Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: ???; Jyutping: Mui4 Jim6 Fong1; 10 October 1963 - 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress making major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a Cantopop diva.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (?????), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, and has been used as a comparison for both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982-2003). Her career came to an abrupt halt in 2003 when she announced that she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40.
Video Anita Mui
Career
1963-1978: Early years
Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was the youngest daughter in a family of four children. Her elder sister, Ann Mui, was also a singer. The children were raised in a single-parent family. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had never met her father. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.
At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave (eight keys).
1982-1989; 1994-2003: Singing
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (????), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. 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.
As an award for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.
Her debut album, Debt Heart (??), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, the subsequent album fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards (????) in 1989 for the song "Sunset Melody" (????), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (???), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums. Hong Kong had a population of about only five million in the 1980s.
In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (?????), which had become her trademark. 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 together with Janet Jackson. She performed in 300 concerts in her career.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, 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. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.
In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
1983-2002: Acting
Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts 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 her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). Three years later in 1987, her performance in Rouge won her the Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards. In 1989, she was awarded the Best Actress for her role in Rouge 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 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.
Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" (????????????) during the closing credits.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, having tattoos on her arms, going for plastic surgery, being suicidal, and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.
1992-2003: Community work
Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
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." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (??????????). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".
During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (?????). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
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 (??) is also dedicated to her legacy.
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" (????) as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (?????), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on the 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 02:50 (HK local time). She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004.
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 (????) 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 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (??????), 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. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
Will
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.
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 $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 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 $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.
Maps Anita Mui
Banning of "Bad Girl" in Guangzhou
In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (???) in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.
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 romanized in case accurate translation may not be possible.
Studio albums
Cantonese
- Capital Artists Ltd.
- Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) ?? (1982)
- Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers) ???
- Red Anita Mui ????? (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
- Sometimes referred as Red ?? (Chek sik)
- Leaping in the Spotlight ???? (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)
- Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) ???? (1985)
- Bad Girl ??? (Waai neoi haai) (1985)
- Yiu neoi (Temptress) ?? (1986)
- Burning Tango ???? (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)
- Flaming Red Lips ???? (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)
- Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) ???? (1988)
- Mellow ???? (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)
- We'll Be Together -- EP (1988)
- Lady ?? (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)
- In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)
- Say It If You Love Me ??????? (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)
- Cover Girl ???? (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)
- Anita Mui (???) (1991)
- Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire) ?????
- It's Like This ???? (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
- Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui ??????? (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
- The Woman of Songs ??? (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)
- Illusions ???? (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)
- Variations ?? (Been tzau) (1998)
- Larger Than Life (1999)
- I'm So Happy (2000)
- Also includes a few Mandarin songs
- Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd.
- With (2002)
Japanese
English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases: Express (part of EMI Japan)
- Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love ??????? / ???????? (kuchibiru woubau mae ni / inochi hate rumade) -- EP (1983)
- "Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (?????). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" (??).
- Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase ???? / ??????? (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) -- EP (1983)
- Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.
Mandarin
- Rock Records
- Manjusaka ???? (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)
- Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips ?????:???? (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)
- Intimate Lover ???? (Qinmi airen) (1991)
- Other record labels
- Caution ?? (Xiaoxin) -- Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)
- Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
- Flower Woman ??? (Nüren hua) -- Music Impact Ltd. (1997)
- Anita Music Collection Ltd.
- Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") ????? (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)
- Nothing to Say ??? (Mei huashuo) (1999)
Concert albums
- Capital Artists Ltd.
- Anita Mui in Concert 87-88 ?????????87-88??? -- Cantonese (1988)
- Anita in Concert '90 ?????????????1990 -- Cantonese (1990)
- Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 ?????????? -- Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)
- Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 ???????????? -- Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)
- Music Impact Ltd.
- Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei ??????????? -- Mandarin (1997)
- Music Nation Records Company Ltd.
- Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 ?????????2002 -- Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)
Compilation albums
Compilations released after 2004 are not included here: Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)
- The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)
- Lifetime of Fantasies ???? (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)
- Change ? (Been) (1993)
- Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) ???? (1993)
- Dramatic Life ???? (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)
- Love Songs ?? (Ching goh) (1997)
- Love Songs II ?? II (Ching goh II) (1998)
- Anita's 45 Songs ????45? (2001)
- Tribute to Anita Mui ???? (2004)
- Faithfully ??? (2008)
- In Memory of Anita Mui ?????? (2013) (but labeled with incorrect grammar as "In the Memories of Anita Mui")
- Other record labels
- Anita Classic Moment Live ?????????? -- Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)
- Anita Mui Forever ???... ??? -- BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)
Singles
1980s
1990s
2000s
Tour setlists
Awards
- New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982
- Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer Award 1985--1989
- Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Gold Award for Sunset Melody (????) 1989
- Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line
- Golden Horse Awards for Best Actress 1988 for Rouge
- Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
- Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
- Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
- Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
- RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998
- Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody
Concert tours/specials
Filmography
TVB
See also
- Music of Hong Kong
- Cinema of Hong Kong
References
External links
- Anita Mui on IMDb
- Time magazine essay, "Farewell to Hong Kong's Sour Beauty", time.com, 12 January 2004.
- Goodbye, Anita Mui, funeral photos, typepad.com; accessed 4 July 2017.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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