In February 2007, Cao Xuan was still very busy. He didn't rest at home for a few days before hurriedly flying to the UK.
On February 11, the Brit Awards were awarded in London, England.
Last year, "Legend" actually made a lot of noise in the UK, but it was overshadowed by the massive sales on Billboard in the US.
But in fact, the album "Legend" was the annual sales champion in four European countries, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands in 2006.
In fact, this is easy to understand. After all, the main language in these countries is English. In fact, the most terrifying thing is that the sales volume of "Legend" in non-English-speaking European countries is also very high.
France ranks fifth in annual sales, six countries including Spain, Turkey and Italy rank in the top ten in annual sales. Germany is the non-English speaking country with the highest sales, ranking second in annual sales.
Even in Russia, which has never been close to Europe and the United States, the album "Legend" has sold six figures, ranking among the top 30 Russian album sales of the year.
According to Warner, "Legend" has sold well in nearly 200 countries around the world, including 46 European countries that have purchased the album.
Regardless of whether you buy more or less, even if you only sell one piece, "all of Europe" will be lost.
Among them, Cao Xuan was already very influential in the UK, and now "Legend" has made him even more popular.
Many people only know that Cao Xuan has five number one singles on the US Billboard, but what some people don't know is that he also has four number one songs on the British pop music charts.
The then British Prime Minister Tony Blair's two public hobbies were tennis and pop music. In an interview with the media, he made it clear that he liked the Beatles the most, but now he also thinks Cao Xuan's songs are good.
In 2005, when the Fourth Generation visited the UK, one of the gifts he gave to Prime Minister Tony Blair was Cao Xuan's complete set of authentic Chinese and English albums.
And this is not the first time Cao Xuan’s album has been given as a gift during a foreign trip.
Since 1998 in Singapore, Cao Xuan's album has become one of the key gifts given to foreign heads of state or family members who love pop music.
It's just that in the early years, it was usually in Asia. After 2003, it gradually spread to the world. Maybe in two years, it is expected to become a regular gift.
This is the lineup of the world's pop king + the number one person in the Chinese music scene...
Even the Prime Minister was "captured", which shows Cao Xuan's popularity in the UK. Cao Xuan even strongly suspected that he was more popular in the UK than in the United States.
After all, the United States still has a bunch of Hollywood superstars and big names in the music industry, and the UK is less competitive.
Not counting the football, tennis, snooker and other sports stars, he is definitely at the top of the British literary and artistic circles, especially the music scene.
This can also be seen from the fact that Cao Xuan took the initiative to invite Cao Xuan to the Brit Awards in 2005 every other year. This year, due to the popularity of "Legend", Cao Xuan has reached a higher level.
The Brit Awards pay more attention to Cao Xuan, even if they are trying to be outshined by Grammy, they have announced multiple nominations for Cao Xuan.
Cao Xuan didn't go to the Billboard Awards and the American Music Awards before because something happened. He actually recorded a VCR specifically to express his gratitude to the organizing committee.
But because he was not present at the time, many people still had conspiracy theories, especially in Europe and the United States. There were many people who liked Cao Xuan, and there were also a lot of sunspots.
Especially at the American Music Awards, Cao Xuan was not awarded the award before. Many people made a big fuss and regarded Cao Xuan's failure to accept the award this time as revenge.
The domestic Golden Horse Awards are roughly the same. Before this, Cao Xuan had been nominated for Best Actor many times, but he had not won any awards. Many Cao Hei took the opportunity to claim that Cao Xuan was boycotting the Golden Horse Awards, creating conflicts between the two parties.
Cao Xuan has always ignored this, not only because he was not in the mood at the time, but also because they were young people who could not confuse right and wrong, so it was not a cause for concern.
However, in early January, 35 days after grandma left, the customs here in Zao City are still very important to Tou Qi and Wu Qi.
