Anita Mui - The Iconic Cantopop Diva and Cultural Legend of Hong Kong

Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made significant contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honors. She remained an idol throughout her career and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. Dubbed the "daughter of Hong Kong," she is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.

Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (東方麥當娜), which brought her further international fame. This title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.

In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionized by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances, combined with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists. Her 1985 album, Bad Girl, sold over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong and remains the highest-selling album of all time in the territory.

Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore, Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui consistently remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40; her sister, Ann Mui, died three years earlier, at the same age from the same disease.

Early Life

Mui was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, in October 1963. She was the youngest daughter in a family of four children, and the only one born in Hong Kong, as her siblings were born in China. Her mother, Mui Tam Mei-kam, was a Chinese medicine practitioner who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic and a music school in Hong Kong. The children were raised in a single-parent family after their father died when Mui was very young. The family faced financial hardships, which led Mui to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14.

To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann, performing Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. At the age of 15, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords, leading her to take a year off to recover. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range.

Career

Singing and Acting
In 1982, encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards, where she emerged champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Her first album, Debt Heart (心債), drew a lukewarm response, but her subsequent albums, Red (赤色梅艷芳) (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight (飛躍舞台) (1984), fared much better as she developed her personal style and image.

Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. She won the award every year until 1989 and was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards in 1989 for the ballad "Song of the Sunset" (夕陽之歌), which became one of her signature songs.

Mui released 50 albums in total, with her best-selling album being Bad Girl (壞女孩), which sold over 400,000 copies in a week and broke the selling record in Hong Kong. In 1994, she sold over 10 million albums, becoming the first female singer in Hong Kong to achieve such sales.

In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert lasted 15 nights at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Beginning in late 1987, she held a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum, establishing a record at the time and earning the title "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (百變梅艷芳). Her popularity extended beyond Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul.

In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would stop receiving music awards to give newcomers a chance. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage, only to return in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, including Andy Hui, Denise Ho, and Patrick Tam.

Acting Career

Mui starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period, primarily in action-thriller and martial arts genres, but also took on comedic and dramatic roles. Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). In 1987, her performance in Stanley Kwan's Rouge won her the Best Actress Award at the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards.

In 1990, she starred in the titular role for Kawashima Yoshiko, a biopic of the flamboyant cross-dressing spy Yoshiko Kawashima. She also starred alongside Stephen Chow in Justice, My Foot! (1992) and The Heroic Trio (1993), which became one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she gained international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.

Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she stepped away only two weeks before her death. The character was removed from the screenplay out of respect for Mui, who received a dedication during the closing credits.

Politics, Activism, and Philanthropy

Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which reportedly drew in 1 million people. She also performed at the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in mainland China. Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career, including a fundraising concert during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" to support various charitable causes. She was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild.

Death and legacy

On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death. Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage," which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" (夕陽之歌) as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (珍惜再會時), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Kiss and Say Goodbye," on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50 am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.

In 1998, an ATV-produced television series Forever Love Song told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled Anita Mui Fei (梅艷芳菲) to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide, and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.

On 23 September 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. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon (囍月) is also dedicated to her legacy.

On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (我們的梅艷芳), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng. On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.

In 2019, she was the subject of the film Dearest Anita. The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.

In 2021, she was portrayed in the biopic Anita (梅艷芳), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.

Her work and stage costumes were displayed in an exhibition titled "Timeless Diva: Anita Mui" in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum lasting around eight months from 24th December 2023 to 2nd September 2024, commemorating the 20th anniversary of her passing. The exhibit included items from her private collection, including her TBS Award from the 1983 12th Tokyo Music Festival which was since housed in the museum, with courtesy of her former fashion designer and close friend Eddie Lau.

In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, Tam Mei-kam, and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association (妙境佛學會).

In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.

Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.

After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.

Discography

Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.

Studio albums

Cantonese

• Capital Artists Ltd.

  • Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) 心債 (1982)

  • Red Anita Mui 赤色梅艷芳 (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)

  • Leaping in the Spotlight 飛躍舞台 (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)

  • Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) 似水流年 (1985)

  • Bad Girl 壞女孩 (Waai neoi haai) (1985)

  • Yiu neoi (Temptress) 妖女 (1986)

  • Burning Tango 似火探戈 (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)

  • Flaming Red Lips 烈焰紅唇 (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)

  • Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) 夢裡共醉 (1988)

  • Mellow 醉人情懷 (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)

  • We'll Be Together — EP (1988)

  • Lady 淑女 (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)

  • In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)

  • Say It If You Love Me 愛我便說愛我吧 (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)

  • Cover Girl 封面女郎 (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)

  • Anita Mui (梅艷芳) (1991)

  • It's Like This 是這樣的 (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)

  • The Woman of Songs 歌之女 (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)

  • Illusions 鏡花水月 (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)

  • Variations 變奏 (Been tzau) (1998)

  • Larger Than Life (1999)

  • I'm So Happy (2000)

  • Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd. With (2002)

Japanese

• Express (part of EMI Japan)

  • Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love 唇をうばう前に / いのち果てるまで (kuchibiru o ubau mae ni / inochi hateru made) — EP (1983)

  • Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase 日い花嫁 / なんとなく幸せ (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)

Mandarin

• Rock Records

  • Manjusaka 蔓珠莎華 (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)

  • Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips 百變梅艷芳:烈焰紅唇 (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)

  • Intimate Lover 親密愛人 (Qinmi airen) (1991)

• Other record labels

  • Caution 小心 (Xiaoxin) — Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)

  • Flower Woman 女人花 (Nüren hua) — Music Impact Ltd. (1997)

  • Anita Music Collection Ltd.

    • Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") 床前明月光 (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)

    • Nothing to Say 沒話說 (Mei huashuo) (1999)

Concert albums

• Capital Artists Ltd.

  • Anita Mui in Concert 87–88 百變梅艷芳再展光華87–88演唱會 – Cantonese (1988)

  • Anita in Concert '90 百變梅艷芳夏日耀光華演唱會1990 – Cantonese (1990)

  • Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 一個美麗的回響演唱會 – Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)

  • Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 百變梅艷芳告別舞台演唱會 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)

• Music Impact Ltd.

  • Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei 芳蹤乍現台北演唱會實錄 – Mandarin (1997)

• Music Nation Records Company Ltd.

  • Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 梅艷芳極夢幻演唱會2002 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)

Compilation albums

• Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)

  • The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)

  • Lifetime of Fantasies 情幻一生 (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)

  • Change 變 (Been) (1993)

  • Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) 皇者之風 (1993)

  • Dramatic Life 戲劇人生 (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)

  • Love Songs 情歌 (Ching goh) (1997)

  • Love Songs II 情歌 II (Ching goh II) (1998)

  • Anita's 45 Songs 眾裡尋芳45首 (2001)

  • Tribute to Anita Mui 梅‧憶錄 (2004)

  • Faithfully 梅艷芳 (2008)

  • In the Memories of Anita Mui 追憶似水芳華 (2013)

• Other record labels

  • Anita Classic Moment Live 梅艷芳經典金曲演唱會 – Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)

  • Anita Mui Forever 永遠的... 梅艷芳 – BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)