Mavis Hee

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Mavis Hee
許美靜
Country Singapore
Years active 1994 - 2002, 2006 -
Genres Pop
Labels Universal What's Music Ltd

Mavis Hee (Simplified Chinese: 许美静; Traditional Chinese: 許美靜; pinyin: Xú Mĕi Jìng; born September 27, 1974) is a Singaporean singer.

Mavis Hee
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Mavis Hee

She was the second runner-up and also Miss Photogenic and Miss Amity for Singapore's Miss Chinatown Pageant 1992.

Her first album Knowingly was released in August 1994. After the release, famed Taiwanese singer-composer Jonathan Li 李宗盛 invited her to join his production company. However, Mavis rejected the offer so that she could continue working with her mentor, Chen Jia Ming 陈佳明.

Mavis went on to release other chart topping albums. Her debut album in Taiwan, Regret, propelled her to regional stardom. She was labelled "Heavenly Queen Killer" (or 天后杀手) for having beaten Faye Wong and the 4 Heavenly Kings in sales charts. Her best-selling album to date, Living By Night 都是夜归人, chalked an impressive 300,000 copies in Taiwan. Following the success, Mavis broke into the competitive Cantonese market with the release of Listen Quietly 静听精彩13首. The album topped the Hong Kong IFPI sales chart for 3 consecutive weeks, beating other Hong Kong singer, Andy Lau, Leon Lai and Sammi Cheng. She became the first Singaporean to win the Most Popular Female Singer award in HK Metro Hit awards, beating Faye Wong.

Mavis on Flirt Magazine cover
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Mavis on Flirt Magazine cover

She also released a compilations album, Review 1996-1999, which sold more than 250,000 copies in Taiwan. Her last album released was the electronic infused Heelectronic 静电. She is famous for her ballads such as Regret 遗憾, Iron Window 铁窗, Living By Night 都是夜归人, Sunshine After the Rain 阳光总在风雨后 and Moonlight in the City 城里的月光.

In 1998, Mavis was handpicked by famous director Christopher Doyle to star in his art film, Away With Words in 1998. Lending her star support, she was the ambassador of Singapore's National Kidney Foudation in 1999 and also a volunteer in Youth Challenge in the same year.

Mavis was the singer for Singapore's National Day Parade 2000 theme song, "Shine On Me", together with fellow Singaporean Jai. She was also appointed a cultural ambassador for China in 2001.

Mavis made a conscious decision to fade out from the music scene after 2001, when her record company, What's Music, was absorbed into Universal Music Taiwan, and the company could not accommodate her artistic integrity within commercial considerations. Some of her last public appearances were for MediaCorp, a Singapore television and broadcast station, where she recorded the hit single Watch TV with fellow Singaporean singers Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun, and appeared as a guest presenter at the Star Awards 2002 (her last public appearance). Between 2003 and 2004, she travelled around Italy.

In June 2006, Mavis hit the headlines in Singapore when she was arrested after harassing two hotel guests at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. She was warded at Singapore's Institute of Mental Health, and was diagnosed with clinical depression after a stay of four weeks. She was not charged by the police. In October 2006, she came out to explain her actions in a series of interviews with the Singapore media, explaining that she was on the road to recovery. She also thanked her fans for her support.

As of November 2006, she is recording some songs, presumably to be released as a full-length album to mark her return to showbiz.

[edit] Albums

Date of release Title
August 1994
  • Knowingly 明知道(Singapore)
December 1995
  • Regret 遗憾 (Singapore and China Taiwan)
February 1996
  • Regret 遗憾 (Hongkong)
August 1996
  • Knowingly 明知道(China Mainland, Hongkong SAR, China Taiwan)
December 1996
  • Living By Night 都是夜归人
April 1997
  • Listen Quietly 静听精彩13首 (Cantonese & Mandarin)
June 1997
  • Sigh of the wind 风的叹息(EP/Mandarin)
December 1997
  • Spreading 蔓延
March 1998
  • Cover Myself 好美静 (Cantonese)
September 1998
  • Ex-Friends EP 一场朋友EP (Cantonese)
January 1999
  • Happiness Is Guiltless 快乐无罪
June 1999
  • Review 1996-1999 (Mandarin)
March 2000
  • Heelectronic 静电
June 2000
  • Coffee Smell EP 咖啡香EP (Mandarin)
May 2001
  • Knowingly 明知道(Republished by Universal Music Group)
February 2001
  • Regret 遗憾 (Republished by Universal Music Group for classical songs)
April 2002
  • Listen Quietly 静听精彩13首 (Republished by Universal Music Group/Cantonese & Mandarin)
December 2002
  • Spreading 蔓延 (Republished by Universal Music Group for classical songs)
October 2003
  • Perfect Compilation 完美静选

[edit] Photos

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