| George Lam | |
| Native Name: | 林子祥 |
| Native Name Lang: | zh |
| Birth Date: | 1947 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | British Hong Kong |
use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->| death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | burial_place = | burial_coordinates = | occupation = Singer, composer, music producer, actor| years_active = 1976–present| spouse =
| Embed: | yes |
| Alias: | Ah Lam (Chinese) Lam (English) |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Genre: | Cantopop, English pop |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Label: | Warner Music Group, EMI |
| module2 =
| Child: | yes |
| C: | 林子祥 |
| P: | Lín Zǐxiáng |
| J: | lam4 zi2 coeng4 |
}}George Lam Tsz-Cheung (born 12 October 1947), also known professionally by his surname Lam, is a Hong Kong-based veteran Cantopop singer, singer-songwriter, music producer and actor, with a career that has so far lasted more than four decades. Lam produces most of his own albums, writes many of his own songs, occasionally writes for other artists, and covers other people's songs. Lam has a wide vocal range and is capable of interpreting and performing many different genres of music. He is heavily involved with planning and designing his concerts and his LP/CD covers. He was the one who came up with the first Cantopop rap, "Ah Lam's Diary", and he also pioneered the stringing together of multiple hit Cantopop songs to create a 10-minute long medley which is called "10 Minutes 12 Inches". In 2019, Lam interwove his songs together to put on a musical-like concert, Lamusical.
In addition to his singing career, Lam has also acted in some TV dramas, and played lead roles in many films, making his film debut in Luckies Trio in 1978. Possibly his most memorable role was as Stephen Akutagawa, a Japanese journalist in Boat People (1982), directed by Ann Hui.
Lam was born in British Hong Kong to a family of physicians, with both his father (a Yuen Long obstetrician) and paternal grandfather (former hospital chief executive of Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital) being doctors. He attended Tak Sun Primary School, then Diocesan Boys' School, a predominantly English-language boys school, where he was a boarder. At the latter school, he chose to study French rather than Chinese as a second language.
Lam started to pick up music at a young age. His grandfather often took him to movies, both Chinese and Western ones, which exposed him to film music. In addition, his mom loved to sing and dance while his dad loved listening to music and playing piano. All this constant music around him kindled his interest in this art form. He started to love listening to music on the radio when he was a teenager and taught himself to play guitar. In 1965, Lam left Hong Kong to further his studies in the United Kingdom. During this time and his subsequent stay in the United States, his musical horizon was further broadened by exposure to a great variety of musical genres in those countries.
When he first went to the United Kingdom in 1965, he attended Dover College (he was a Leamingtonian there) under the headship of Timothy Cobb. His long time pal Ching Y. Wong, S.C., also from Diocesan Boys' School. attended there as well. After about a year, he transferred to Barcote School of Coaching to join his brother, Tony. There he formed a folk song group, the Midnighters, with two friends. Lam paid a return visit to both colleges in January 2019.
After his studies in the UK, Lam remained for a few years for work before moving to California, where he coached tennis and worked in a stock brokerage firm. It was during this time that Lam started writing his own songs. Not long thereafter, he returned to Hong Kong to launch his music career. Lam started as one of the lead singers in the band "Jade". In 1976, he went solo with the release of his first English album, "Lam". His first Cantonese album came out in 1978. In 1980, two of his compositions ("In The Middle of The Water"《在水中央》and "Need You Every Minute"《分分鐘需要你》) won Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. Throughout the 1980s, 23 of Lam's songs topped the RTHK Chinese Pop Chart, making him second only to Alan Tam, who had 28.[1] [2]
Over the years, he has introduced a wide variety of song styles to the Hong Kong pop music scene, with many originals and covers becoming Cantopop classics. He taps into a wide variety of sources to choose which songs to do covers of, including songs from the United Kingdom, United States, Western Europe, Russia, Middle East, Latin America, Japan, South Korea, etc. The pieces he selects to cover range in genre from folk songs, classical music, and jazz musicals, to funk and rock and roll. His work encompasses a wide stylistic range, from country rock, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk, jazz, rap, traditional Chinese songs, to tango and bossa nova. Lam has also hosted television music programs, acted in tele-dramas, and played lead roles on film.
During a May 2003 performance at the Hong Kong Coliseum, Lam accidentally fell 2.5 metres through a stage floor opening while performing as a guest of Liza Wang. The accident injured his right ear, resulting in partial hearing loss, particularly in high frequencies, and tinnitus. Thereafter, he could essentially only hear sounds in mono. A few months after his injury, he gave a series of concerts across southern China for the purpose of acclimating himself to performing with his altered hearing. During this short period, he readily adapted to this new reality and was able to perform "like normal" on stage, thereby resuming his career in full.
Lam has remained active for more than four decades. Over this timespan, he has gained not only the recognition and respect of peers such as Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, and Paula Tsui, but he has also played a significant role in shaping the Hong Kong music scene. Many of today's top singers such as Eason Chan, Hacken Lee, and Andy Lau have been influenced by his music.
In recognition of his contribution to music, Lam was given numerous awards, including the Golden Needle Award in 1994, the CASH Hall of Fame Award in 2003, the J.S.G. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and the RTHK Hall of Fame Award in 2016.
Lam married Ng Ching Yuen in 1980. Together, they have a son, Alex Lam Tak Shun, who is also a singer and actor, and a daughter April. Lam and Ng divorced in 1994. On 17 July 1996, he married singer and actress Sally Yeh. As Sally Yeh, April and Alex were all raised abroad, they cannot read Chinese, so he writes pronunciation guides for them.
