Jampa Tsering

Who was Jampa Tsering?

Jampa Tsering Tibetan: བྱམས་པ་ཚེ་རིང་, Wylie: Byams-pa Tse-ring was a Tibetan pop singer and dancer.

Born in Lhasa in the early 1960s, Jampa Tsering became famous in the late 1980s and early 1990s, releasing an immensely popular album, Gnas mchog gi glu dbyangs (Songs of the Holy Land), including songs such as "Aro Khampa" ("Hey, Khampa"); "Ngai tsewai Lhasa" ("My Beloved Lhasa"); and "Cha chig yinna samchung" ("I Wished, If Only I Was A Bird").

Jampa Tsering studied music in the Shanghai Conservatoire for about seven years, learning piano. He was a member of the Tibet Song-and-Dance Ensemble, but began to gain a following in Lhasa from singing in karaoke and nangma bars. For this and his private singing, he was eventually expelled from the dance troupe. He assimilated much of the style of 1980s Chinese language pop into his singing and the synthesised orchestral accompaniments of his songs.