Anita Mui, the Canto-pop diva of Hong Kong, died on Dec. 30 from cervical cancer. She was 40.
Mui was only five years old when she began singing Chinese opera and pop songs. She dropped out of junior high school to spend several years performing in bars and nightclubs. Her big break came in 1982 when she defeated 3,000 contestants to win first prize in the New Talent Singing Competition. Her deep voice and soulful delivery earned her a string of Cantonese hits (“Homecoming,” “Bad Girl”), but it was her flamboyant on-stage persona and frequent, trendsetting makeovers that earned her a reputation as “the Madonna of Asia.”
An equally impressive actress, Mui appeared in dozens of films, including “Rumble in the Bronx,” “The Heroic Trio” and “Drunken Master 2.” Her portrayal of a tortured ghost in the movie, “Rouge,” earned her Taiwan’s Golden Horse Award and the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress in 1987.
The superstar also had a philanthropic side. She established the Anita Mui Charity Foundation in the early 1990s, and organized the 1:99 Concert in Hong Kong in 2003 to help raise spirits and money for families affected by the SARS outbreak. Last month, she published the book, “The Heart of the Modern Woman (Nu Ren De Xin),” to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Foundation.
“Instant shining is not eternity. Show business is a hard life. I wonder how many people will remember me after I leave the business for good. My hope is that when they feel bored and look at the stars in the sky, people will think of my name,” Mui once said.
She was young, she was talented, she was a babe. As Stephen Crane might have said: God is cold.
Anita Mui is my favourite singer with a great personality that woman should be strong and tough when it comes to challenge but also can be soft and kind when it comes to friends and family or love ones. Not only because of her great talent in singing with so many different styles that she had and good at them all. Her songs are fill with meaning of life, expression of a person. She definitely has been a great model for me to look up to and gives me great inspiration to create different photos with meanings or stories. Thanks Anita and forever you will be in my memories!! Silly Cat
Anita is a great star. She is so talented and will be remembered for all. Wish she is resting in peace in heaven, though she is not Christian.
“…though she is not christian”… Does that really make a person any less than human?
Rest in Peace Anita! We will never forget you!
this tribute might come too late now, but as an Anita Mui fan i really, really loved to talk about her. i loved her so much that i regret not being able to meet her in this lifetime. she has the most beautiful voice i’ve ever heard and i ever will. Ah Mui, wherever you are (though i know you’re in Nirvana) i will never forget you and i hope someday i could be with you in Nirvana and sing together. I love you!!! I miss you!
Anita, u are 1 hell of a diva with a BIG heart. Rest in Peace and u will laways be in my heart!!
U are my shining star…..
Anita Mui is one of my favorite Martial Arts Icons especialy for her work with Jet Li. She will be sorely missed. The movie House of Flying Daggers was a fitting dedication to her memory.
Thank you for posting this entry. It’s lovely that many of u miss Anita as much as I do. I haven’t seen her face to face before, but I am a fan of her songs, Man Chu sa Wa and Bad Girl. She was so original in her endeavours!
Always Queen of Cantopop!
She was a great actress and very beautiful i loved her movies and i would loved to have seen her before she died i love the legend of the druken master and jet li’s the enforcer, anita i miss u so much i love u girl, rest in peace and watch down on us all
I only watched one of her movies (Wu Yen) and she was great. Rest In Peace..
I will always love you,Anita! rest in peace…
anita, u r the best, especially in the movies where u (anita) was with stephen chow like JUSTICE MY FOOT and FIGHT BAK 2 SKOOL 3, also drunken master 2 that was so funny and lots more
it’s nearly been 2 yrs u left us, we all missed u so, 2 morrow is the day u left us 2 yrs ago
i will never forget u
She died with fame and money. She was talented and beautiful. She was one of my favorite Asian actors. She is loved and missed
R.I.P
She’s the Madonna of Asia.
Her life is like a touching musical.
She’ll always be in my heart.
A Beautiful Angel indeed.
I seen the actress Anita Mui co-starring with Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh in action movies, I seen those three incredible women join together as female superheroes which is very amazing and heroic. It make me feel good when I seen those ladies became the best of friends, it brings closer together like family. I feel very, very sad that the actress Anita passed away, I can tell the Anita Mui is one of the best actress in the world which I never forget, and I can describe her as amazingly beautiful, special, smart, intelligence, heart of courage, heart of gold, energy, inspiring and dedicated.
I’m a 39 year old martial artist from trinidad and tobago.I only learnt of anita’s death this year,prabably it’s because my country is so far away.I was deeply shocked and surprised to hear of her death,i really enjoyed all her martial arts films.I never know she was such a talented singer.i really miss that star,she was indeed a star.
When I heard of Anita Mui’s departure I was shocked, but I know she is in a better place. Anita, you make me laugh, yo make me smile, now you are in a safe place…wishing you great peace and happines.Watch over China for us….love you and miss you….
U *R* a really Big Heart Chick Anita… I MiSs U soooooo Much, & WISH 4 enternity, U WERE BACK WITH US… PeAcE in HeAvEn Chick, Yet, G*D BLESSED U…!?!?!?!?!!? We Luv u mutz… Very…
:(= May eva1 Luv U…!!!
I think she is the only one no body can replace her…………if she had seek the doctor early
she would had died.
!!love you anita…peace be with you always…where ever you are…i know that ur happy now…ur such a good singer…and also a good actress!!!
when news came I never cared about it,I never knew who she was back then, the only thing that I remembered was jackie chans friend died who is also known as the madonna of hong kong and they posted many pictures of her in heavy make up.
I have been a martial arts movie fan watching bruce and jackie chan, love drunken master and then I discovered that there was also the sequel,the frirst time I saw her she was in a character of step mother of wong fei hong,she praying and then boom, she layed down her mah-jong, The first thing that came to my mind was she is quite one hell of character,I fell in love with her,she was so funny, and her facial expression was just right,when I started to research about her I just found out that she was that madonna of hong kong that had died years ago, I’m a bit broken inside, cause I know it sound so lame that I’m just talking about one movie and have no clue of who this girl was, but I loved every single minute of that movie because of her,she was so funny,glamourous,exotic and very energetic.there was nobody like her, I wished that she wasn’t that madonna of hong kong that I have heard deceased,
I may not know the real anita mui,was she the real person on drunken master2? i don’t know, I haven’t even had a chance to take a glimpse on her musical side but what I do know is that in just that movie I fell in love with her,no other woman in the world had ever made me laugh or gave me much of a good time than watching her on that film and if she was still alive today I wouldn’t hesitate on following closely to her career.
i luv u anita mui u rock i feel sad that u died even thught u r sick u kept singing wow lol when i am sick i cant sing u r my idol R.I.P
thx for the great songs u provided 4 us ill never forget u
Anita Mui, you are the GREATEST!When I look at the star, I think of you. You bring joys to the universe. Thank you so much!
Love you and miss you….
Your fan, Sam Chao