Cao Xuan accompanied his parents back to his hometown of Zao City to pay homage and burn paper. He was photographed by passers-by. Then the incident was exposed by the media. Although the deceased and Cao Xuan were taken into consideration, the specific relative was not named, but it can be seen that he was a close elder.
Afterwards, Fanxing also admitted the matter through the media, and the outside world learned that an important relative of Cao Xuan had passed away at that time, so he kept a low profile for several months, and even missed the Golden Horse and two important music awards.
The originally negative public opinion subsided instantly. After all, most people in the world are still kind-hearted and understand what this moment means.
Even if some unscrupulous people still want to set the pace, they will be frantically besieged by Cao Xuan fans and passers-by.
In life, don’t ask for more kindness, at least be a human being...
Now, two months have passed, and Cao Xuan has emerged from the gloom and returned to normal work. Naturally, he can no longer sell his face.
He has already agreed to attend the Grammys on February 14th, so he has no reason to refuse the Brit Festival on February 11th. He can only make one more trip to the UK.
This is not the first time for Cao Xuan to come to the Brit Awards. She is familiar with the music. Not only did she accept the award, but she also presented the award for "Best British Female Singer" to Amy Howe.
This female singer is not well-known in China, but her achievements are very good. If Cao Xuan was the most popular male singer in the UK last year, she was the most popular female singer.
Her albums have topped the music charts in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and other countries, with global sales exceeding 12 million in 2006.
If "Legend" hadn't performed so well, it would have been hard to name Cao as the UK's annual sales champion in 2006.
However, this is not the pinnacle of this girl. Her album Yuan Shikong has also landed in the United States and achieved good results. In 2008, she won 5 important Grammy awards in one go, becoming the first person in history to win 5 Grammy awards in a single session.
British singer.
However, the girl's later life was not smooth, with negative news surrounding her. In 2011, she died at home due to excessive drinking at the age of only 27.
Regarding such a tragedy, Cao Xuan could not persuade her, because as early as last year, her company had sent her to a rehabilitation center to give up drinking, but it had little effect. The girl was still an alcoholic. In addition, there were other
Bad habits.
To put it harshly, this person has played a trick of his own, and no one else can stop him...
Perhaps because he has always been overwhelmed by "Legend", this person didn't like Cao Xuan very much. He hugged him politely, took the trophy, and went to the stage to make a tearful speech.
Cao Xuan didn't care. He had no performance duties. He would get off the stage after awarding the award and wait for his own award.
What’s very interesting is that in 2005, Cao Xuan won the BRIT Awards [Best International Male Artist] and [Best International Album of the Year]. This year, Cao Xuan is considered a “re-winner of the old awards” and won these two awards again.
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However, unlike 2005, last time Cao Xuan regretfully missed out on [Best Single], but this year Cao Xuan got what he wanted with "Rolling in the Deep".
As mentioned before, most of the awards at the Brit Awards are divided into two categories: [British] and [International], and [Best Single] is one of the few awards that does not make a distinction. It can even be regarded as the most valuable of the Brit Awards.
Awards.
The Brit Awards have been held for nearly 30 years, and most of them are won by British singers. Few foreign singers have won. Cao Xuan, an Asian, is an unprecedented first.
Even Cao Xuan said jokingly when accepting the award that "Legend" made him completely numb to the words "refreshing history".
It is worth mentioning that the guest who presented the [Best Single] award to Cao Xuan was Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones.
There was a break between the two last year due to the Super Bowl incident, and Jagger was deceived by Edgar Jr.
Don't underestimate the connections and abilities of a prestigious band that has been popular for half a century. Little Edgar's game was not a clever one. When Jagger realized it afterwards, he couldn't let it go.
Little Edgar later found the middleman, paid some price, and settled the matter. This guy made a lot of money from Cao Xuan and "Legend" and didn't care about the three melons and two dates at all, so he took the initiative to settle the matter.
Although it was little Edgar who did it, Jagger didn't get angry with Cao Xuan, but he didn't look good on him, and Cao Xuan didn't tolerate him.
