Anita Mui

Biography

Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Konger singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as "Queen of Cantopop". She was dubbed as the "Daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of Asia", which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media. In June 2026, Mui was included in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
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 tandem with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists. Her 1985 album, 壞女孩 (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, 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 is the youngest daughter in a family of four children, and the only one of the four born in Hong Kong, as her siblings were born in China. Mui's father died when she was very young. Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam (1924-2026) was born in Xiguan, Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming, Mui Tak-Ming, and singer Ann Mui. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and that her family was impoverished. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire.
At the age of four and a half, Mui started singing with her elder sister Ann. They used "Po-chu" and "Fong Fong" as their stage name respectively for their favourite actresses, Connie Chan (Chan Po-chu) and Josephine Siao (Siu Fong Fong). They would later adopt Yi Yi (依依) and Yi Na (依娜) as their stage names. Mui performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres, amusement parks 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.
Mui studied at Kowloon Women's Welfare Club Li Ping Memorial School till she was primary four. She would transfer to another school and studied there till secondary one. While studying, Mui would be bullied by her school mates as singers were ridiculed and looked down upon.
At the age of 15, due to her high frequency of performances (up to six venues per day), she developed nodules on her vocal cords that affected her voice. 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.

Singing career

In 1982, encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards, organised by TVB and Capital Artists, in her stage name Yi Na. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been singing for more than 10 years performing as a busker from street and club performances during her childhood.
For winning the New Talent contest, Mui signed a recording contract with Capital Artists and released her debut album, Debt Heart (心債), under her real name with Capital Artists. The album drew a lukewarm response from the market. However, her subsequent albums, Red (赤色梅艷芳×赤色梅艷芳1983 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1赤的疑惑3:202迎風上路3:203珍珠指環的約誓3:354再共舞2:025不必想昨天4:346赤的衝擊2:477交出我的心3:338殘月碎春風2:219一個字4:5610相逢未晚3:2311傳說2:5812千年女王3:03) (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight (飛躍舞台) (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image, with guidance and support from fashion designer Eddie Lau. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued when 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 (金曲金獎) in 1989 for the ballad "Song of the Sunset" (夕陽之歌), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career. In 1985, at the age of 21, Mui held her first concert lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum).
Beginning in late 1987 through early 1988, Mui held a series of 28 concerts at the Coliseum. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (百變梅艷芳), 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 as well as also performing her own solo with one of her hit songs of that year, "Blazing Red Lips (烈燄紅唇)".
On 12 February 1994, Mui was invited to hold a concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena which is located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The venue opened on 31 December 1993, with a concert by Barbra Streisand, and subsequent concerts by Luther Vandross, Mui herself and Janet Jackson. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") 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.
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.

Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (壞女孩), which sold over 400,000 copies in a week (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards) and broke the selling record in Hong Kong. In 1994, she sold over 10 million albums. She was the first female singer in Hong Kong to achieve such sales result.
Mui performed in 300 concerts in her career. CNN compared her singing career with stars like Diana Ross and Madonna.
In 1998, aged 35, Mui was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
In 2003, Mui 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 wearing a white wedding dress and veil. 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.

Acting career

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) alongside fellow Cantopop icon Leslie Cheung. Three years later in 1987, her performance in Stanley Kwan's Rouge, which also starred Cheung, won her the Best Actress Award at the Golden Horse Awards, as well as at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1989. In the same year, she starred alongside Chow Yun-fat in Tsui Hark's A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon, which features her iconic ballad "Song of the Sunset". She also co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in the 1988 romantic comedy The Greatest Lover.
In 1990, she was cast in the titular role for Kawashima Yoshiko, a biopic of the flamboyant cross-dressing spy Yoshiko Kawashima based on the novel by Lilian Lee, who also authored the original novel and screenplay for Rouge. In 1992, she starred alongside comedy icon Stephen Chow in Justice, My Foot!, proving her calibre in the comedy genre. She also paired up with Stephen Chow in 1993 in Fight Back to School III. In the same year, 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. In 1996, she starred in Who's the Woman, Who's the Man with Leslie Cheung and Anita Yuen in a gender-bending love triangle story.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2001, she starred in yet another Johnnie To comedy Wu Yen alongside Sammi Cheng and Cecilia Cheung as the lewd yet charming Emperor Qi. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody, which she starred alongside Jackie Cheung.
In 2003, Mui was originally cast for a major role for House of Flying Daggers but eventually declined due to her failing health before any of her scenes were filmed. After her death on 30 December 2003, director Zhang Yimou decided to alter the script to remove her character rather than recasting her. The film is dedicated to her memory.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours relentlessly plagued Mui, who was accused of having tattoos on her arms and plastic surgery, being addicted to drugs, suicidal behavior and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.

Politics, activism, and philanthropy

Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed at the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in mainland China. Her rendition of Bloodstained Glory (血染的風采) has been praised as best among many. 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 protests.

Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her mind about her boycott of mainland China and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.The Tibetan red-crown Shamarpa (of Kagyudpa lineage) 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" (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. 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, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. 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 (現代女人心). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.

Personal life

In 1990, Mui began dating Benjamin Lam Kwok-bun, who was a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The relationship ended three years later. Despite rumours of her dating several men, Mui never married.
On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died.

Death and legacy

Mui 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 including Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.

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 (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 reportedly owed $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 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.

Legacy

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 24 December 2023 to 2 September 2024, commemorating the 20th anniversary of her death. 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.

Cantonese

Capital Artists Ltd.
Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) 心債 (1982)
Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers) 小虎隊
Red Anita Mui 赤色梅艷芳 (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
Sometimes referred as Red 赤色 (Chek sik)
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)
Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire) 慾望野獸街
It's Like This 是這樣的 (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui 梅艷芳是這樣的 (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
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

English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases:
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)
"Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (交出我的心). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" (心債).
Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase 日い花嫁 / なんとなく幸せ (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)
Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.

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)
Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
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

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 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)