Cantonese Opera star, world’s oldest opera singer Luo Pinchao, dies at age 98

World’s oldest opera singer dies at age 98

HONG KONG — The world’s oldest opera singer, Cantonese Opera star Luo Pinchao, has died. He was 98.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday Luo passed away at his home in the southern city of Guangzhou on Thursday.

Ranked the world’s oldest opera singer by the Guinness World Records, Luo was born in June 1912 and began performing in 1930. Cantonese Opera is a form of traditional Chinese theater delivered in the southern dialect.

Xinhua said Luo’s signature move was singing for nearly half an hour with one foot raised and wrapped around a prop. He also helped modernize the art form by using scripts written in colloquial instead of classical Chinese.