George Lam

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.

Early life
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.

Career
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.

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.

Personal life
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 April and Alex were raised abroad, neither Alex nor April can 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.

Voice and timbre
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).

Concerts

 * 1976 《Teresa Carpio & George Lam Concert》
 * 1981 《林子祥Show》
 * 1983 《林子祥演唱會》
 * 1985 《林子祥85演唱會》
 * 1987 《林子祥演唱會》
 * 1988-1989 《LAM 88-89 LIVE》
 * 1990-1991 《特醇星徽林子祥90演唱會》
 * 1992-1993 《白花油林子祥有情演唱會》
 * 1995 《林子祥寄廿載情演唱會95》95 Lam in Live
 * 1998 《林子祥葉蒨文好氣連場98'》
 * 2001《最愛接觸林子祥演唱會》 Live Contact Lam 2001
 * 2001 《01年拉闊壓軸 林子祥&陳奕迅音樂會》
 * 2002 《港樂·林子祥HKPO & Lam Live》
 * 2005 《子有祥情林子祥演唱會》  " Always" Lam in Concert
 * 2007 《仍然最愛林子祥杜麗莎演唱會》Teresa & Lam Live at the HK Coliseum 2007
 * 2009 《十分十二子祥演唱會》Lam@Coliseum
 * 2010 《Lam Made in Love 音樂會》
 * 2011-2012 《Vintage Lamusic Concert 》
 * 2011 《Music is Love George Lam X Hacken Lee》 《林子祥x李克勤 拉闊音樂會2011》
 * 2013 《絕對熹祥- A Mix & Match Concert with 林子祥 & 趙增熹》
 * 2016 《林子祥佐治地球四十年演唱會》George Lam 40th Anniversary Concert – Hong Kong
 * 2016, 2018《越唱越響40年演唱會》
 * 2019 《林子祥 Lamusical 2019 演唱會》Lamusical2019
 * 2019 《林子祥開心演唱會 The Smiling Concert》
 * 2020 《林子祥開心演唱會 The Smiling Concert》
 * 2022《林子祥開心演唱會 香港站》
 * 2023 《林子祥開心賀歲演唱會》
 * 2023-2024 《林子祥50堅演唱會》

Filmography
(actor unless otherwise noted)