Sandy Lam

In 2018, Sandy released her 12th Mandarin album 0 under negligible promotional-fanfare. Three years in the making, 0 continued Sandy's path of challenging herself musically. A deeply emotional yet analytical affair, 0 is a record that tries to understand and explain the many concepts of zero, including the idea of beginnings and endings. Sandy won "Best Mandarin Female Singer" and "Best Recording Vocal Album" awards for this album at the 30th Golden Melody Awards in 2019.

Sandy continued to challenge herself in other avenues, for example in 2017 she was a surprise entrant in a Hunan Television show Singer 2017, which introduced her as a pop icon to a whole new generation of fans.

In January 2017, Sandy joined Hunan Television's show Singer 2017, as one of the eight initial singers (contestants who entered the competition on the first week with exemption in the Breakout round). She was declared the winner in the final on 15 April 2017.

Gaia was praised not only as a triumphant comeback, but held up as a landmark album in Mandopop. Lauded by critics as a forward-thinking and ground-breaking record, she was awarded four awards at the 24th Golden Melody Awards in 2013, including "Best Mandarin Female Singer" as well as "Best Mandarin Album", "Best Album Producer" and "Best Musical Arranger".

As one of the legendary figures in Chinese-language music of 20th and 21st centuries, Sandy is known not just for her commercial success; but also her ability to transform, and willingness to step outside of the frameworks of the genre and industries in which she operates. Her albums, Gaia (2012) and 0 (2018), each earned her a Golden Melody Award for Best Mandarin Female Singer.

In 2012 Sandy released Gaia "蓋亞". Titled after the Goddess of earth in Greek mythology, the album was boldly experimental in which she experimented with New Age sounds, adding spice to her repertoire.

In 2005, Sandy released her first Cantonese album in almost ten years: True Colour "本色". Following the Mandarin Breathe Me "呼吸" (2006) album, it would be over six years until we heard from Sandy again on record. Using this time to tour, Sandy also considered next steps for her music. From 2009, Sandy slowly began working on an album that she wanted to be different from anything she had done previously. Rather than playing safe and being too reliant on other producers and songwriters, Sandy wanted to make a fundamental change to the way she made music.

Sandy married Taiwanese singer-songwriter and producer Jonathan Lee in 1998. They have a daughter together, Renee (李喜兒), born on 17 May 1998. Sandy and Jonathan Lee divorced in 2004. Sandy was in an eight-year relationship with the drummer-songwriter Jun Kung from 2011 to 2019.

Upon release of 14th Cantopop album Feeling Perfect "感覺完美" (1996), Sandy spent most of her time in Taiwan, China, and Japan. Sandy made a brief foray onto the stage in 1997 when she was cast as the female lead in Hong Kong's biggest musical Snow.Wolf.Lake "雪·狼·湖", the production went on to play 42 consecutive sold out performances in Hong Kong Coliseum which remains the record today.

In 1995 she paired up with Taiwanese music producer Jonathan Lee and released her fourth Mandarin album Love, Sandy. A ten-track collection of ballads, love songs and R&B-inspired pop, the album was a commercial blockbuster selling 800,000 copies in Taiwan and 3 million across Asia, cementing her in new markets including Singapore and Mainland China. Almost every song became a hit record, with many becoming KTV standards. To date it remains one of the best-selling albums in Mandopop history.

In 1991, Sandy worked with Singaporean songwriter Dick Lee and released the coming-of-age album Wildflower "野花". With wildflowers being a metaphorical representation of the mental journey of a modern Asian woman, Wildflower was a stunning collection of contemporary east-meets-west music. Marrying traditional themes and western jazz influences, Wildflower not only made people recognize the versatility and artistic talent of Sandy, but initiated the ‘Unplugged’ craze of early 90s Cantonese music – the creation of authentic and raw musical products that connected with the listener more intimately. Although reception was at first lukewarm, it was eventually recognized as a pioneering work in the Cantonese musical canon, and is now rightly regarded as one of the most important and culturally defining albums of Cantopop.

At this make-or-break stage of her career, it was the City Rhythm "都市觸覺" series that really launched her into the big leagues, where she has remained ever since. A trilogy of records released between 1988 and 1990, City Rhythm gave Hong Kongers a taste of her true musical and conceptual capabilities, going platinum in the process. Serving as Executive Producer, the albums were filled with glossy dance-pop bops and ballads originally recorded by Western artists. City Rhythm was the first successful execution of a concept record in Cantopop. Lyrically daring, the series was profoundly feminist; representing the female experience of life and love on the busy Hong Kong streets, and embodied a woman who refused to compromise her aims and desires, with each song taking on a specific aspect of life.

In 1982, while still a secondary school student, Sandy was asked by a classmate to audition for a disc jockey position at the Commercial Radio Hong Kong. Soon after, she started working as a part-time DJ at Commercial Radio 2 with a stage name "611". In 1984, she became a full-time DJ and was spotted by Tony Lee of CBS/Sony Records for her talent during an outdoor performance singing Crying in the Rain. She was signed to CBS/Sony in 1985 and released her debut album in 1986. Meanwhile, Sandy acted in the movies Merry Christmas "聖誕快樂" (1984) and The Intellectual Trio "龍鳳智多星" (1985) and played the role of a nurse in a RTHK television series "左鄰右里" (1985).

Sandy has recorded not only with CBS Sony Records in 1980s, but also with Warner Music, Rock Records, Virgin Records, Capitol Records, EMI Music, and now Universal Music.

The song selection was also interesting: Sandy covered the songs of artists such as Martika and Taylor Dayne, positioning her as a fresh and youthful artist. Through this series, Sandy was not only able to encapsulate the glitz and glamour of 1980s Hong Kong and golden-era Cantopop, but also embody its youthfulness and ambition. A collection of corresponding remix records solidified her as Hong Kong's dancing queen.

She returned to Cantopop briefly, harking back to her early days by releasing two albums of cover songs from 1980s Hong Kong, namely Re: Workz (2014) and In Search of Lost Time "陪著我走" (2016), rearranging and adapting the songs to different styles and genres.

Sandy Lam (林憶蓮 ; born 26 April 1966), is a Hong Kong singer, actress and album producer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as a Cantopop singer, before expanding her fan base significantly in Asia, releasing more than 30 stylistically diverse albums in Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese.

Born in Hong Kong on 26 April 1966 as the eldest of three children, Sandy Lam spent her early years in North Point. Music had always been a major part of the Lam family. Her father, emigrated from Shanghai, was a professional Erhu musician with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and her mother performed Yue opera at local venues.