Cantopop is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hong Kong popular music from the middle of the decade. Cantopop then reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before slowly declining in the 2000s and shrinking in the 2010s. The term "Cantopop" itself was coined in 1978 after "Cantorock", a term first used in 1974. In the 1980s, Cantopop reached its highest glory with fanbase and concerts all over the world, especially in Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. This was even more obvious with the influx of songs from Hong Kong movies during the time.
Faye Wong is a Chinese-Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong at the age of 18. Debuted with the Cantonese album Shirley Wong (1989), she came to public attention by combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop. Since 1994, she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin. In 2000, she was recognised by Guinness World Records as the "Best Selling Canto-Pop Female". Upon her second marriage in 2005, she withdrew from the limelight, though sporadically returned to the stage.
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the "God of Songs", his accolades include the World Music Award (1996) for “World’s Best-selling Asian artist”, the Billboard Music Award (1994) for “Most Popular Asian Singer”, and a Guinness World Record for the largest combined audience for a live act in 12 months. In 1999, Cheung was honored by Junior Chamber International as one of the Ten Outstanding Young People in the World. He is the best-selling music artist of all time in Taiwan and Hong Kong with album sales exceeding 25 to 60 million records worldwide. Known for his vocal delivery, Cheung is widely regarded as a Heavenly King of Cantopop music, and an icon of Hong Kong popular culture.
Beyond was a Hong Kong rock band formed in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, and Overseas Chinese communities. The band is widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantopop band from Hong Kong. In 1993, leader Wong Ka Kui, died at the age of 31 after an accident during the filming of a show at Fuji Television in Tokyo. Beyond continued to perform and record after Wong Ka Kui's death. In 2005, the remaining members Paul Wong, Wong Ka Keung and Yip Sai Wing decided to pursue their own solo careers, and Beyond officially disbanded.
C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music, a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This also includes countries where Chinese languages are used by parts of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia. C-pop is used as an umbrella term covering not only Chinese pop but also R&B, ballads, Chinese rock, Chinese hip hop and Chinese ambient music, although Chinese rock diverged during the early 1990s.
Hacken Lee Hak Kan (Chinese: 李克勤; Cantonese Yale: Lei5 Hak1kan4; pinyin: Lǐ Kèqín, is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active since the 1980s. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, including "World's Best Song" and "Broadcasting Index" in Metro's Awards. As of 2013, he has reached 14 times in receiving the "Outstanding Pop Singer Award" at RTHK's "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards" and has established an irreplaceable status in the music industry of Hong Kong and Asia.
Eason Chan Yick Shun is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He is one of the most popular and influential singers in both Cantopop and Mandopop. Besides holding the record for winning the "Ultimate Male Singer – Gold" award and "My Favorite Male Singer" award at the "Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation" in HK, he is also holding the record for being nominated for and winning prestigious Golden Melody Awards "Best Male Mandarin Singer" in Taiwan. Chan was ranked sixth in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List. Chan was the most-streamed artist in Hong Kong on the Spotify music streaming platform from 2016 to 2021. Since joining UMG, Chan has amassed over 75 billion streams across various platforms by 2023. He is No.3 on the list of Spotify Global Top Mandopop Artists of the Year, 2023.
Alan Tam Wing-lun is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam received numerous music awards and won Most Popular Male Artist and IFPI Award for successive four years, which made him the most famous superstar singer of Hong Kong in 1980s. In early 1988, he publicly quit all pop music award ceremonies and put most efforts in searching new direction for Cantopop music.
Wong Ka Kui was a Hong Kong musician, singer and songwriter and the leader and co-founder of the rock band Beyond, where he was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter. His younger brother Wong Ka Keung was the band's bass guitarist.
Anthony Wong Yiu-ming is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and political activist. He rose to prominence as the vocalist for the Cantopop duo Tat Ming Pair during the 1980s before embarking on a solo career. He also performed and collaborated with the theatre group Zuni Icosahedron. Wong is the director for music production company People Mountain People Sea. He also co-founded the LGBT rights organization Big Love Alliance and the non-profit charitable organization Renaissance Foundation.
Shirley Kwan or Kwan Suk Yee is an influential former Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit, "Happy Are Those in Love" (難得有情人) and was widely popular throughout the early to mid-1990s. She is noted for her distinct, whispery vocal style and known equally for singing mainstream ballads and more alternative songs. She announced her retirement from music industry in April 2020.
Tat Ming Pair is an experimental Cantopop duo formed in Hong Kong in 1985 by composer Tats Lau (劉以達) and vocalist Anthony Wong Yiu-ming (黃耀明). Their blend of Cantopop, synthpop, new wave and electronic dance music with lyrics that reflected contemporary social, political, and literary themes, made them one of the first alternative and most influential bands of the 1980s Hong Kong music scene. The band enjoyed critical and commercial success until a hiatus in 1990. After their breakup, Wong proceeded as a solo artist while Lau went into acting although the duo have reunited several times over the years.
Puan Sri Chelsia Chan, also known as Chan Chau Ha is Hong Kong based actress and singer-songwriter. Chan joined the music industry after winning the first prize at an amateur creative singing contest in 1975 in Hong Kong with the English song "Dark Side of Your Mind", which she composed with lyrics provided by her then-manager Pato Leung. Later, this became one of her best remembered songs. In 1976, at the age of 19, she won the leading actress award at Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival for the movie "Qiu Xia" which incidentally is also her own birth name. She is so far the youngest winner with the shortest screen life in the Festival's history. Chan used to sing along with the Hong Kong group, The Wynners.
Anthony Lun is a Hong Kong songwriter, arranger, musical director and singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English.
Hong Kong English pop is a genre of music consisting of English-language songs that are made, performed and popularised in Hong Kong. It is known as simply English pop by Hong Kongers. The height of the English pop era in Hong Kong was from the 1950s to mid-1970s.
When Heaven Burns is a 2011 Hong Kong television serial produced by TVB and starring Bowie Lam, Moses Chan, Kenny Wong, Charmaine Sheh and Angela Tong. First revealed during TVB's Sales Presentation 2009 in 2008, filming took place in late 2009 to early 2010, with the first episode airing both in Hong Kong and TVB's overseas affiliates and partners on 21 November 2011. On 27 December 2011, the show was blacklisted by the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, making it the first Hong Kong television drama to be censored in Mainland China in more than two decades.
Gene Lau is a Cantopop lyricist. Since the late 1980s, he has written lyrics for over 300 songs. He has written more than ten hit songs for Beyond, contributing much to the rock band's reputation, with "Lovers"《情人》, "The Great Wall" 《長城》, and "The Earth" 《大地》, all of which have become band classics. He was known as the Queen lyricist of Beyond, after writing 23 songs for the group. He has also collaborated with other artists such as Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, Leon Lai and Danny Summer.
Andrew Tuason is a Hong Kong musician, record producer, composer, songwriter, arranger, conductor and musical director. He has been a producer and musical director for notable artists including Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Jackie Chan, Alan Tam and Coco Lee.
Crimson Street is a film directed by David Lai and produced by Johnny Mak. Released in 1982, it is a story about a night club singer who involved in a love tangle with three men. The lead role is played by Sally Yeh. It also stars Kenny Bee, Wai-Man Chan and Melvin Wong.
C AllStar is a Hong Kong Cantopop boy band formed through a singing contest Star Hunt (星投大戰) held by Kingdom C in 2009. The group consists of four members: King Wu, Kenny Chan, Andy Leung, and Jase Ho. They debuted with the album Make It Happen in 2010.