The Rolling Stones are great, but they don't have the luxury of flattering them. If people respect me, I must respect them. If they don't respect me, I don't have to respect them either.
If Cao Xuan was the mastermind behind that incident, he would still be in the wrong, but since he didn't know about it beforehand, there's no way he was plotting against Jagger.
If Cao Xuan hadn't considered that he was the beneficiary after all, Cao Xuan would have wanted him to know what it means to push back the waves ahead and beat them to death on the beach...
The two of them were doing business, and there was almost no smile when handing over the trophy. Those who knew it was an award ceremony, but those who didn't know thought they were attending some serious occasion.
The organizing committee of the Brit Awards was so regretful that they slapped Jagger on the thigh. They only thought that Jagger was big, so they ended up attending the event as a surprise guest, but they didn't find out that there was a grudge between the two. Isn't this a trap?
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There will definitely be a lot of hype in the media tomorrow, and Jagger and Cao Xuan probably don't want to see them either.
It’s not their fault. This matter involves too much and is not very honorable. Both parties keep it secret and never interact with each other. So the outside world only knows that Cao Xuan replaced the Rolling Stones in the Super Bowl, but they don’t know that there is something fishy inside.
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After the award ceremony was over, the person in charge came over to apologize, saying it was their negligence.
It doesn't matter to Cao Xuan, he and Jagger have no big hatred, and as long as the other party doesn't come to pick a fight with him, he won't pay attention to the other party.
But before he finished speaking, Cao Xuan was slapped in the face.
When Jagger was interviewed the next day, he praised the songs of Amy Hornwith, who happened to be one of the nominees for Best Single. This obviously meant that Cao Xuan's award was controversial.
Cao Xuan has not been abroad for a long time and rarely has negative interactions with foreign artists.
Naturally, he would not care if a young star was flirting with someone. Well-known artists are all experienced and would not offend Cao Xuan, the popular king, for no reason.
Especially for singers, who wouldn't want to collaborate with Cao Xuan, an oriental music magician? Avril's duet with Cao Xuan directly led to her having a representative song in the top ten of the Billboard singles chart. Everyone likes such a win.
Creative kings and queens may not care, but most non-songwriter singers, especially those in the pop/rock genre, find it difficult to resist the temptation to collaborate with Cao Xuan.
So regardless of the fact that Cao Xuan is Chinese, he is actually very popular in the European and American music circles. How many friends he has put aside, there are very few who take the initiative to offend him.
Jagger is one of the few singers who dares to attack the popular Cao Xuan. Regardless of his qualifications, status, or number of fans, he is even worse than Cao Xuan.
To be honest, facing Jagger's attack, Cao Xuan felt a sense of freshness. After all, he had not talked to anyone for a long time.
Therefore, in an interview with the British BBC the next day, Cao Xuan responded unabashedly.
"...Of course I am a rock lover, and I like many bands, including China's Beyond, Tang Dynasty, and Black Panther, as well as America's Linkin Park, Britain's Coldplay, Queen, Ireland's U2, and me
The top 1 Beatles in my mind..."
Cao Xuan is an expert when it comes to yin and yang, and the BBC is not far behind. They highlighted this passage in this interview and summarized and refined two information points.
One of Cao Xuan’s favorite rock bands is the Rolling Stones.
②The best rock band in Cao Xuan’s opinion is the Beatles.
If the former is just a reply to Jagger, the latter is a bit heartbreaking.
No one can decide who is the greatest rock band in the world, but it is recognized that the two most qualified are the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The Beatles have relatively more supporters, but the number of Rolling Stones fans cannot be underestimated.
The two families are unwilling to give in to each other, and now there is a king of the world openly taking sides. It may not be of any use, but Jagger himself must be disgusting enough.
What made him even more disgusted was that Paul McCartney, one of the members of the Beatles, joined in the fun and praised Cao Xuan's talent.
It seems as if not a word has been said, and as if everything has been said...
