Alan Tam Wing-lun was born in Hong Kong on 23 August 1950, a native of Xinhui, Guangdong, and the son of the footballer Tam Kong-pak. He joined the band the Loosers in 1968 and, when the Wynners were regrouped in 1973, became one of its two lead vocalists alongside Kenny Bee; hits such as Sha La La La La made the band one of the most popular in 1970s Hong Kong. He appeared in his first film, Let's Rock, in 1975, began his solo career in 1978, released his first solo album, Fan Dou Xing, in 1979, and went to Taiwan for romantic films such as A Girl Without Sorrow. In 1981 he won Best Leading Actor at the 18th Golden Horse Awards for the Taiwanese film If I Were for Real, returning to Hong Kong the next year. In the 1980s he released a string of albums — including Wong Bat Liu Nei, Misty Love, Roots of Love and Love Trap — during the golden age of Cantopop; in 1984 his song Love in Late Autumn won the Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Award and he was named Most Popular Male Singer, a title he held for four consecutive years from 1984 to 1987. He gave many solo concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom, setting records for long runs in the 1980s, and his rivalry with Leslie Cheung amid competing fan bases in the mid-1980s was a hot topic in the local music scene. In early 1988 he announced at an awards ceremony that he would no longer accept competitive music prizes, turning his attention to concerts and songwriting. He received the Golden Needle Award from the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards in 1996; in 1999 his song Misty Love was chosen among the Top Ten Songs of the 20th Century, and in 2014 he entered the same awards' Hall of Fame. He also starred in hits such as Armour of God (1987) and was a founder-member and captain of the Hong Kong Celebrity Football Team. From 2003 he formed the long-running duo 'Alan and Hacken' with Hacken Lee, and even after going solo he continued to reunite with his old Wynners bandmates. Known as 'the Principal', he received the Medal of Honour in 2008 and still performs in concert today.
Alan Tam was named Most Popular Male Singer four years running in the 1980s and won a Golden Horse Best Actor award, making him one of the few singers to reach the top in both Cantopop and cinema; his 1988 decision to withdraw from competitive awards also changed the ecology of Hong Kong's music prizes.
Achievements
- 1981 · Won Best Leading Actor at the 18th Golden Horse Awards for If I Were for Real
- 1984 · Won the Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Award for Love in Late Autumn and was first named Most Popular Male Singer
- 1988 · Announced he would no longer accept competitive music awards, focusing on concerts and songwriting
- 1996 · Received the Golden Needle Award from the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards