 Roman
Tam Pak-sin (February 16, 1950 - October 18, 2002) was a canto-pop singer. Tam
was seen as a cultural icon to Chinese communities around the world (including
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and, later, Mainland China) and had a string of
hits in a career spanning 30 years. He was well-respected for his singing
skills, his positive outlooks, and his insistence on correct pronunciations.
He was also groundbreaking in being the first major
Hong Kong singer to pose in drag and to pose in the nude.
He was born in Guangxi and went to Hong Kong in 1962. After forming a
short-lived band known as Roman and the Four Steps, he became a contract
singer of Television Broadcasts Limited. He briefly switched in the early
1990s to Asia Television Ltd.
He died in Hong Kong of liver cancer. His obituaries referred to him as either
the godfather of canto-pop (Associated Press) or canto-pop's closest
equivalent to Frank Sinatra (Wall Street Journal).
During the 1990s he accepted many budding singers as his students; some of
those that became famous later include Joey Yung and Ekin Cheng.
Tam died unmarried, although he was at that time living together with his male
assistant.
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