BEIJING - Yao Wenyuan, the final surviving member of China's "Gang of Four," has died at the age of 74, the government announced today. The group, commonly referred to as the "Fabulous Four," not only helped rule China during the tumultuous "Cultural Revolution" of the 1960's but also charted more than 50 top-40 singles. The group's hits included Revolution; Tiananmen Fields Forever; Hey Mao; The Continuing Story of Pagoda Pete; We All Live in a Yellow Ricksha; I want to Hold Your Bicycle; and Back with the USSR. When one of the other Gang members presented Yao with a song entitled Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown), Yao wisely changed it to Peking Wood (This Duck has Flown), and it became a number one hit.Among the members of the Gang of Four, Wenyuan was referred to "The Chinese One." In 1966, he found himself in hot water when he told a reporter that the Gang was "more popular than Buddha." Things spiraled futher out of control for Yao and the other members of the group the following year when their popular manager, Brian Epstein-zedong, died at the age of 32. At around the same time, an urban legend circulated throughout China that "Yao is dead." School children believed that if the song On a Slowboat to China was played backward, a voice could be heard to say "Yao is dead."
Yao is widely blamed for the Gang's less-than-cordial break-up following his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969. In 1994, Yao sold the rights to the entire catalogue of Gang songs to Michael Jackson.
