Life lessons behind the music

Singer Gong Linna celebrates her 50th birthday with a concert and memoir which chronicles fame, healing and her journey of self-discovery, Chen Nan reports.

On the evening of Aug 1, the Beijing Concert Hall was alive with music, laughter, and celebration as Gong Linna marked her 50th birthday with a performance unlike any other.

The hall was filled with her fans, her music teachers, neighbors, and friends — people who had supported her through the highs and lows of her journey.

"It was an evening to honor not just my music but the woman I have become," she says with a big smile.

Shaped by years of introspection, struggle and growth, the concert featured some of Gong's best-known songs. With each note, she shared a piece of herself, revealing the depths of her vulnerability and strength.

Between songs, Gong spoke openly about the purpose behind this celebration. It wasn't just about her birthday or her music — "it was a moment to celebrate life itself", to reflect on the years that had shaped her, and to embrace the powerful themes of her new book, Do Not Worry, Be Yourself, released that day.

The book, six years in the making, chronicles Gong's life between 40 and 50, a period of profound change and personal awakening. From the dizzying heights of fame to quiet moments of self-doubt, from the end of her 20-year marriage to career breakthroughs, Gong's path was anything but easy. Yet, through it all, she says that she discovered something profound — the power of truly being herself.

"It's one of the most important books of my spiritual growth and development," she says.

In the book, she recounts her struggles with the pressures of fame and the unease that accompanied her rise to stardom. At the peak of her career, burdened by public expectations and her own ambitions, she began questioning everything.