The Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong (Review 10).

Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Liming and Aaron Kwok, the "four kings" of Hong Kong pop music, were mythical existences in the entertainment circle in the early 1990s of 1965-438+0990. Together, they created the peak of Hong Kong idol culture, and left the influential "One Day of Our Pop Music".

To talk about the "Four Heavenly Kings", let's start with "Zhang Tan strives for hegemony".

1In the middle and late 1980s, the field of male singers was dominated by Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung. They are radiant and fiercely competitive, forming a situation in which the two dragons compete for hegemony, dividing up the main music awards of male singers in Hong Kong music scene, but also causing vicious competition among fans. As long as these two people appear at the same time, it must be Qi Fei who applauds and boos. Fans on both sides are incompatible with each other, causing unpleasant events and even physical conflicts many times. Around the topic of who should win the prize, it even triggered malicious speculation such as breach of contract and buying prizes.

The duel lasted until February 1988. At the 10th Golden Melody Awards Ceremony in Chinese, Alan Tam suddenly burst into tears and announced that he would never receive the award again.

Alan Tam's retirement made Leslie Cheung desperate for failure. Invincible is easy to feel lonely. 1989, Leslie Cheung also announced his retirement from music, focusing on movies, and held a ceremony to seal the wheat at the farewell concert. At this point, the era of "Zhang Tan's hegemony" officially ended, and the Hong Kong pop music scene entered a vacuum period in which male singers and superstars were absent.

As early as when Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung became famous, an ordinary-looking young man with extraordinary singing skills also rose quietly. He is Jacky Cheung.

Jacky Cheung was born as a talent show singer. 1984 participated in the first amateur singing competition in Hong Kong 18 district and won the championship with a song "Kindness of the Earth". From then on, he entered the music scene.

Since 1985, Cantonese songs, such as Love is Dead, Half Moon, She in the Distance, Sun and Stars, have gained a firm foothold in the music world, won the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards on radio for three times in a row, and are recognized as the leaders of a new generation of male singers.

However, the rapid popularity also made young Jacky Cheung quickly lost. 1988, he reported the negative news of alcoholism and life indulgence, his image was seriously damaged, his record sales plummeted, and he still didn't get any results at the award ceremony that year. A promising star of tomorrow has faint signs of becoming a meteor.

Soon after, Leslie Cheung announced his withdrawal from the award ceremony, and the Hong Kong music scene reached a critical moment of reshuffle. Jacky Cheung saw hope again, so on 1989, he was not ashamed to ask questions and went forward, and released two music albums, For My Darling and I only want to love one person in my life, which turned the tide and returned to the ranks of first-line singers in Hong Kong.

Compared with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau's music got off to a bumpy start. 1982, he was encouraged by George Lam during the filming of "Go to the Angry Sea" and came up with the idea of developing synchronously to the music scene.

At that time, Andy Lau, who was not outstanding in vocal conditions and did not know how to sing, took Dai Sicong, the godfather of music, as a teacher and studied vocal music.

1985, he released his first album "I only know that I love you at the moment". As a result, the market crashed and only a few hundred copies were sold. In the following four years, six records were released. Although songs such as "Emotional Forbidden Zone" and "I hate my infatuation" received good response, they were not recognized by any music awards. In the light of Jacky Cheung and Lv Fang, Andy Lau's musical achievements in the 1980s can only be described as dull.

1990, Andy Lau's singing career ushered in a turning point. He released the Cantonese record "Can", which sold three platinum copies, that is,150,000 copies, and won his first important music award "Top Ten Golden Melody Awards in Chinese" with the title song of the same name.

In the same year, the Mandarin album "If You Are My Legend" was released, with a sales volume of four platinum. The title song of the same name quickly became popular in Taiwan Province Province, Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia, and Andy Lau became the first Hong Kong singer to successfully open the Mandarin song market.

Once good luck begins, it can't stop. 199065438+In February, Andy Lau released another Cantonese album "Farewell", and the title song of the same name won the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards of Radio Television Hong Kong. What's more, he beat other newcomers and won the Top Ten Most Popular Male Singers Award of Emerald Pure Gold, which reached the peak of popularity and was regarded as taking over Leslie Cheung's class.

Dawn, the third king, appeared later than Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau, but became popular faster. 1986 participated in the 5th Hong Kong Rookie Singing Contest and won the bronze medal, thus entering the entertainment circle. Like Andy Lau, he mainly participated in TV dramas in the early stage.

1990, Dawn released her first solo album "Leon", which became popular with the hit song "Meeting in the Rain" and won many newcomer awards at the Hong Kong Music Awards. 199 1 year, Dawn's second album "Close to You" sold100000 copies, and its first mandarin album "Will you come tonight" successfully entered Taiwan Province province and mainland market, and was regarded as one of Dawn's most popular songs. Another Cantonese album, Love and Fate, became the highest-selling album of the year at 199 1 IFPI Hong Kong Record Sales Award.

Dawn, a newcomer to the music scene, shot to fame at super-light speed, becoming a super-popular first-line singer, and forming the strongest "Three Musketeers" with Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau. Its popularity has even surpassed that of Andy Lau. At that time, there was a saying in the entertainment circle in Hong Kong: "No matter how red it is, it is not as red as dawn."

Of these four people, Aaron Kwok is the latest to become popular. He made his official debut from 1988. At first, he made a TV series on the radio. He is a third-line actor, mainly playing supporting roles.

From 65438 to 0990, Aaron Kwok performed handsome motorcycle advertisements in Taiwan Province and became a well-known advertising star, thus entering the music scene. In September of the same year, she released her first Mandarin album "I can't finish loving you".

This album shows amazing sales ability, with 250,000 copies sold in Taiwan Province Province and 1 10,000 copies sold in Asia. Aaron Kwok became popular across the Taiwan Strait overnight.

199 1 released two mandarin albums, Should I Leave Quietly and Who Can Tell Me? The popularity was feedback to Hong Kong, and it won the gold medal of "Most Promising Newcomer" of Radio Television Hong Kong for the first time 199 1, and the commercial radio station "All-around Male Singer in Music".

1992, Aaron Kwok returned to Hong Kong, and her selected Mandarin album "Please Take My Feelings Home" won four platinum sales. The Cantonese song "The Mood of the Fourth Night" won the 1992 Top Ten Golden Melody Award, and the famous song "I can't stop loving you" won the "Silver Award for the most popular Mandarin song".

With superb dancing skills and handsome appearance, Aaron Kwok rose suddenly, squeezing out Hacken Lee, a singer with high voice, and was compared with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Liming by the media, and was called "Four Kings" together.

Who first put forward this title? Some people say that he is the "father of Hong Kong concerts" Zhang, some people say that he is the proprietress, and some people say that he is a senior member of Radio Television Hong Kong. There is no unified public opinion. But at 1992, the plaque of "Four Kings" was hung on the radio station on the spot, which is for sure.

The birth of the title of "Four Heavenly Kings" can be said to be the product of weather, geography, people and intersection. With the gradual fading out of Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung, the Hong Kong music scene has entered a short vacuum period. No matter the media, record companies or fans, they are in urgent need of new idols to fill the gap, so the "Four Kings" came into being.

The appearance of this title means that the replacement of Hong Kong music idols has been successfully completed, "Zhang Tan's hegemony" has become a thing of the past, and the era of "four little dragons playing with water" has arrived, which also indicates that Hong Kong's entertainment industrialization and star-making movement have reached its peak.

Among the four people, Jacky Cheung is superb in singing, Andy Lau is handsome and popular, and her singing and acting skills are developing in two tracks. Dawn is tall and handsome, and her popularity is invincible, and she has a refined literary temperament. Aaron Kwok combines handsome face and unique dancing skills, each with its own characteristics and style.

During the eight years from 1992 to 1999, four people basically monopolized 70% of the major music awards, and the other 30% was divided between female singers and other male singers, including Hacken Lee, Lv Fang, Huang Kaiqin and other powerful male singers, who were always shrouded in the shadow of the "Four Kings".

The existence of the four of them has made Hong Kong's entertainment industry unprecedentedly prosperous, created a music trend that swept across Chinese-speaking areas, and even became an unprecedented pop culture phenomenon, and its influence continues to this day. But objectively, it also squeezed the space of other singers, resulting in no successor in Hong Kong's music scene.

So, at the peak of the "Four Kings", who was the most popular? Who was the first king? This is bound to be a fair and reasonable question, but the data can't fool people. Let's take a closer look.

Hong Kong music scene is known as the "Four Awards Ceremony", namely, the "Top Ten Golden Melody Awards Ceremony" of Radio Television Hong Kong, the "Top Ten Chinese Golden Melody Awards Ceremony" of Commercial Radio and the "Top Ten Awards Ceremony" of Metro Radio.

So, how did the "Four Kings" perform in the core awards of the four award ceremonies?

Ten Jade Gold Award-winning songs: Andy Lau 2 1 song, Jacky Cheung 16, Dawn 10, Aaron Kwok 10.

Top Ten Most Popular Male Singers in Jade Pure Gold: Andy Lau 6 times, Aaron Kwok 3 times, Dawn 2 times, Jacky Cheung 1 time.

Top Ten Jade Gold Awards: Jacky Cheung 4 times, Dawn 4 times, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok 0 times.

Top Ten Chinese Golden Songs: Jacky Cheung 24, Andy Lau 22, Liming 1 1, Aaron Kwok 10.

The top ten Chinese golden songs won the highest sales prize in China: 8 in Jacky Cheung, 3 in Andy Lau, and 0 in Liming and Aaron Kwok.

Gold medals for male singers in pop charts: Jacky Cheung 5 times, Dawn 2 times, Aaron Kwok/KLOC-0 times, Andy Lau 0 times.

My favorite music awards: Jacky Cheung 5 times, Dawn 2 times, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok 0 times.

Gold Award for Best Male Singer in Xincheng: Andy Lau 9 times, Dawn 3 times, Jacky Cheung/KLOC-0 times, Aaron Kwok 0 times.

In addition to the above four award ceremonies, there is also a very objective award, that is, the IFPI annual highest-selling local male singer awards of the International Federation of the Recording Industry: Jacky Cheung 8, Andy Lau 4, Liming and Aaron Kwok 1.

Through the comparison of the above nine data, combined with the strength of singing skills, the popularity and influence of songs, we can basically draw a conclusion:

Among the four heavenly kings of Hong Kong music, Jacky Cheung ranks first, Andy Lau ranks second, Liming ranks third and Aaron Kwok ranks fourth. This position is completely in line with the popularity order of the four stars in music.

Do you agree with the ranking of the "Four Kings"? Welcome everyone to leave a message and exchange.