Teng Li-chun (traditional Chinese: 鄧麗君; simplified Chinese: 邓丽君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn; Jyutping: Dang6 Lai6-gwan1; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, and musician. Referred as "Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributions to Mandopop, giving birth to the phrase, "Wherever there are Chinese people, there is the music of Teresa Teng".
With a career spanning 30 years, Teng remained widely popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s; she remained popular even up to the first half of the 1990s, up until her death in 1995. Teng was known as a patriotic entertainer whose crystalline voice and performances revolutionized Chinese popular culture during the 1970s and 1980s. She is often credited for bridging the cultural barrier across Chinese-speaking nations, and first artist to connect Japan to much of East and Southeast Asia, by singing Japanese pop songs, many of which were later translated to Mandarin. She was known for her folk songs and ballads, such as "When Will You Return?" "As Sweet as Honey" "Forget Him" and "The Moon Represents My Heart". She recorded more than 1500 songs throughout her career, not only in Mandarin but also in Hokkien, Cantonese, Japanese, Indonesian English and Italian when she was 14 years old. She also spoke French and Thai. To date, her songs have been covered by hundreds of singers all over the world.
According to report published by Billboard on May 1995, Teng released 25 albums during the last 26 years of her career, that sold over 22 million copies, going by original sales. On May 8, 1995, Teng died from a severe respiratory attack while on vacation in Thailand at the age of 42. She remains a national heroine and a symbol of cultural unity of Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Chinese-speaking communities worldwide.