.
Musical style Ray's music is heavily influenced by urban and African American genres like R&B, Soul and Jazz. She believes in the ability of music to transcend race. Critics and peers, including singer Hua Chenyu have described her as an "innovator" injecting new elements into the Chinese music industry.
Discography Studio albums T.I.A. (2014) Tiara (2018) 1212 (2019) Once Upon A Moon (2021) Trip (2022) Allure (2023)
Lead Singles "You Know I Love You" (2004) "Because of Love" (2004) "Stage Sisters" (2008) "Love Passes Love" (2008) "Tacit Understanding of Love" (2008) "Sweet Things" (2009) "Blossom" (2015) "Uncle Long Legs" (2016) "Love Herby" (2016) "Be Apart" (2018) "Starfall" (2020) "I'm not Good" (2021) "TIVA000" (2021)
Collaborations "Just My Luck" (feat. Kehlani) (2018) "Lucky Rain" (feat. Jackson Wang) (2018) "Moonlight" (feat. Will Pan) (2018) "Paint the Clouds" (Far East Movement) (2019) "Trust Myself" (feat. Gallant) (2019) "Complicated" (feat. Victor Ma) (2019) "Champion" (feat. Jason Derulo) (2019) "Be The Legend" (feat. Rtruenahmean) (2020) "Together for a Shared Future" (feat. William Chan) (2021) "Dance to the Moonlight" (feat. Nigel Tay) (2021) "Slow Ride" (feat. Matt Lu) (2022) "Like Me" (feat. Ma Siwei) (2022) "It Isn't Me" (feat. 22Bullets and Kshmr) (2022)
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Work Result Golden Melody Awards 2022 Best Female Mandarin Singer Once Upon A Moon Best Vocal Recording Album 2024 Best Female Mandarin Singer Allure Freshmusic Awards 2022 Best Female Vocalist Once Upon A Moon 2024 Allure Chinese Top Ten Music Awards 2020 Most Popular Female Singer Top 10 Golden Songs of the Year "Looking Out for You" Migu Music Awards 2018 Most Popular Female Singer Top 10 Songs of the Year "Be Apart" Beijing Pop Music Awards 2018 Female Singer of the Year Recommended by All Media China Music Awards 2015 Jury Recommendation T.I.A. 2017 Media Recommended Song "Love Herby"
Achievements +Musical AchievementsYearName of AchievementOrganizerResult2021Ranked #1 Song 《Little Too Much》TME Wave Chart 2021The Most Popular Female Singer CCTV Global Chinese Music Top 10 Awards 2019Female Singer of the Year 2019 Chinese Songs and Music Festival 2017Singer Composer Award17th Annual Music Awards 2015Outstanding Young Singer Award for album T.I.ACNTV Chinese Music Awards 2015The Best Performance Award for album T.I.ACNTV Chinese Music Awards 2015Best Soul/R&B Album of the Year for album T.I.AChinese Jazz General 2012Hottest Musician AwardBQ Weekly Awards
Singer performances Singer 2017 Ray first appeared in the Singer series as one of eight "initial singers" for the Season 5. She avoided elimination for the first two shows and was declared safe due to a contestant's withdrawal from the competition, but was eliminated on the third week. Ray later advanced to the semi-finals after reinstating her in the Breakout rounds and finished in seventh place. Singer 2017 Performance List for Tia RayEpisodeRoundBroadcast DateSong TitleOriginal SingerSong IntroductionRankingPercentages of Votes Remarks 1 1st Qualifying Round January 21, 2017 "A-Chu" ((Mandarin) Frankie Liang Lyrics: Meng YeComposer: Frankie LiangArranger: Zhao Zhao 7 3.74% Singer voting in third place 2 1st Knockout Round January 28, 2017 "Love On Top"(English) Beyoncé Lyrics／Composer: Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Youngdell Nash, Shea TaylorArranger: Ni Ke 6 9.24% Singer voting in second placeOverall ranking is sixth (6.49% of votes) 3 1st Challenge Round February 4, 2017 "Mona Lisa's Tears" (; Mandarin) Terry Lin Lyrics／Composer: Arranger: Kubert Leung 8 8.50% Eliminated (finished last) 4 2nd Knockout Round February 11, 2017 "Golden"(English) Jill Scott Lyrics: Jill ScottComposer: Anthony BellArranger: Fergus Chow Non-ranked performance (Return Performance) 11 Breakout Round April 1, 2017 "开往春天的地铁"(Mandarin) Yu Quan Lyrics: Wu XiangfeiComposer: Zhang YadongArranger: Michael Ning, Phil Wen 6 8.22% Breakout Success "Kiss from a Rose"(English) Seal Lyrics／Composer: SealArranger: Michael Ning, Phil Wen 12 Semi-Finals April 8, 2017 "Sex Machine"(English) James Brown Lyrics／Composer: James Brown, Bobby Byrd, Ron LenhoffArranger: Nick Pyo 7 8.84% Advanced "爱是怀疑"(Mandarin) Eason Chan Lyrics／Composer: Hanjin TanArranger: Nick Pyo 13 Finals April 15, 2017 "奋不顾身" (Mandarin) Liu Huan, Lyrics／Composer: Liu HuanArranger: Zhao Zhao, Meng Ke 8 6.39% Overall ranking is seventh (7.61% of votes)Assisted by guest singer Liu Huan "凤凰于飞"(Mandarin) Liu Huan Lyrics／Composer: Liu HuanArranger: Zhao Zhao, Meng Ke 14 2017 Biennial Concert April 22, 2017 "Misty"(English) Johnny Mathis Lyrics: Johnny BurkeComposer: Erroll GarnerArranger: Chang Shilei Non-ranked performanceAssisted by guest singer Chang Shilei "来日方长"(Mandarin) and Joker Xue Lyrics: Chang ShileiComposer: Tia Ray, Chang ShileiArranger: Chang Shilei
Singer 2018 Ray was invited as one of the four guest singers from the 2017 season during the season's biennial concert along with a guest Victor Ma. That season was currently the latest season to feature a concert airing after the finals held one week before. The 2018 season also featured runner-up Hua Chenyu, who also competed along with Ray and two other singers two years later, and Hua gone on to win the season. Singer 2019 Performance List for Tia RayEpisodeRoundBroadcast DateSong TitleOriginal SingerSong IntroductionRankingPercentages of Votes Remarks 14 2018 Biennial Concert April 20, 2018 "下个，路口，见"(Mandarin) Li Yuchun Lyrics/Composer: Li YuchunArrangement: Chen HanwenChang Shilei Non-ranked performance (as Guest Performer)
Singer 2019 Once again, Ray invited as a guest singer on the seventh season to accompany with Liu Huan (the eventual winner for that season) once more during the semi-finals. Singer 2019 Performance List for Tia RayEpisodeRoundBroadcast DateSong TitleOriginal SingerSong IntroductionRankingPercentages of Votes Remarks 13 Semi-Finals April 5, 2019 "City of Stars"(English) Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin PaulComposer: Justin Hurwitz Non-ranked performance (as Guest Performer)
Singer 2020