"When it comes to the cause of my singing this song, it's really 'unintentional'," Bian Xiaozhen said in a voice that was still clear and loud, "After Chairman Mao's death, the Central People's Broadcasting Station called for songs from the whole society. After Chairman Mao's death, the Central People's Broadcasting Station solicited songs from the whole society, and I was a singer in the Hai Zheng Song and Dance Troupe at that time. In my thirties, I had a good sense of music and a good state of mind, so I became the lead singer of the song. Why did "The Sun is the Reddest, Chairman Mao is the Closest" stand out among the large number of songs reminiscent of Chairman Mao at that time? "Most of the songs at that time were very sad and sorrowful, whereas this song has a catchy tune, so simple that it's like talking, and the form of the leader plus chorus is relatively new", Bian Xiaozhen explained.
September 8, 2006, she will sing the song for the first time in the Great Hall of the People with a big band and chorus, and by then Bian Xiaozhen will be 60 years old. Singing with her on that day will be artists such as Kerimu, Liu Bingyi, Luo Tianchan, and Jiang Dawei, singers of "Chairman Mao's Words in Our Hearts," "Moon of the Xijiang River - Jinggang Mountain," "The People of Awa Sing a New Song," and "An Ode to Chairman Mao.