In 2010, two migrant workers drank two bottles of beer and went shirtless in their small and dilapidated rental house, singing "In Spring" which was not popular by the original singer Wang Feng. . Now 12 years have passed, what is the current situation of "Rising Sun Masculine" who became famous with this song? This song has long lost its former popularity, and the glory of "Rising Sun Masculine" has also become a thing of the past. Some people say that the current situation of the two is very different. Liu Gang earns one million a year, while Wang Xu is poor and returns to the construction site to move bricks and eats five steamed buns from a pack of pickled mustard. What is the truth behind this? Today we will listen to their stories.

There are two members of the rising sun masculine group, one is named Wang Xu and the other is named Liu Gang. Wang Xu was born in rural Henan in 1966, with an older sister and a younger sister. When Wang Xu was three years old, his father died unexpectedly, leaving his mother to lead a hard life for her three children. Growing up, Wang Xu's biggest interest was singing. In order to share the burden of his mother as soon as possible, he dropped out of school early to work. When he was working, he would sing to his coworkers when he had free time. With her good singing voice, she attracted the admiration of a girl named Wang Lanzhi. Others told Wang Lanzhi that Wang Xu was not doing his job properly and was just a second-rate person. Wang Lanzhi married without hesitation.

The two had a son in 1988. Marriage and having children still cannot make Wang Xu settle down. He still has a dream of a wandering singer in his heart. In the second year after marriage, Wang Xu told his wife that he wanted to go to a big city to make music. For a rural family that has not yet had adequate food and clothing, when the wife heard that her husband was going to pursue his dream, she was very angry and said, "You are not pursuing a dream, you are just dreaming!" What should I do with my children? Wang Xu didn't say anything after hearing this. One day he took advantage of his wife and son to go out and left without saying goodbye. He only left a letter: The song and dance troupe invited me to participate in the show. I'm leaving. The family depends on you. After seeing the note, the wife burst into tears and the mother scolded her son for being irresponsible.

From then on, Wang Xu embarked on the road of wandering singer, but he did not expect that this road was not as smooth as he thought, and he was often hungry and full. Wang Xu felt that he was too embarrassed to go home if he didn't behave well, so he really didn't have any contact with his family for three years. It wasn't until 1992 that Wang Xu returned home after three years of drifting. He saw that his wife had been dragged down by this family all these years and was in a state of disgrace. He blamed himself and said: I didn't come back all these years because I didn't get out. Now I have saved a lot of money. I have to pay thousands of dollars before I dare to go home and see you. His wife beat him and cried. Wang Xu knew that he was unworthy of this family, so he decided not to travel far and to farm at home with peace of mind. It's a pity that Wang Xusheng is not qualified for farm work, and he is getting busier and busier with the work in the fields.

In 2000, Wang Xu’s restless heart became active again. This time he did not dare to run away from home again, but discussed it with his wife. After hearing this, the wife calmly asked: Do you think I have a choice? My wife knows that Wang Xu is a man with big ideas. If he doesn't agree, he will leave without saying goodbye like last time. In this way, Wang Xu began his second journey to the north. In the next 10 years, he traveled between Beijing and Kaifeng, burning boilers and selling fruits and vegetables. He was busy all day long. The only thing that remained unchanged was his love for singing.

In Beijing, Wang Xu found a relatively leisurely job, burning boilers, because he saw a KTV next to the factory. Over time, he became familiar with the people at KTV, and they also knew that he could sing. They didn't mind Wang Xu coming to sing for free, which could also help them attract customers. This is how Wang Xu practices his singing skills. During the weekend break, Wang Xu took his guitar to the subway station, and it was here that he met Liu Gang in 2006.

Liu Gang was born in rural Heilongjiang in 1981. I used to be a soldier and came to Beijing because I like to sing. At that time, he was playing and singing to himself in the subway station, and that's how he met Wang Xu, which became an important turning point in their lives. Although they are 14 years apart, they have similar life experiences. They both come from rural areas and their family conditions are not good. Working is just a way for them to make a living. They both have a dedication to music that is difficult for outsiders to understand. The two hit it off right away when they first met. They were attracted to each other and became good friends. They worked together, sang together, and talked about their expectations for the future.

Wang Feng's rock song "In Spring" came out in 2009. Liu Gang and Wang Xu liked it very much and often sang together.

In the summer of 2010, the two of them were in Liu Gang's small rental house. There was no air conditioning and a fan was blowing. Liu Gang was shirtless. Wang Xu didn't want to take off his shirt at first. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of the heat, but that he was afraid of his. Eight-pack abs would hurt Liu Gang's self-esteem, add video 2, but later Wang Xu was too hot and took off his shirt. They screamed soulfully in rich, rough voices, while their friends filmed it on their cellphones. Unexpectedly, this simple video was uploaded to the Internet and had tens of millions of views. Liu Gang and Wang Xu didn't even know that they were popular. A co-worker told them, and their first reaction was: They made a fool of themselves! At least you have to wear some clothes, being shirtless is just too indecent. But it was their primitive grassroots temperament that moved everyone, and their songs had a rusty cry. Some netizens described them this way: without a dazzling stage, without gorgeous singing voices, living in a small home, with a table full of leftover wine, the shirtless migrant workers brothers roared out the boldness of life. This is why their cover of "In Spring" became popular. It's not that they sang it better than the original singer, but that they were more real and pure. They sang: No credit card, no home for her, no 24-hour hot water, but I was so happy back then. Although he only has a broken acoustic guitar, singing songs that no one cares about in the streets, under bridges, and in the fields... The masculine rising sun singing these songs will definitely hit the audience more than Wang Feng wearing leather pants singing on a bright stage. heart.

