Anita Mui was born in Hong Kong on 10 October 1963 and was already singing with her sister Ann at Lai Yuen amusement park and in nightclubs at four and a half. She entered the industry in 1982 by winning the first New Talent Singing Awards with The Wind's Season, released her debut album Heart's Debt that year, and in 1984 won Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards for Behind the Yellow Line. Famous for her ever-changing image, she took the Most Popular Female Singer award five consecutive times from 1985 to 1989, with hits such as Bad Girl and Sunset Song, and her rebellious 'bad girl' look broke the traditional image of female singers and stirred wide public debate. In 1990 she announced she would stop accepting music awards to concentrate on film and the stage. In 1987 she played the courtesan Fleur in Stanley Kwan's Rouge, taking Best Actress at the 24th Golden Horse Awards (1987), the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards (1989), the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and the Golden Dragon Awards, a rare clean sweep; in 1998 she won Best Supporting Actress at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards for Eighteen Springs. She was the founding president of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild, appeared in July Rhapsody in 2002, and acted in films such as Kawashima Yoshiko. During the 2003 SARS outbreak she organised the 1:99 Concert to raise funds for affected families. In September 2003 she revealed she had cervical cancer and completed eight Hong Kong Coliseum concerts while ill, dying on 30 December 2003 aged 40; she is remembered as the 'Daughter of Hong Kong'. Her films also include Behind the Yellow Line, Justice, My Foot! and The Heroic Trio, while her songs include Heart's Debt, Flowing Years, Crimson Anita Mui, Witch and Intimate Lover. In 1993 she founded the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild and became its first president. In November 2003 she staged eight Anita Mui Classic Golden Songs concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum, ending by singing Sunset Song in a wedding gown, a scene that became a classic of the Hong Kong stage. Of humble origin, she sang with her sister Ann to support the family and, after finding fame, often helped younger performers.
Anita Mui rewrote what was possible for a female singer through her ever-changing image and her loyalty to friends, and her role in Rouge and her farewell concerts became among the deepest collective memories of Hong Kong popular culture. She founded the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild and raised funds during SARS, showing an entertainer's sense of social responsibility. Her image as the 'Daughter of Hong Kong' is still widely cherished.
Achievements
- 1982 · Won the first New Talent Singing Awards.
- 1989 · Won Best Actress at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards for Rouge.
- 1998 · Won Best Supporting Actress at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards for Eighteen Springs.