In sports, Lam used to love playing tennis, and now he loves playing golf. Besides composing songs, his creativity also gets him into drawing, and he has a particular fondness for drawing mazes. In 2013, an intricate maze artwork drawn by Lam was depicted and engraved onto the cassock of a Lalique crystal Buddha. This was the very first collaboration project that the French brand Lalique had worked with a Chinese artist. Lam also likes tailoring, often modifying clothes to his own taste.
Lam has a very wide tenor range. His highest notes could reach F5, D#6 in full voice and volume rather than soft falsetto. His lowest note is G2, ten notes below middle C (C4).
| List of Albums by George Lam | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Album Title | Year |
| Cantonese | 各師各法 | 1978 |
| 抉擇 | 1979 | |
| 摩登土佬[3] | 1980 | |
| 一個人[4] | 1980 | |
| 活色生香 | 1981 | |
| 海市蜃樓[5] | 1982 | |
| 愛情故事 | 1983 | |
| 創作歌集 | 1983 | |
| 愛到發燒 | 1984 | |
| 林子祥85特輯 (LAM '85) | 1985 | |
| 十分十二吋 (12" Single) | 1985 | |
| 誘惑 | 1985 | |
| 最愛 | 1986 | |
| 千億個夜晚[6] | 1983 | |
| 花街70號 | 1987 | |
| 林子祥創作+歌集 | 1988 | |
| 生命之曲 | 1988 | |
| 林子祥長青歌集 | 1989 | |
| 十三子祥[7] | 1990 | |
| 日落日出[8] | 1990 | |
| 小說歌集 | 1991 | |
| 最難忘的你 | 1992 | |
| 祈望 | 1992 | |
| '93創作歌集[9] | 1993 | |
| 單手拍掌[10] | 1994 | |
| 緣是這樣 | 1996 | |
| 好氣連祥 | 1997 | |
| 現代人新曲+精選 | 1998 | |
| 只有林子祥[11] | 2001 | |
| Until We Meet Again | 2004 | |
| 佐治地球轉[12] | 2007 | |
| Lamusique[13] | 2010 | |
| Lamusique Vintage[14] | 2011 | |
| LAMUSIC Original Classics | 2014 | |
| 佐治地球40年 | 2015 | |
| English | Lam | 1976 |
| Lam II | 1977 | |
| Teresa Carpio & Lam[15] | 1978 | |
| Lessons | 1990 | |
| When a Man Loves a Woman[16] | 1993 | |
| Mandarin | 這是你是真的傷了我的心 | 1991 |
| 這樣愛過你 | 1992 | |
| 決定[17] | 1993 | |
| 感謝 | 1995 | |
| 尋祥歌 | 1998 | |
(actor unless otherwise noted)[18] [19]
| Year | Title | Role | Awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Luckies Trio 《各師各法》 | |||
| 1979 | Money Trip 《懵女，大賊，傻偵探》 | |||
| The Secret 《瘋劫》 | ||||
| 1980 | Disco Bumpkins 《摩登土佬》 | |||
| Confused Hero 《糊塗英雄》 | ||||
| 1981 | All the Wrong Clues 《鬼馬智多星》 | |||
| Life After Life 《再生人》 | ||||
| 1982 | Aces Go Places 《最佳拍檔》 | |||
| It Takes Two 《難兄難弟》 | ||||
| Boat People 《投奔怒海》 | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor | |||
| 1983 | All the Wrong Spies 《我愛夜來香》 | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | ||
| 1984 | Banana Cops 《英倫琵琶》 | |||
| The Owl vs Bombo 《貓頭鷹與小飛象》 | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | |||
| 1985 | Kung Hei Fat Choy 《恭喜發財》 | |||
| Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars 《夏日福星》 | ||||
| It's a Drink, It's a Bomb 《聖誕奇遇結良緣》 | ||||
| Lost Romance | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | |||
| 1986 | Passion 《最愛》 | Won – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | ||
| 1987 | Easy Money 《通天大盜》 | |||
| 1988 | Heart to Hearts 《三人世界》 | |||
| Starry is the Night 《今夜星光燦爛》 | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | |||
| 1989 | Perfect Match 《最佳男朋友》 | |||
| Heart into Hearts 《三人新世界》 | ||||
| 1990 | A Bite of Love 《一咬OK》 | |||
| Shanghai Shanghai 《亂世兒女》 | ||||
| 1991 | The Banquet 《豪門夜宴》 | |||
| The Perfect Match 《富貴吉祥》 | ||||
| 1992 | Heart Against Hearts 《三人做世界》 | |||
| 1993 | Perfect Couples 《皆大歡喜》 | |||
| 1997 | A Queer Story 《基佬四十》 | |||
| Up for the Rising Sun 《擁抱朝陽》 | ||||
| 2003 | Love Under the Sun | |||
| 2004 | Six Strong Guys 《六壯士》 | |||
| 2006 | Love at First Note 《戀愛初歌》 | |||
| 2007 | The Pye-Dog | Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song | ||
| Wonder Women | ||||
| 2009 | Look for a Star 《游龍戲鳳》 | |||
| 2011 | Hi, Fidelity 《出軌的女人》 | |||
| 2018 | Europe Raiders | |||
| 2021 | Singing With Legends 《我们的歌3》 | Variety show, senior singer |