Anita Mui

Anita Mui
A wax statue of Mui was unveiled at Madame Tussauds on March 22, 2005.[2]
Chinese name	梅艷芳 (Traditional)
Chinese name	梅艳芳 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Méi Yànfāng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	mui4 jim6 fong1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Guangxi
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	10 October 1963(1963-10-10)[3] Hong Kong[4]
Died	30 December 2003 (aged 40)[1] Hong Kong
Other name(s)	阿梅 (Ah Mui) 梅姐 (Mui Je; lit. Big Sister Mui)
Occupation	Singer, actress
Genre(s)	Cantopop
Label(s)	Capital Artists Music Nation Group
Years active	1982 - 2003
Partner(s)	Michael Miu Masahiko Kondō Vincent Zhao
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress 1988 Rouge Best Supporting Actress 1984 Behind the Yellow Line 1997 Eighteen Springs Best Original Film Song 1988 Rouge 1991 The Twin Bracelets 1993 Eastern Three Heroes Golden Horse Awards Best Actress 1987 Rouge MTV Asia Awards Inspiration Award 2004 New Talent Singing Awards 1982 Winner Other Awards Best Actress (Asia Pacific Film Festival) 1988 Rouge Golden Needle Award 1998 Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 July Rhapsody

Anita Mui Yim-fong (10 October 1963 - 30 December 2003) was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva.^[1] Once she held a sell-out concert at Hammersmith, England, where she was dubbed the title "Madonna of Asia".^[4] That title has stayed with her throughout her career, and has been used as a comparison for both Eastern and Western media.^[5][6][7]

In the 1980s the gangtai style of music was revolutionized by her wild dancing and femininity on stage.^[8] She was famous for having outrageous costumes and also high powered performances.^[4] Her fanbase reached far beyond Hong Kong, and into many parts of Asia including Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia as well as the overseas market. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry where stars often come and go, Mui was able to remain a major star in the spotlight for 20 years. Her career only came to a stop in 2003 when she was suddenly diagnosed with cervical cancer, dying at the age of only 40.^[1][6] Even so, her music and film legacy continues to live on. Her success reached well beyond that of the entertainment circle with humanitarian work, donations and charities that played a major role in helping society even well into the present day.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Early years 1.2 Music 1.3 Acting 1.4 Death and legacy 2 Community work 3 Incidents 3.1 Citizenship 3.2 Censorships 3.3 Contested will 4 Concerts 4.1 梅艷芳盡顯光華香港演唱會 4.2 百變梅艷芳再展光華香港演唱會 4.3 百變梅艷芳夏日耀光華香港演唱會 4.4 百變梅艷芳告別舞台演唱會 4.5 梅艷芳一個美麗的迴響香港演唱會 4.6 梅艷芳極夢幻香港演唱會 4.7 梅艷芳經典金曲香港演唱會 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 8 Awards

Career

Early years

Mui experienced many hardships and difficulties in her childhood. She was the youngest daughter of a family with five children.^[6] Her father died when she was only five years old, thus Mui and her siblings were raised in a single parent family. At an early age she had to help provide for her siblings, dropping out of school to do so. Other hardships follow in her family as her mother ran a bar, which had also been burnt down.^[4] To make a living, Anita herself, first entered show business at the age of five.^[9][5] She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and the streets.^[9][5] Both Anita and her older sister Ann Mui basically performed in any night club that offered them a chance to make a living.^[4]

Music

See also: Anita Mui discography

In 1982 the first New Talent Singing Awards was held. Mui received her first big break winning the contest with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), beating over 3,000 contestants.^[9][10] Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.^[11]

As an award to winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.^[11] Her debut drew a lukewarm response from the audience. But subsequent albums fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she would win the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs award back to back.^{[12] [13]} Her streak would continue followed by another major award in 1985, with her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award.^[14] For the next four years, she would win the award consecutively every year until 1989.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Throughout her career, Mui released 50 albums in total.^[19] Her best selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (壞女孩) with the Cantopop cover single of Sheena Easton's Strut, sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x over by Hong Kong's standards).^[11] In her career she sold 10 million albums.^[9][5] It should be noted that the population of Hong Kong in the 1980s was only about 5 million.

