[citation needed] He was admitted to the Beijing School of Arts and Crafts in 1978, where he was first exposed to rock music, and formed his first bands with his peers.
[9][10] After several months of planning, Tang Dynasty was formally established in February 1989, with Ding and Kuo on guitars, Zhang Ju on bass, and Andrew Szabo on drums.
Tang Dynasty, released in December 1992, was an unprecedented success, selling 900,000 legal copies, and is considered to be China's first heavy metal record.
Ding contributed two tracks to the 1997 tribute album Goodbye Zhang Ju, and Tang Dynasty soldiered on with Gu Zhong taking over bass duties.
Founding guitarist Kaiser Kuo returned to replace Liu, who quit the band in August 1996 over conflicts with Ding over musical direction.
[9][10][11] Ding eventually kicked his addiction and Tang Dynasty subsequently released their second album, Epic, on Jingwen Records in December 1998.
[10][11][12] In May 1999, Kaiser left Tang Dynasty following an argument with Ding over the United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
In late 2018, Ding announced a solo album entitled One Moment (Chinese: 一念; pinyin: Yī Niàn).
[14][20] Music videos for the title track and "Black Hole" (Chinese: 黑洞; pinyin: Hēidòng) were released ahead of time on November 15.
[21] Ding Wu made a cameo appearance in the 2015 crime drama Mr. Six (Chinese: 老炮儿; pinyin: Lǎo Pàoér, lit.
[citation needed] In April 2016, Ding appeared on the Season 4 finale of I Am a Singer, joining fellow rock musicians Gao Qi, Wang Feng, Li Lianyang, Luan Shu, Ma Shangyou, Zhou Xiaoou, and Chen Jin for a performance of the song "Gift", a song written in 2005 to commemorate the passing of Tang Dynasty bassist Zhang Ju.
[22] Ding Wu currently lives in Beijing with his wife, Yang Ting (Chinese: 杨婷; pinyin: Yáng Tíng), who he met in 2003 and married in 2006.