Godfather of Chinese Rock Previews Sep 30 Beijing Concert By Breaking World Record

While Cui Jian's 30-year career retrospective (slated for September 30) is set to be one of the 2016's hottest rock gigs, the veteran performer has already preceded it with an even tougher act to follow.

On September 26, the pioneering rock star performed with a 953 member band (yes, you read that right) from the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy at a venue in Tianjin. That roster was stacked with 349 singers, 154 guitarists, 151 drummers, 101 bassists, 100 keyboardists, and 98 wind instrumentalists. The Guinness World Records says that astounding total is nearly double of prior record-setter for the world's biggest band, Association Music Revolution, which gathered 520 musicians in France in 2013. Two Guinness World Records officials, Tina Shi and Dong Cheng, were there to judge the performance, and the organization described the pair as being "thrilled" to witness and chronicle the event.

Cui, who is often lovingly nicknamed 老崔 (Lǎo Cuī) by Chinese music fans, was born in Beijing in 1961 and is known as one of the first Chinese musicians to pen and perform rock songs. He is also credited with kickstarting the popularity of outdoor concerts in the Mainland (after headlining a major performance in Yunnan in 2002, which was dubbed the "Chinese Woodstock"), opening for the Rolling Stones in 2006, and more. He has also long been considered one of the most controversial artists in recent Chinese history, though that reputation has been tempered as of late and fans have been able to see him perform at many of the venues and venues from which he was once banned.

His September 30 retrospective will be held at the Workers' Stadium from 7-10pm. For more information about the show and about how to buy tickets, click here.

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Photos courtesy organizers, cdn.turner.comGuinnessworldrecords.com

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Meanwhile, another reason why Cui is excited about the upcoming show is because he will be performing with Stewart Copeland, the drummer of the legendary rock band, The Police (read more about that here).

English tickets can be purchased here