 Anita Mui Yim-fong
(October 10, 1963 - December 30, 2003) was a popular Hong Kong pop singer and
actress. Mui had one elder sister and two brothers. Her father died when she
was eight, her mother moved in with another man, hoping he would look after
her children. However, Mui and her family later discovered he was already
married. Mui told a local magazine that her mother became very temperamental
from that point and always took it out on them. Mui claimed to have been
desperate to get away from her family.
From the early 1980s to 2003, she was excellent friends with
Leslie Cheung,
another Hong Kong pop star, who committed suicide in April 2003. She was very
devastated by his death.
Anita Mui announced in early September 2003 that she had cervical cancer and
was undergoing treatment. Some of her friends and the media were baffled as to
why she took so long to undergo treatment when it appeared she knew of her
ailment when it was in a fairly early stage. It's also possible that it was a
late detection like most cases or secretly had treatment.
It was widely believed she forwent early treatment because she wanted to
preserve the possibility to conceive. Mui eventually lost her battle to
cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications at Hong Kong's
Sanatorium Hospital on December 30, 2003 at 2.50 am (local time). She was 40
and single. Her sister, Ann Mui, also a Hong Kong singer, died of cancer in
2000.
Music Career
Mui first entered show business as a singer when she was five and turned
professional when she was seven. Anita and her sister, Ann Mui, performed
Chinese operas and pop songs in numerous restaurants and nightclubs, until she
won the first New Talent Singing Awards in 1982 with the song Season of Wind,
beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as new talent at that time,
she had already been a singer for ten years.
Mui's first album was released with the Capital Artist Record Company within a
year of the contest. Her debut drew a lukewarm response from audience. Two
years later, in 1985, Mui won her first 10 Best Solid Gold Best Female Singer
award. The same award went to her in the following four years. Mui won also
best songs awards, both for album songs and movie theme songs.
Mui had her first concert in 1985, lasting 15 nights. Her 28 consecutive
concerts in late 1987 won her the title of Ever Changing Anita Mui, which
became her trademark.
Mui also gained popularity overseas. She held a concert in Taiwan in 1988, and
became the first artist from Hong Kong to give a solo concert there. That same
year, she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in
Seoul, Korea.
In 1990, 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 stage. She stepped down at only 28 years old, but
returned from retirement in 1994.
Over the years, Mui has released over 40 albums. Possibly her best was her
fourth album, released in 1986 and named Bad Girl which had an eight
platinum-selling album (about 400,000 pieces sold). She is extremely well
known throughout Chinese communities worldwide. Because of her huge success as
a pop singer, and her ever-changing images, she is often referred to as the
Madonna of Hong Kong, a comparison resented by some fans who felt that she
deserves to be recognized in her own right. Her singing career was once
compared to that of Diana Ross by CNN.
Anita Classics Moments Live Concert, held from November 6 to November 11, 2003
at Hong Kong Coliseum, was her sixth and the last concert, in which her final
symbolic act was to marry the stage, which was accompanied by her classic hit
Song of Sunset as she exited the stage for the final time.
Acting Career
Anita Mui was also well-known as an actress across the Asia region. Her
films have mainly been of the action thriller and kung fu variety, but she has
also taken comedic roles. 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 1995, she found some international recognition by starring
opposite Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx, the film that was largely
responsible for Jackie Chan himself breaking into the American market.
Apart from singing, Mui won her first acting award as a supporting actress in
the movie Fate in 1984. In 1987, her movie Rouge presented her with the Golden
Horse Best Actress award. Later on in 1997, she also won another best
supporting actress award with the movie Eighteen Springs.
Anita was originally cast for Zhang Yimou's 2004 movie House of Flying
Daggers. She resigned from her position in the movie only two weeks before her
death. Zhang had held her parts of filming to the last due to her poor health
condition. The filming was already 80% done when she died. Zhang didn't
replace Anita's role with another actress. The screenplay was changed to take
the storyline off the original character. The new leader of the House of
Flying Daggers never appears in the movie because it was Anita's role.
Other Contributions
Anita Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her
career.
In 1992, the Mayor of San Francisco declared April 18 of that year as Anita
Mui Day to honor her contributions to society by raising funds for the Nursing
Home which bears her name. October 26, 1993 was then again declared as Anita
Mui Day in San Francisco.
During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a
fund raising concert titled 1:99 Concert which was the second concert allowed
to be held at the Hong Kong Stadium.
She was one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild (HKPAG),
which was established in 1993, and was its chairlady. She resigned because of
her health.
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