In this way, Rising Sun Yanggang officially entered the public eye. The two took out one of the characters in their name and named it "Rising Sun Masculine". In the year when he became popular, Wang Xu was 44 years old and Yang Gang was 29 years old. Wang Feng never imagined that a song he sang that was not popular would unexpectedly become popular all over China from a dilapidated rental house in Beijing. At that time, Wang Feng also expressed that he liked them very much, invited them to his concert, and even wanted to write songs for them.

In the same year, Xuri Yanggang walked to the Avenue of Stars and won the runner-up in the annual finals. In 2011, they participated in the Spring Festival Gala and the Lantern Festival Gala, singing the songs "In Spring" and "My Future is Not a Dream" respectively. "Rising Sun Masculine" can be regarded as a carp leaping over the dragon's gate, achieving a counterattack and becoming a smash hit. After they became popular, they also began to embark on the path of professional agents, and also hired different agents to represent their own interests. Wang Xu hired his best friend, and Liu Gang asked his cousin to be his agent. In the end, a group signed two agents, which also indicates that the future cooperation between the two will no longer be harmonious. Next, "Rising Sun Masculine" sang "In Spring" one after another, and the performance fees for commercial performances started in the hundreds of thousands. This income is completely different from my previous part-time job income. While the popularity brought them huge financial benefits, they never considered the original singer Wang Feng and sang the cover without even saying hello. This undoubtedly caused Wang Feng's dissatisfaction. Originally they were grassroots and could sing whatever they wanted, but now they get hundreds of thousands in appearance fees for singing his songs, which is a commercial performance. In 2011, Wang Feng publicly stated that Xuri Yanggang was prohibited from singing this song in any form. Some netizens said that Wang Feng was "narrow-minded", while others said that Wang Feng was doing nothing wrong and that he was safeguarding his rights. In fact, the success of Xuri Yanggang and Wang Feng complement each other. Without Wang Feng's song Xuri Yanggang, Xuri Yanggang would not be so popular, and without Wang Feng's song Xuri Yanggang, Wang Feng's songs would not be so popular.

And after they became famous and "got a credit card, she had a home with 24-hour hot water", all kinds of shady news spread all over the place. The first person to make scandal was the young Liu Gang. The news that he spent a lot of money to buy luxury cars and mansions was exposed. This is not a bad thing. It is normal for him to want to enjoy himself after suffering, gaining fame and wealth. However, he was exposed by the media one after another for being a celebrity, randomly running red lights, beating old people, etc. Liu Gang's reputation plummeted.

In comparison, Wang Xu seemed much calmer. Maybe he had experienced too much hardship before becoming famous, and he was already 44 years old when he became famous in 2010, and his son was already 22 years old. Wang Xu is not famous, and there is no scandal. He just wants to change his life and immerse himself in the joy of success. After the group disbanded, Wang Xu also made his own music and released some works, but the market response was mediocre and he was old, so Wang Xu chose to return to his hometown and live a pastoral life. His videos can be seen on some platform. He would shoot some short videos of himself, go for long-distance fitness runs, work in the fields, stand on the ground and look at the crops he planted with joy, and of course he would sing a song more often.

At the beginning of this year, Wang Xu shared a video. He was wearing old camouflage clothes and sitting on a shabby single bed in a workers' dormitory at a construction site. He had a mosquito net and a construction site safety helmet, and he looked like a brick worker. . Many fans thought that Wang Xu was in despair and could not make a living and returned to the construction site. In fact, he was just shooting a short video. Not long after, Wang Xu appeared in the live broadcast room again in elite business attire to deliver goods live. His income from one live broadcast may be more than a farmer earns from farming in a lifetime. Not down and out at all. So some netizens immediately accused him of being unethical by "pretending to be a migrant worker and performing a show to gain sympathy."

Let’s talk about Liu Gang. After the scandal, Gang Liu was banned for a while. He apologized and reflected afterward, but netizens did not buy it, and Gang Liu disappeared from the public eye. After that, Gang Liu became low-key and continued to work hard on the road of music. Fumbling around, trying to find a chance to turn over. Later, he hooked up with the musician Gao Jin, and with Gao Jin's help, he released the singles "Wandering" and "Missing Youth" and became popular again, which was considered to be from the bottom to the top again. Although Liu Gang's subsequent popularity cannot be compared with that at his peak, he has received many commercial performances based on these songs, has an annual income of more than one million, and is living a good life.

In 2021, "Rising Sun Yanggang" and friends reunited. It can be seen that the relationship between Wang Xu and Liu Gang is a bit unfamiliar now. The old days are no longer there, and the spring belonging to "Rising Sun Yanggang" has long passed. But their singing once warmed many silent souls, and even now it still stirs people's hearts.

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