Tia Ray is a Chinese singer-songwriter. She represents a new generation of Chinese artists who can crossover from traditional to contemporary international, from Chinese pop to fusion to soul, pioneering new genres of music in China. She debuted with her self-titled album “T.I.A.” in November 2014.

 

 

Born in Huaihua, a small town in the province of Hunan, Tia moved to Beijing to study performing arts. Her pursuit of music began when a musician friend handed her a Mariah Carey CD whose sound and music genre was so different to anything she had heard in China at that time. Since then her music has been inspired by the likes of Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, India Arie and Ray Charles (hence her name Tia Ray). Passionate to let more Chinese audience hear this music, she started a band called “Soulside” and later  “Da Knutz” and began performing at various jazz and music festivals in China, building a core fan base. Her soulful rendition of the classic Chinese favourite tune “The Curvy Moon” on The Voice of China brought public attention to this young talent with a big voice from a small town.