In terms of live performances, her first concert was held in 1985 lasting 15 nights. Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum were held through early 1988. This established a world record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (百變梅艷芳), which had become her trademark.^[20] Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong. As she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul, Korea on the same stage with Janet Jackson.^[21] In entirety, she performed in 300 concerts in her career. ^[9][5]

In 1990, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28 she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994^[22] (read section on her death, she died on Dec. 30, 2003). Anita mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung and the band Grasshopper.^[11] As a lifetime achievement award in music, Mui was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award in 1998.^[23]

Acting

See also: Anita Mui filmography

Mui was also well-known as an actress across the Asian region. As she starred in more than 40 movies over a 20 year period.^[24] Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and kung fu variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles. Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the movie Fate in 1984. Three years later in 1987, the film Rouge won her Best Actress at Golden Horse Award.^[6] She won the award again in 1989 at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

In 1993, she starred in The Heroic Trio with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx.^[4]

Later on in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at Hong Kong Film Award with the movie Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best actress at Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.^[25] Her ability to successfully play a wide range of roles from comedy to tragedy, has allowed her to take part in many lead roles.

Anita was originally cast for Zhang Yimou's 2004 movie House of Flying Daggers. She resigned from her position in the movie only two weeks before her death. Zhang had held her parts of filming to the last due to her poor health condition.^[26] Out of respect for Anita, Zhang didn't replace her role with another actress. The screenplay was changed to take the storyline off the original character. She received a dedication during the closing credits.^[26]

Death and legacy

In early September 2003, Mui made the public announcement that she had cervical cancer to the media.^[1][9] It was widely believed she forwent early treatment because she wanted to preserve the possibility to conceive. Knowing that she would not make it past the illness, she had a final series of shows entitled the "Anita Classics Moments Live Concert". The series consisted of eight shows held at the Hong Kong Coliseum in 2003. It was her last concert series before her death.^[11] Musical guests included Jacky Cheung, David Tao, Eason Chan, Andy Hui, Alan Tam, Hacken Lee and Kelly Chen.^[27] Her final symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her classic hit "Sunset Melody" (夕陽之歌) as she exited the stage for the final time. Her very last song performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (珍惜再會時), a rendition of Manhattan's "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye". Mui eventually lost her battle to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to a lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 02:50 (HK local time).^[1][6][7] She was 40 years old.^[9] Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral in North Point in January 2004.^[9][5]

Through out her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumors never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, undergoing plastic surgeries, being suicidal, being linked to the death of a triad leader.^[11] Rumors of affairs with leading actors were also known.^[4]

In 2007 a TV series was produced in China titled "Anita Mui Fei" (梅艷芳菲) to tell the many dramas in her life. The 42 episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Fellow actors Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung were also portrayed in the series, though some of the sensitive subjects such as her suffering of cancer, Leslie's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma were avoided.^[28] Actress Alice Chan (陳煒) plays the role of Mui in the series.^[29]

On October 11, 2008 a show on TVB was dedicated to her titled "Our Anita Mui" (我們的梅艷芳). Many off-stage fans and personnel who worked with her got a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung and Stephanie Cheng.^[30][31]

Community work

Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life."^[9][5] Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name April 18 as "Anita Mui Day".^[4] In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (梅艷芳四海一心基金會). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild.^[11][32] October 23rd, 1993 was also announced to be "Anita Mui Day" in Toronto, Canada.^[33]

During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fund raising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families.^[6] She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and Ming pao newspaper.^[32]

In 2003, she wrote and published the fundraising book The Heart of the Modern Woman (現代女人心). Profits from the book went to the "Children's Cancer Foundation".^[7]

On September 23, 2004, the "Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio" was opened at The University of Hong Kong. It included state of the art equipment for digital audio and video editing.^[34] In Causeway Bay, an Anita-mui themed cafe called "Happiness Moon" (囍月) is also dedicated to her legacy.^[35]

Incidents

Citizenship

Mui moved to Canada in the 1990s and was granted landed immigrant status. However, her constant absence from Canada resulted in her status being revoked. She never gained Canadian citizenship.

