Second Hand Rose Band

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The original line-up of Second Hand Rose Band

Second Hand Rose Band (二手玫瑰 in Mandarin) are a Chinese rock band from Beijing, China. They are amongst a breed of underground rock groups fusing rock and folk with traditional Chinese instruments, such as the suona, in both their recordings and live performances. Their debut album, the self-titled Second Hand Rose Band, was released in 2004 to critical acclaim in China's bigger cities. The album also received rave reviews on specialist music websites in the US.

The band is fronted by the cross-dressing lead singer Liang Long who often performs in a qipao, a traditional Chinese dress. Long hails from the Heilongjiang province in northeast China. His stage antics and flamboyant look have earned the band controversy in their native China.

In 2002, they became the only foreign band to be invited to play at the Swiss Snow Mountain Music Festival, an annual event attracting some of Switzerland's established musical names. They were also one of the few Chinese rock bands invited to perform in Shanghai at the 2003 China-Japan Pop Music Exchange Concerts, an event organized by Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

The band, Liang Long with a new line-up, released their second album in late 2006. The album, titled Yu Le Jiang Hu, contains ten new studio recordings that have been well received by the specialist and online press in Mainland China. The band are undertaking a tour of China to promote the release; nevertheless, they remain an alternative act with a non-mainstream following.

With the release of the second album, the word "band" has been dropped from the group's name; they are now merely known as "Second Hand Rose".