Speaking of which, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are very interesting, they love each other and kill each other.
Let's say they don't have a good relationship. The two have worked together to make money, and they are also good old friends with each other.
Even though they have a good relationship, the members of the two families have openly quarreled with each other, often tearing each other down and always claiming that they are the best rock band.
Anyway, if you quarrel with them, don't attack them, just say you support another band, and the effect will be absolutely outstanding.
For example, he would praise Beijing University in front of Shuimu, praise Messi in front of Cristiano Ronaldo, say in front of West Palace that East Palace is more virtuous and beautiful, and say that Wu Yanzu is more handsome than him if he is fatter...
The lifelong enemy has been completely defeated!
So no matter how Jagger fought back, Cao Xuan just talked about the Beatles without mentioning a single curse word, which did not affect his demeanor as the world's pop king at all. He just kept stabbing Jagger in the heart.
Jagger was depressed, but Cao Xuan had no time to pay attention to him. He took a plane and rushed to Los Angeles, USA, to participate in the 49th Grammy Awards.
In 2004, Cao Xuan received 9 Grammy nominations and finally won 4 awards, shocking the entire world music scene.
But this year, Cao Xuan's "Legend" was awarded the title of God, and the number of nominations was even more exaggerated, with a total of 10 nominations, the most in this year's Grammy Awards.
However, there is still some way to break the Grammy record for the most nominations. Grammy has accumulated more than 100 award nominations. Although double-digit nominations are not many, they are not uncommon.
However, Cao Xuan's 10 nominations are still very valuable, and almost half of them are important awards.
In addition to "Best Newcomer", all four major categories were shortlisted, 4 were shortlisted in the pop category, 2 were shortlisted in the rock category, and one was "Best MV".
And the most important thing is that Cao Xuan has almost no strong opponents this year.
In the first half of the year, the American music scene was hit hard by "Legend". Most of the singers who came out in the second half of the year were newcomers or not well-known singers. Cao Xuan was the biggest favorite and was extremely optimistic in the industry.
February 14th, Valentine’s Day
Cao Xuan had to make two phone calls, then put on his uniform and went to the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, with little Edgar accompanying him.
On the way, little Ed was beaming with joy and his chest was beating loudly.
The last time Cao Xuan came to the United States during World War II, Warner Music Group had just been established and there was not much spare time for public relations. Fortunately, Cao Xuan was lucky and powerful, and the result was quite satisfactory.
This time Cao Xuan San battles with Gelaimei, and Warner Music Group finally has a place to play.
Because of the success of "Legend", Warner Music Group was officially listed at the beginning of the year. Cao Xuan's 10% shareholding has been diluted to 7.5%, but its value has almost doubled.
As a result, Warner Music Group has received a huge amount of funds, its strength has greatly increased, and it is increasingly willing to spend money on public relations in the United States.
After all, the higher Cao Xuancheng is, the greater Warner's reputation will be, the better-looking the reports will be, and the stock price will continue to rise.
The company's market value of several billion dollars is at stake, and even if Cao Xuan himself doesn't want to, Warner will give him several awards.
Little Edgar even said crazily: "The more, the better. It's best to pursue reviews or break records and become a peak Grammy legend."
At present, the person who has won the most awards in a single session of the Grammy Awards is Michael Jackson. In 1983, he won 8 trophies and became a god in one battle. In 1999, the famous rock singer Carlos Santana won 8 trophies, tying this record.
In other words, if Cao Xuan is to tie these two, he must win 8 out of 10 nominations.
Cao Xuan could only say that little Edgar was out of his mind.
Although one of the above two people is black and the other is of Mexican origin, both of them are American nationals and are authentic old Stars and Stripes people.
Cao Xuan is confident in the results of "Legend" and believes that Grameen will abide by a certain degree of objectivity and fairness. Coupled with Warner's public relations, there is a high chance that he will become the big winner of this year's Grameen.
