Anita Mui Yim-fong was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours.
48 Facts About Anita Mui
2.
Anita Mui remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva.
3.
Anita Mui was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
4.
Anita Mui was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in tandem with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
5.
Anita Mui's career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced she had cervical cancer.
6.
Anita Mui was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon.
7.
Anita Mui is the youngest daughter in a family of four children.
8.
Anita Mui is the only child born in Hong Kong in her family, as her brothers and sister were born in China.
9.
Anita Mui's mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou.
10.
Anita Mui 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.
11.
Anita Mui's siblings are Mui Kai-Ming, Mui Tak-Ming and Ann Mui, who was a singer.
12.
In some of her interviews, Anita Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor.
13.
Anita Mui performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets.
14.
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Anita Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards.
15.
Anita Mui's winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award.
16.
Anita Mui was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards in 1989 for the ballad "Song of the Sunset", which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
17.
Anita Mui's best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl", which sold over 400,000 copies.
18.
Anita Mui's popularity was 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 performing her own solo with one of her hit songs of that year, "Blazing Red Lips ".
19.
In 1995, Anita Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature.
20.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Anita Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers.
21.
Anita Mui held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage.
22.
Anita 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.
23.
Anita Mui was well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period.
24.
Anita Mui's films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had taken comedic and dramatic roles.
25.
Anita Mui's first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line alongside fellow Cantopop icon Leslie Cheung.
26.
Anita Mui co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in the 1988 romantic comedy The Greatest Lover.
27.
Anita Mui paired up with Stephen Chow in 1993 in Fight Back to School III.
28.
Anita Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers, but she resigned only two weeks before her death.
29.
Out of respect for Anita Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay.
30.
Anita Mui received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" during the closing credits.
31.
Anita 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.
32.
Anita Mui performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China.
33.
Anita Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community.
34.
Anita Mui was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life.
35.
Anita Mui was awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao.
36.
In 1990, Anita Mui began dating Benjamin Lam Kwok-bun, who was a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.
37.
On 5 September 2003, Anita Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had died.
38.
Anita Mui's symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" as she exited the stage.
39.
Anita 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.
40.
Anita Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
41.
On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui, was dedicated to Mui.
42.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
43.
In 2021, she was portrayed in the biopic Anita Mui, directed by Longman Leung.
44.
Anita Mui was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.
45.
In 2008, Anita Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million.
46.
Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Anita Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death.
47.
The High Court ruled that Anita Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.
48.
Anita Mui's brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals.