Roman Tam Pak-sin (; 12 February 1945– 18 October 2002), known professionally by his stage name Law Man (), was a Hong Kong singer. He is regarded as the "Grand Godfather of Cantopop".

Career

Born in

Baise Baise (; local pronunciation: ), or Bose, is the westernmost prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China bordering Vietnam as well as the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. The city has a population of 4.3 million, of which 1.4 million live in the ur ...

, Guangxi, China, with family roots in

Guiping Guiping () is a county-level city in eastern Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Guigang City, located at the confluence of the Qian and Yu rivers, which are the Xi River's primary north and south tributaries, respectively. Na ...

, Guangxi. He moved to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong ...

(Canton) in 1947 at the age of 2. He later emigrated to Hong Kong in 1962 at the age of 17. After forming a short-lived band known as

Roman and the Four Steps Roman and the Four Steps was a popular band in Hong Kong in the 1960s. Career The band was noteworthy for singing in English and often singing British and American songs.Shoesmith, Brian. Rossiter, Ned. 004(2004). Refashioning Pop Music in As ...

and winning a talent contest in Japan, he became a contract singer under studios term at TVB. He briefly switched to

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televi ...

in the early 1990s. During the 1990s, he accepted many budding singers as his students. Some of whom that became famous included

Shirley Kwan Shirley Kwan, Milo Kwan, Bik Luik Kwan, Kwan Suk'E, or Kwan Suk Yee (, born 15 August 1966) is an influential Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit, " Happy Are Those in Love" () and was widely popular throu ...

Joey Yung Joey Yung (, ; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer and Cantopop diva 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 Si ...

and

Ekin Cheng Ekin Cheng is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Early in his career, he used the name Dior as a first name (because that was what it sounded like when his younger sister tried to call him 二哥 in Cantonese). He has also been referred to as Nood ...

. He had sung many well-known solos and duets for various TV series including '' Below the Lion Rock'', and the famous 1983 TVB TV series ''

The Legend of the Condor Heroes ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the first part of the '' Condor Trilogy'' and is followed by '' The Return of the Condor Heroes'' and '' The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''. I ...

'' main theme duet with Jenny Tseng. Tam was also known for bending and breaking gender norms, with a "flamboyant" on-stage persona. He was the first Hong Kong pop star to perform in drag and was featured in a magazine while posing in the nude. Although the latter was controversial at the time, Tam "'got away with his on-stage flamboyance because of his off-stage discretion' and was accepted 'in mainstream Chinese culture at a time when homosexuality was outlawed'". He never married and maintained a high degree of privacy in his personal life. Tam officially retired in 1996, but continued to perform occasionally with other artists. On 19 October 2002, Tam died in Hong Kong at Queen Mary Hospital from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

at the age of 57. Then-

Secretary for Home Affairs The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs is the head of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for local issues, and the provision of community and youth services. List of office holders Registr ...

Patrick Ho Patrick Ho Chi-ping (born 24 July 1949 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong ophthalmologist turned politician. He joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the Preparatory Committee of Hong Kong SAR. When the Principal Offic ...

expressed his condolences.

References

External links

Applauding Hong Kong Pop Legend: Roman Tam – About the collection
Hong Kong Memory {{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Roman 1945 births 2002 deaths Musicians from Guangzhou Singers from Guangdong Singers from Guangxi People from Baise Deaths from liver cancer 20th-century Hong Kong male singers Cantopop singers Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong male television actors