Singing career In 1982, encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first
New Talent Singing Awards, organised by
TVB and
Capital Artists, in her stage name Yi Na. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by
Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been singing for more than 10 years performing as a busker from street and club performances during her childhood. The album drew a lukewarm response from the market. However, her subsequent albums,
Red () (1983) and
Leaping in the Spotlight () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image, with guidance and support from fashion designer
Eddie Lau. In 1983 and 1984, she won the
RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back. Her winning streak continued when she won another major award in 1985, her first
top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She 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. In 1985, at the age of 21, Mui held her first concert lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the
Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987 through early 1988, Mui held a series of 28 concerts at the Coliseum . This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also 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 also performing her own solo with one of her hit songs of that year, "Blazing Red Lips (烈燄紅唇)". On February 12, 1994, Mui was invited to hold a concert at the
MGM Grand Garden Arena which is located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The venue opened on December 31, 1993, with a concert by
Barbra Streisand, and subsequent concerts by
Luther Vandross, Mui herself and
Janet Jackson. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "
Strut") in
Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. 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. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies in a week (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards) and broke the selling record in Hong Kong. In 1994, she sold over 10 million albums. She was the first female singer in Hong Kong to achieve such sales result. Mui performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1998, aged 35, Mui was awarded the
RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement. In 2003, Mui announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage wearing a white wedding dress and veil. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of
The Manhattans' "
Kiss and Say Goodbye", on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on stage.
Acting career Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the
action-
thriller and
martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles. Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the
Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in
Behind the Yellow Line (1984) alongside fellow Cantopop icon
Leslie Cheung. Three years later in 1987, her performance in
Stanley Kwan's
Rouge, which also starred Cheung, won her the Best Actress Award at the
Golden Horse Awards, In the same year, she starred alongside
Chow Yun-fat in
Tsui Hark's
A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon, which features her iconic ballad "Song of the Sunset". She also co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in the 1988 romantic comedy
The Greatest Lover. In 1990, she was cast in the titular role for
Kawashima Yoshiko, a biopic of the flamboyant cross-dressing spy
Yoshiko Kawashima based on the novel by
Lilian Lee, who also authored the original novel and screenplay for
Rouge. In 1992, she starred alongside comedy icon
Stephen Chow in
Justice, My Foot!, proving her calibre in the comedy genre. She also paired up with Stephen Chow in 1993 in
Fight Back to School III. In the same year, she starred in
The Heroic Trio with
Michelle Yeoh and
Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite
Jackie Chan in
The Legend of Drunken Master and
Rumble in the Bronx. In 2003, Mui was originally cast for a major role for
House of Flying Daggers but eventually declined due to her failing health before any of her scenes were filmed. After her death on 30 December 2003, director
Zhang Yimou decided to alter the script to remove her character rather than recasting her. The film is dedicated to her memory. Throughout her career, the
tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours relentlessly plagued Mui, who was accused of having tattoos on her arms and plastic surgery, being addicted to drugs, suicidal behavior and being linked to the death of a
triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated. == Politics, activism, and philanthropy ==