Profile | Who is Sandy Lam? Cantopop diva of nearly 40 years has gone from strength to strength since idol days but has never cared to ‘live in the public eye’
- Trailblazing artist Sandy Lam began her career as a teen idol in the 1980s and has drifted in and out of the limelight since
- The singer is not a fan of publicity – ‘I just prefer to live in private’ – but continues to put in surprise appearances, such as in a singing contest in 2017
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While there have been many Cantopop divas down the years, one name that never fails to appear on lists of Cantopop queens is that of Sandy Lam Yik-lin.
Known as one of the most versatile singers of the 1990s, Lam began her career as a teen idol singing Japanese-style songs, before becoming one of the most trailblazing artists of her time with a distinctive R&B sound.
Today she maintains a low profile, but there is often no telling when she will be back with her next appearance.
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Born in Hong Kong in 1966, Lam grew up with two musical parents – her father played the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, and her mother was a Yue opera performer. When she was 16, she began working as a disc jockey at Commercial Radio Hong Kong, and was signed to Sony as a singer in 1985.
While Lam’s early songs – mostly upbeat Japanese-style songs that were trendy at the time – did not garner her much success, she began gaining mainstream popularity with the release of the album Grey (1987).
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