Tuning into the comeback beat

Rise to stardom

Dada was formed in 1996 by Peng and Wei in their hometown, Wuhan, Hubei province. Later, Zhang and Wu joined.

In 2000, their first demo won them a record contract with Warner Music Group, making them the first ever Chinese mainland rock band to sign with the company.

The same year, they released their debut album, Angel, which was an instant success, commercially and critically.

Dada became one of the most recognizable and best-selling bands in China.

In 2005, Dada was at the peak of its popularity. With a large following, a number of music awards and sold-out live shows, they suddenly went silent. There was no announcement of a breakup, no visible signs of internal squabbling, just a sudden vanishing.

The band said in an interview that the rapid rise to stardom exhausted them.

In 2003, Dada released their second album, The Dada Golden Age, which was less successful than the record company expected.

"We didn't have full closure back then. So the song See You Again is for our fans, to whom we didn't say goodbye in 2005," says Peng.

During the years after the breakup, each of the four pursued their own careers.

In June 2019, they had the chance to perform together as a band again at an outdoor music festival in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

The chemistry worked its magic once again, and they sang their old hits, such as South, which saw thousands of fans singing along.

"We felt it was the right thing to do — to be Dada again," says Peng.

The same year, Dada announced their reunion and signed to Modern Sky.