Street singer busks his way into hearts

Luo Xiaoluo, a grassroots singer from Guilin in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, found his roots in Shanghai's streets to become a music sensation particularly popular among middle-aged and elderly audiences.

Making his journey to Shanghai in 2005, the 41-year-old busker, who uses a stage name, is dedicated to presenting live music shows on streets and in parks and other public spaces to share the beauty of music with his clear, healing voice.

Luo has garnered nearly 3 million followers on social media, drawing massive crowds nationwide in each of his offline performances.

Luo has been fascinated by music since childhood and began playing guitar in 1999. However, over the past two decades, he had many career setbacks as a bar singer, graphic designer, wedding photographer, and e-commerce worker. It wasn't until 2011, when he made a trip to an ancient town, that he revisited his musical aspirations.

In 2019, he became a certified street singer in Shanghai by the Shanghai Performance Trade Association. He began performing in public parks and squares, where he sat and interacted with his audiences.

"Some musicians can be a bit too conceited to sing on the streets. They look down on buskers for 'selling' their talent cheap, but I disagree. Instead, I sometimes feel such an ordinary form of performance is the superlative form of musical expression. The core lies in how the music is presented, which you need to sing into others' hearts," says Luo.