But he would never believe that Grameen was willing to let a Chinese become the highest legend of Grameen.
If Gramey really had this courage, his old man, Cao, would be a loyal fan of Gramey and help him brag every day.
Little Edgar actually knew that it was unreliable, but that didn't stop him from fantasizing.
In his eyes, those are not Grammy trophies, they are all stocks that can be exchanged for Green Oil Blades. Naturally, the more the better...
The two chatted in the car and finally arrived at the Grammy Awards ceremony venue.
In the red carpet corridor, Cao Xuan's appearance stole the spotlight from most people present.
Little Edgar was a pushy person, but when he saw this scene, he didn't feel jealous or angry at all. He looked at the surrounded Cao Xuan with a smile on his face, wishing there were more people.
He doesn't like others to be more in the limelight than him, but if the other party can bring him dollars, that's another matter.
Little Edgar was thinking about whether to introduce his sister to Cao Xuan, get married, tie up Cao Xuan completely, and make a lot of money happily together.
If Cao Xuan knew what little Edgar was thinking, he would definitely give him a final remark: There is no need for the duck to open its eyes wide!
Little Edgar's two sisters are not ordinary people. Ordinary people can't bear it. That's not a marriage, it's a feud...
As a key figure at this year's Grammy Awards, Cao Xuan was interviewed on the red carpet for nearly 20 minutes before being let go by reporters.
Then I met many friends at the awards ceremony, such as Shakira, two members of the queer band, and my named disciple Taylor.
Taylor released a new album in October last year. Thanks to the distribution channels and publicity exposure of Mars Records, the performance and sales have made great progress compared to the original time and space.
Although the album did not reach the top 10 on the Billboard singles chart, it performed well. At its peak, it reached the 19th place on the Billboard singles chart and sold over one million copies in the United States.
Even for the first time, I was nominated for a country category in the Grammy Awards. Although the chance of winning is not high, it is still a Grammy nomination after all.
Although it is not as good as Avril, a monster who was at the peak of her debut, she can still be said to be a blockbuster.
After all, Taylor is only 17 years old now. Cao Xuan asked ourselves, when he was 17 years old, he was still concerned about whether to eat tomatoes and eggs with noodles or leek stuffed dumplings at noon. He couldn't even afford the most meaty ones...
The future life is terrible!
However, in Taylor's opinion, Cao Xuan was the most powerful one. He became the center of attention as soon as he arrived at the venue. Countless media praised him, and famous singers came forward to make friends. Cao Xuan chatted and laughed with him and acted like a superstar.
Before Taylor came to England and the United States, she was full of confidence and prepared to shine as a talented girl.
As a result, the venue was already exhausted as soon as she arrived. People ignored her little transparency, and Taylor was at a loss as to what to do. She huddled in a corner and did not dare to say a word.
It wasn't until he saw Cao Xuan that he had the courage to come over. He was not as aggressive as when Cao Xuan was trying to make him bow to him because of his inner drama. His face turned red and Ai Ai introduced himself every time.
"Old...teacher, I am Taylor Swift."
"I saw you just now, and I haven't congratulated you yet. You've been nominated to come to the United States. You've done a good job."
Cao Xuan looked like a compassionate teacher, and even rubbed the head of the future first day queen of the United States, which felt good.
Taylor was a little flattered. If it were placed elsewhere, even if Cao Xuan praised her, she might still be a bit arrogant.
But just now I received a cold reception, my confidence was shaken, and I saw the radiant Cao Xuan. My whole person was suppressed, and my emotions were naturally magnified infinitely.
Cao Xuan said a few words of special concern, and Taylor, who was still young, was almost moved to tears.
"The teacher is so gentle."
ps: To promote the book "Big Country Sports", some people may know the author's situation. It's really not easy for me.
I have read a small part of the book. It is really good. It is a high-quality sports article. If you are interested, you can read it. Even if you just subscribe to a few chapters, it will be a support. It is not easy sometimes. I hope everyone can do it if you are able.