Censorships

In 1995 Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (壞女孩) in Guangzhou, China where the song was banned at the time.^[8][36] It was considered wild and pornographic in nature.^[8] Government authorities were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.^[36]

Contested will

In 2008, the mother of Mui, Tam Mei-kam, aged 84, contested the will. Anita Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam was a beneficiary under the will, to the sum of HK$70,000 per month, for life. Tam argued that Anita was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death from cancer. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that Mui simply did not trust her mother on managing money.^[1]

Concerts

梅艷芳盡顯光華香港演唱會

1. 留住你今晚
2. 點起你慾望
3. 魅力的散發
4. 心債
5. 赤的疑惑
6. 交出我的心
7. 信
8. 二十四小時之吻 (with 草蜢)
9. 祝你好運
10. 小虎子撞世界 (with 小虎隊)
11. 殘月碎春風
12. 再共舞
13. 紗籠女郎
14. 黃沙萬里
15. IQ博士
16. 風的季節 (with 梅愛芳)
17. 今宵多珍重 (with 陳百強)
18. 纏綿千編 (with 成龍)
19. 萬惡淫為首 (with 黎小田)
20. The Way We Were (with 黎小田)
21. 待嫁女兒心 (with 黎小田)
22. 日本演歌 (with 黎小田)
23. 夢伴
24. 冰山大火
25. 一段情 (with 鍾鎮濤)
26. 蔓珠莎华
27. 梦幻的拥抱
28. 抱你十个世纪
29. 似水流年
30. 不了情
31. 逝去的爱
32. 坏女孩
33. 颠多一千晚

百變梅艷芳再展光華香港演唱會

1. Opening Medley (冰山大火 / 征服他 / 心魔)
2. 痴痴愛一次
3. 緋聞中的女人
4. 妖女
5. 將冰山劈開 (with 草蜢)
6. 愛將 (with 草蜢)
7. 飛躍千個夢 (草蜢)
8. 戀之火
9. 殘月碎春風
10. 夢
11. 紗籠女郎
12. 嘆息
13. 歌衫淚影
14. 千枝針刺在心
15. 胭脂扣
16. IQ 博士 (with 許冠傑)
17. 鬼馬雙星 (snippet)
18. Medley (印象 / 梨渦淺笑 / 應該要自愛 / 世事如棋 / 浪子心聲)
19. 夢伴
20. 壞女孩
21. 放鬆
22. 暫停厭倦
23. 屎船 (re-make of Sam Hui's "紙船" with 陳友 and 曾志偉)

百變梅艷芳夏日耀光華香港演唱會

1. Opening
2. 愛我便說愛我吧
3. 正歌
4. 第四十夜
5. 一舞傾情
6. 愛情基本法
7. 心窩已瘋
8. 心仍是冷 (with 倫永亮)
9. 明天你是否依然愛我 (with 倫永亮)
10. Stand By Me
11. Dancing Boy
12. 玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
13. 不如不見
14. 最愛是誰
15. 倦
16. 夢裡共醉 (instrumental)
17. 焚心以火
18. 黑夜的豹
19. Dance Medley (壞女孩 / 妖女 / 烈焰紅唇 / 淑女)
20. 封面女郎
21. 血染的風采
22. 夕陽之歌
23. 耶利亞 (粵/國)

百變梅艷芳告別舞台演唱會

1. Opening
2. 蔓珠莎華
3. Faithfully
4. 夢幻的擁抱
5. 夢姬
6. 妖女 (slow version)
7. 緋聞中的女人
8. 假如我是男人
9. Touch
10. 似火探戈
11. 不信愛有罪
12. 這一個夜
13. Medley (黑夜的豹 / 慾望野獸街 / 夜貓夫人)
14. 教父的女人
15. 壞女孩
16. 胭脂扣
17. 似是故人來
18. 幾多
19. 逝去的愛
20. 赤的疑惑
21. 夕陽之歌
22. 親密愛人
23. IQ博士
24. 似水流年
25. 心肝寶貝
26. 孤身走我路
27. 夢伴
28. Stand By Me
29. 珍惜再會時
30. 回頭已是百年身

