SINGERS from Hong Kong

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Singers of all time. This list of famous Chinese Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Singers.

1. Anita Mui (1963 - 2003)

With an HPI of 55.13, Anita Mui is the most famous Chinese Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.

Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong 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 a Cantopop diva. 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 the East" (東方麥當娜), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media. 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, 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, mainland 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.

2. Alan Tam (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 53.34, Alan Tam is the 2nd most famous Chinese Singer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Alan Tam Wing-lun (traditional Chinese: 譚詠麟; simplified Chinese: 谭咏麟; pinyin: Tán Yǒnglín; Cantonese Yale: Taam4 Wing6 leon4; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam received numerous music awards and won Most Popular Male Artist and IFPI Award for successive four years, which made him the most famous superstar singer of Hong Kong in 1980s. In early 1988, he publicly quit all pop music award ceremonies and put most efforts in searching new direction for Cantopop music. Today, he is still active in the music and film industry, releasing new albums on a regular basis. Since the late 1980s, he has served as a mentor for the cantopop music industry, earning the nickname the "Principal" or "Principal Tam". Today he is regularly seen across the media in Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, and various parts of East Asia participating in all types of entertainment-related events and charity activities. As of 2013, Alan Tam has launched a total of 115 solo albums and has sold over 35 million records worldwide; he also holds the record for having held the most concerts in Hong Kong as a solo artist. 20 of his albums have been certified platinum by the IFPI Hong Kong.

3. Aaron Kwok (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 51.75, Aaron Kwok is the 3rd most famous Chinese Singer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Aaron Kwok Fu-shing (born 26 October 1965) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer, actor and racing driver, known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" and the "God of Dance". Active since the 1980s, he has released over 30 studio albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, mostly in the dance-pop genre, with elements of rock, R&B, soul, electronica and traditional Chinese music. Concurrently with his music career, Kwok started as an actor with a role in the TVB television drama Genghis Khan (1987), followed by Twilight of a Nation (1988), Man from Guangdong (1991), Heartstrings (1994), and Wars of Bribery (1996). He gained widespread recognition in the movie Saviour of the Soul (1991), for which he was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. His notable films include Future Cops (1993), China Strike Force (2000), Divergence (2005), After This Our Exile (2006), Cold War (2012), Port of Call (2015), for which he received a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, Cold War 2 (2016), and Project Gutenberg (2018).

4. Kelly Chen (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 46.04, Kelly Chen is the 4th most famous Chinese Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kelly Chen Wai-lam (born Vivian Chen Wai-man on 13 September 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She has been referred to as a "Diva of Asia" (Chinese: 亞洲天后; lit. 'Asia's Heavenly Queen'). Chen has great success in the East Asian entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums. According to Oriental Daily News, Chen was the highest earning female Hong Kong celebrity of 2014, earning 83 million HKD (US$10.7 million).

5. Jackson Wang (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 44.08, Jackson Wang is the 5th most famous Chinese Singer.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Jackson Wang (Chinese: 王嘉爾; Korean: 왕잭슨; born Wang Ka-yee; 28 March 1994) is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, formed by JYP Entertainment, and the founder of record label Team Wang, where he serves as the creative director and lead designer for its subsidiary fashion brand Team Wang Design. Wang released his first solo album, Mirrors in 2019, which peaked number 32 on the American Billboard 200, followed by his second album Magic Man released in 2022, which peaked number 15. In 2021, Wang left JYP Entertainment and formed the Chinese hip hop group, Panthepack, under Team Wang. Prior to his music career, Wang was a sabre fencer and competed in numerous domestic and international competitions. Wang was featured in the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list and ranked 10th in 2021. Wang has the highest number of Instagram followers among Chinese celebrities, with 32.2 million as of May 2023.

6. Sammi Cheng (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 41.66, Sammi Cheng is the 6th most famous Chinese Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Sammi Cheng Sau-man (Chinese: 鄭秀文; pinyin: Zhèng Xiùwén; born 19 August 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is considered one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong, with album sales of over 25 million copies throughout the Asia-pacific. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the "Cantopop Diva". Having success in entertainment industry for over three decades, Cheng is also best known for her roles in Hong Kong rom-com films in the early 2000s that were box office hits. For her performance in the 2022 film Lost Love, she won 4 best actress honors including the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress. Since her debut, Cheng has won the IFPI Hong Kong Music Top Sales Awards for the best-selling Local Female Vocalist of the Year nine times. From 1993 to 2010, Cheng won a total of 12 Top Female Vocalist awards, 14 Best-selling Local Female Vocalist Awards and has 7 albums that are the Best-selling Cantonese Release of the Year. She had also previously won the Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist Award in annual Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation for three times, and in a year winning also the Gold Song Gold Award, the highest-ranked award which is the last to be presented at the ceremony. She also received Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award for Female Singer in 2011 Metro Radio Hits Awards. She had also won many top honors in various Chinese music awards held in Asia, including the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist Hong Kong 3 times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She has produced over 80 studio albums, 10 live concert albums, over 130 singles (songs) with also over 30 cover songs and had received numerous awards from acting to singing. She also starred in close to 40 films and 7 television dramas(in early years) and had held approximately 200 concerts up to date with over 11 concert tours. She is one of the female artists with most concert shows in Hong Kong Coliseum, at 115.

7. Gillian Chung (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 41.31, Gillian Chung is the 7th most famous Chinese Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Gillian Chung Ka-lai (born Chung Tik-shan, 21 January 1981), known by her stage name Chung Yan-tung, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is a member of the Cantopop duo Twins, along with Charlene Choi.

8. William Chan (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 39.39, William Chan is the 8th most famous Chinese Singer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

William Chan Wai-ting (born 21 November 1985) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. In 2003, he participated in New Talent Singing Awards where he won several awards. He was then signed under Emperor Entertainment Group. He began his singing career by joining Cantopop group Sun Boy'z in 2006 and left the group in 2008 to pursue a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in the same year. Since then, he has released a total of 7 albums and 6 singles. Since 2013, he gradually shifted his career focus to mainland China. He is known for his roles in television series Swords of Legends (2014), The Mystic Nine (2016), Lost Love in Times (2017), Age of Legends (2018) and Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021).

9. Joey Yung (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 38.79, Joey Yung is the 9th most famous Chinese Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Joey Yung (Chinese: 容祖兒; Cantonese Yale: Yùhng Jóuyìh, pinyin: Róng Zǔ'ér; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer signed to Emperor Entertainment Group. Since her debut in 1996, Yung has won numerous awards, including the JSG Most Popular Female Singer and Ultimate Best Female Singer – Gold awards a record-breaking nine times. She was ranked 63rd on the 2014 Forbes China Celebrity 100, making her the most influential Hong Kong–based female singer that year. In 2014, she reportedly earned HK$80 million (US$10.3 million).

10. Lucas Wong (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 33.60, Lucas Wong is the 10th most famous Chinese Singer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Wong Yuk-hei (Chinese: 黃旭熙; born 25 January 1999), known professionally as Lucas (Korean: 루카스), is a Hong Kong rapper signed under SM Entertainment. He is a member of the supergroup SuperM, and a former member of the South Korean boy group NCT and its Chinese sub-unit WayV. He made his solo debut on 1 April 2024, with the single album Renegade.