Photo: IG screengrab/jjlin
Taiwanese lyricist Eric Lin dies at 62 – JJ Lin pays tribute with ‘River South’ lyrics on Instagram.
Eric Lin, a Taiwanese lyricist, died at the age of 62 last Dec 11 due to health complications, specifically from liver failure. The former chairman of music label Ocean Butterflies has been reported to suffer from liver cirrhosis and recently underwent a liver transplant from his son two weeks ago.
Eric Lin is responsible for discovering local musicians such as A-Do and JJ Lin. Alongside the sad news, these singers made their tribute to their mentor through their own Instagram accounts.
JJ Lin, 41, a Singaporean singer, shared an Instagram post to remember Eric. He quoted lyrics from his 2004 hit song ‘River South’ wherein the former lyricists had a producer credit on the song.
“Teacher Lin, you’ve always been my great benefactor in my heart, a parent in my world of music. You saw me grow from a boy who didn’t know anything. I didn’t know how to express myself, and so we worked together, to [make] song after song to record our lives,” JJ wrote as part of his post caption.
A good number of JJ Lin’s songs – estimated to be more than 20 – were written by Eric Lin. He has also written popular songs for Taiwanese singer A-mei (Cutting Love and Listen To The Sea), Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau (Thank You For Your Love), veteran singer Tracy Huang (Crying Sand), and Taiwanese singer Stella Chang (I’m Still Young).
Furthermore, A-Do posted on Weibo saying that he is grateful to Eric for his guidance and teaching.
“He always encouraged me to persevere,” A-Do added.
He said that without Lin, he would not have the success that he has today.
