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Wong Ka Kui
Chinese name	黃家駒 (Traditional)
Chinese name	黄家驹 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Huáng Jiājū (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Wong4 Ga1 Keoi1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Taishan, Guangdong
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	June 10, 1962(1962-06-10) Hong Kong
Died	June 30, 1993 (aged 31) Tokyo, Japan
Other name(s)	Koma Wong
Occupation	Singer, Musician, Actor
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Hard rock, Pop-Rock
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1983-1993

Wong Ka-Kui (June 10, 1962 - June 30, 1993) was a Hong Kong composer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the founder of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond.

He composed more than 90 percent of the songs for Beyond and wrote a few award-winning lyrics. Ka-Kui is remembered for his musical talents as well as his unique and powerful voice that is able to convey a number of emotions. His songs are often addressing humanity and social issues such as injustice, war and peace, racism, poverty, family and pursuit of dream.

Wong Ka-Kui had a great influence on at least a generation of Chinese because of his outlook on life and the spirit of never giving up. He devoted his entire life to achieve change in the Hong Kong music industry and also tried to make a difference in the world.

While filming a gameshow for Fuji Television in Japan on June 24, 1993, Wong Ka-Kui fell off a 3 meter platform head first, and was hospitalized immediately. He died after spending several days in coma due to internal bleeding of head injuries.

Biography

While a teenager, Wong Ka-Kui was greatly interested in European and American music. At age 17, Ka-Kui was given an acoustic guitar from his neighbor. From that moment on, he spent most of the time learning music on his own while still working in other jobs^[1]. His friends described Ka-Kui as a music maniac because he would never feel tired of playing music. In an interview, Ka-Kui recalled those earlier days as tough and harsh to him. Because rock music was not popular in Hong Kong at that time, hardly anyone understood Ka-Kui's love for Rock N'Roll. His parents said he was useless, and most people thought he was crazy because whenever they saw him, he was doing nothing except playing guitar.

Career in Japan

Realizing the restriction on original music in Hong Kong, Beyond decided to redirect their career to Japan. In January 1992, Beyond signed a worldwide management contract with Japanese record label Amuse. His stage name was "Koma"; many fans still blaming this "cursed" name. During the year, they released an album called The Revolution Continues. In May 1993, Beyond returned to Hong Kong with a new album Rock and Roll. Wong Ka-Kui's signature work 海闊天空(Under a Vast Sky, sometimes translated as “Vast Sky and Boundless Sea”) won the Best Original Song award in Hong Kong. Before they went back to Japan, Beyond held an unplugged concert in Hong Kong and Malaysia, which was Beyond’s last concert with Wong Ka-Kui.

Death

"For us and for Hong Kong, the incident was not merely about the loss of an artist. It was about losing a revolutionary of music." - Paul Wong on the death of Ka Kui.

In order to promote their new record, Beyond participated in the filming of a very popular Japanese game show "Ucchan-nanchan no yarunara yaraneba" in Fuji Television studio on June 24, 1993. The stage floor was wet and slippery. While playing a game, Wong Ka Kui fell off the platform with one of the hosts Uchimura. Ka Kui hit the ground head first and fell into coma immediately. News about this accident was scarcely covered in the Japanese press. However, people in Hong Kong were shocked as soon as they learned about this accident. Realizing the tremendous popularity Wong Ka-Kui had in Hong Kong, people in Japan paid more attention to him, inviting plenty of medical experts to help. At the same time, Beyond's fans in both Hong Kong and Japan kept praying for Ka-Kui. On June 30, 1993, the Japanese representative announced Wong Ka-Kui's death in a press conference. Ka-Kui's funeral procession caused traffic in various major streets in Hong Kong to grind to a standstill, and almost every famous Hong Kong Cantopop singer was in attendance to pay their respects. He was buried in Tseung Kwan O Cemetery.

Influences on Hong Kong's music

Another dream of Ka-Kui was to help local musicians. Along with the other members of Beyond, they established a foundation offering assistance to aspiring artists in creating and publishing their works. As the leader of Hong Kong's only band to have transitioned from the underground scene to the mainstream, Ka-Kui has been cited as influential and inspiring by many of today's crop of musicians and bands. In addition, Ka-Kui has often been credited as a positive force in Hong Kong's music industry along with the Godfather of Cantopop, Sam Hui - both noted for creating and setting standards.

Trivia

• Beginning in December, 2007, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) released a documentary series called 不死傳奇 (A Legend Never Dies), featuring Roman Tam, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Teresa Teng, Wong Ka Kui and Danny Chan. The episode of Ka Kui was aired on TVB on January 26th, 2008. The episode labeled Wong Ka Kui "The Spring Water of Hong Kong Music Industry."

• On November 8, 2005, Hong Kong post office released a stamp collection called "Hong Kong Pop Singers". Wong Ka-Kui was one of the five singers who had their images printed on stamps.

• In a vote conducted by Sina China in 2007, Wong Ka-Kui was one of the Most Missed Celebrity along with Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui.

• Wong Ka-Kui's favorite singer was David Bowie. He admitted that Bowie had a great influence on him.

• There are many tribute songs dedicated to Wong Ka-Kui, including "The Champion of Love" by Japanese rock group Bakufu-Slump, 佢 ("He") by Soler, 祝你愉快 (Wish You Well) by his brother Wong Ka Keung, "Paradise" by Beyond, 抗戰二十年 (Combat for 20 years) by Beyond and 故事 (The Story) by Paul Wong.

• In the last concert of Beyond in 2003, Wong Ka-Kui has been resurrected in the form of a life-size video projection, alongside his former band mates while they sang the song 抗戰二十年 (Combat for 20 years) in memory of him^[4].

• For the Sichuan earthquake appeal, 海闊天空 (Under a Vast Sky) was used as the music for the theme song with the lyrics re-written by Andy Lau.