{
  "id": 761219,
  "title": "#SHOWBIZ: Hokkien music legend Chen Ying-git dies at 72 after a 'Turbulent Life'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/showbiz-hokkien-music-legend-chen-ying-git-dies-at-72-after-a",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-13T11:35:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/groove/2026/08/1510587/showbiz-hokkien-music-legend-chen-ying-git-dies-72-after-turbulent"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Taiwanese Hokkien music icon Chen Ying-git passed away at the age of 72 after a grueling struggle with dementia, a stroke, and severe health complications that left her confined to a bed for three years. Once a prominent figure in Taiwan's music world, Chen's later years were marred by financial struggles, legal entanglements, and imprisonment.\n\nReports from Taiwanese media outlet ETToday indicate that Chen amassed significant debts over the years due to her financial responsibilities towards friends and romantic partners. Her initial career in Taiwan's intricate nightclub and entertainment scene exposed her to numerous hardships that drained her wealth and led her into legal disputes.\n\nIn August 2023, Chen's life took a devastating turn when she was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for orchestrating the forgery of negotiable securities. Just days into her sentence, her pre-existing dementia worsened due to acute kidney failure and sepsis, causing her to enter a coma. Chen was subsequently granted medical parole and transferred to Taipei Veterans General Hospital for extended dialysis treatments.\n\nThe mounting medical bills were largely covered through social media fundraising efforts spearheaded by her close friend and fellow musician Xu Chang-de. As her health rapidly declined in May, her family and friends prepared for the worst. Her ex-husband visited her bedside to say goodbye as her condition reached critical levels. During her final days, Xu organized a special concert titled \"Say Goodbye to Everyone Before Boarding the Rocket\" to bid a parting farewell to his beloved Chen.\n\nReflecting on her arduous journey, Xu gently encouraged her during her last moments, urging her to leave her pain behind if she ever saw a rocket. Chen's funeral was meticulously planned in advance by a team of renowned funeral director Kuo Hsien-hung. Her life story, a testament to both her legendary stardom and the hardships she endured, eerily paralleled her most iconic anthem, \"Turbulent Life.\"",
  "summary": "TAIPEI: Taiwanese Hokkien music legend Chen Ying-git has died at the age of 72, following a prolonged battle with dementia, a stroke, and severe complications that left her bedridden for three years.",
  "key_points": [
    "Financial struggles, legal entanglements, and imprisonment plagued her later years.",
    "Medical parole granted in August 2023 for dialysis treatments amid worsening dementia."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Chen Ying-git's death marks a poignant end to a life that defied the glamour of stardom, as her struggles with health, finances, and law ultimately eclipsed her legendary status in Taiwan's music scene.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}