梅艷芳一個美麗的迴響香港演唱會

1. Opening
2. 夢伴
3. We'll Be Together
4. Faithfully
5. 愛是沒餘地
6. 莫問一生
7. 列女
8. 耶利亞
9. 夢姬
10. 得不到的愛情
11. Medley (何日 / 李香蘭)
12. 願今宵一起醉死
13. Stand By Me
14. 是這樣的
15. 愛是個傳奇
16. 粉紅色的一生
17. 明星
18. 女人心
19. Classic Medley (分分鐘需要你 / 浪子心聲 / 胭脂扣 / 情人 / 明天我要嫁給你 / 憑著愛 / 心仍是冷)
20. 情歸何處
21. 感激
22. Touch
23. 疾風
24. 愛我便說愛我吧
25. 歌之女
26. 似水流年

梅艷芳極夢幻香港演唱會

1. Opening
2. Stand By Me
3. 將冰山劈開
4. 愛我便說愛我吧
5. 長藤掛銅鈴
6. Medley (艷舞台 / 烈燄紅唇)
7. 憑甚麼
8. 假如我是男人
9. 黑夜的豹
10. 蔓珠莎華
11. Oh No! Oh Yes!
12. Wonderful Tonight
13. Faithfully
14. 是這樣的
15. 夢幻的擁抱
16. 夢姬
17. 列女
18. 心債
19. 一舞傾情
20. 約會
21. 胭脂扣
22. 床前明月光
23. 心窩已瘋
24. 芳華絕代
25. 床呀！床
26. 似水流年
27. 似是故人來
28. 親密愛人
29. 抱緊眼前人
30. 孤身走我路
31. 夕陽之歌
32. Encore Medley (愛將 / 壞女孩 / 淑女 / 妖女 / 放開你的頭腦 / 夢伴 / 冰山大火)
33. 芳華絕代 (with 張國榮)
34. 緣份 (with 張國榮)
35. 心肝寶貝
36. 女人心
37. 情歸何處
38. 是這樣的
39. Stand By Me
40. 歌之女

梅艷芳經典金曲香港演唱會

1. Opening
2. 夢裡共醉
3. 是這樣的
4. 抱緊眼前人
5. 心肝寶貝
6. Medley (何日 / 李香蘭)
7. 心債
8. 第四十夜
9. 夏日戀人
10. 不信愛有罪
11. 親密愛人
12. 愛情的代價
13. 我願意
14. 似夢迷離
15. 今生今世
16. 深愛著你
17. Dance Medley (將冰山劈開 / 妖女 / 壞女孩 / 夢伴 /冰山大火)
18. 孤身走我路
19. 胭脂扣
20. 似是故人來
21. 似水流年
22. 花月佳期
23. 夕陽之歌
24. 珍惜再會時

See also

• Cantopop
• Music of Hong Kong
• Cinema of Hong Kong

References

External links

• Anita Mui at the Internet Movie Database
• Time Magazine, Essay, Farewell to Hong Kong's Sour Beauty, Jan 12,2004
• Goodbye, Anita Mui, Funeral photos
• 樂壇女神梅艷芳 (Chinese)
• MUIKOREA (Korean)
• Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild (Chinese)
• anitamuiclub.com (Chinese)
• Stareastnet.com Anita Mui (Chinese)
• Anitamuinet.com (Chinese)
• Anita Mui's Music / Lyrics / Pictures (Chinese)

Awards

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Nil	New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982	Succeeded by David Lui 呂方
Preceded by —	Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line	Succeeded by Deanie Ip for My Name Ain't Suzie
Preceded by Sylvia Chang for Passion	Golden Horse Awards for Best Actress 1988 for Rouge	Succeeded by Carol Cheng for Moon, Stars & Sun
Preceded by Sammo Hung (Actor) for Painted Faces	Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge	Succeeded by Ken Takakura (Actor) for Buddies
Preceded by Josephine Siao for Not an Enemy No Assembly Leader	Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge	Succeeded by Maggie Cheung for A Fishy Story
Preceded by Shu Qi for Viva Erotica	Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs	Succeeded by Shu Qi for Portland Street Blues
Preceded by Alan Tam	RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998	Succeeded by Leslie Cheung
Preceded by Youbin Li (Actor) for Roaring Across the Horizon	Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody	Succeeded by Leon Lai (Actor) for Leaving Me, Loving You