Editing Roman Tam

{{Short description|Hong Kong singer (1945–2002)}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{infobox person
| name = Roman Tam
| image = Light the lights (6932641442).jpg
| alt = 
| caption = 
| birth_name = Tam Pak-sin ({{lang|yue|譚百先}})
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1945|02|12}}
| birth_place = [[Baise]], [[Guangxi]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|10|18|1945|02|12}}
| death_place = [[Queen Mary Hospital (Hong Kong)|Queen Mary Hospital]], [[Pok Fu Lam]], [[Hong Kong]]
| occupation = Singer
| years_active = 1960s–2002
| awards = [[1991 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards|RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards]]<br />1991 RTHK Golden Needle Award
| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes
| t = {{linktext|羅|文}}
| s = {{linktext|罗|文}}
| p = Luó Wén
| j = Lo4 Man4
}}
| module2 = {{infobox musical artist|embed=yes
| alias = Law Kee ({{linktext|羅|記}})<br />Saint of Singing ({{linktext|歌|聖}})
 | background = solo_singer
| genre = {{hlist|[[Cantopop]]|[[Hong Kong English pop]]}}
| instrument = Vocals
| label = {{ubl|[[EMI]]|[[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]]|[[Emperor Group|EEG]]}}
| associated_acts = [[Roman and the Four Steps]]
}}
}}

'''Roman Tam Pak-sin''' ({{zh|t=譚百先|j={{kCantonese|譚百先}}}}; 12 February 1945  – 18 October 2002), known professionally by his stage name '''Law Man''' ({{zh|t=羅文|j={{kCantonese|羅文}}|labels=no}}), was a Hong Kong singer. He is regarded as the "Grand Godfather of Cantopop".<ref>HKVPradio, {{cite web|url=http://www.hkvpradio.com/artists/romantam/|title=Roman Tam: The Grand Godfather of Cantopop |access-date=10 November 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418101951/http://www.hkvpradio.com/artists/romantam/|archive-date=18 April 2008|df=dmy-all}}, Retrieved 7 April 2007. Article archived in 2008. Excerpted from the original article in ''Rhythm'' magazine by Lucia Chan, 8 June 2004.</ref>

==Career==
Born in [[Baise]], Guangxi, China, with family roots in [[Guiping]], Guangxi, he moved to [[Guangzhou]] (Canton) in 1947 at the age of two. He later emigrated to Hong Kong in 1962 at the age of 17 because his mother fell ill and was only able to get better medical treatment in Hong Kong.<ref>{{in lang|zh-hans}}{{Cite web|url=http://gcontent.oeeee.com/a/c7/ac796a52db3f16bb/Blog/4d5/61ec83.html|title=你记得吗？他来自广州...|work=[[Southern Metropolis Daily]]|date=18 October 2012|access-date=15 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029141354/http://gcontent.oeeee.com/a/c7/ac796a52db3f16bb/Blog/4d5/61ec83.html|archive-date=29 October 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He was poor and was only able to sleep with a sleeping bag and a radio on the floor of a banking building. His musical interests started from listening to the radio. After forming a short-lived band known as [[Roman and the Four Steps]] to emulate [[The Beatles]] and winning a talent contest in Japan,<ref>{{Cite book|editor1=Allen Chun|editor2=Ned Rossiter|editor3=Brian Shoesmith|year=2004|title=Refashioning Pop Music in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos, and Aesthetic Industries|publisher=Routeledge|isbn=9781135791506}}</ref><ref name="Godfather">{{cite web|access-date=2022-03-27|title=How 'Godfather of Canto-pop' Roman Tam lives on in hearts|url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3033195/how-godfather-canto-pop-roman-tam-lives-hong-kong-hearts|date=18 October 2019|website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> he became a contract singer under studios term at [[TVB]]. He briefly switched to [[Asia Television]] in the early 1990s. His stage name was actually a [[transliteration]] of his English name, Roman. 

During the 1990s, he accepted many budding singers as his students.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}} Some of whom that became famous included [[Shirley Kwan]], [[Joey Yung]] and [[Ekin Cheng]]. 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 (1983 TV series)|The Legend of the Condor Heroes]]'' main theme duet with [[Jenny Tseng]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2022-03-27|title=5 songs that defined Canto-pop legend Roman Tam's career|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3105970/below-lion-rock-singer-roman-tam-grand-godfather-cantopop|date=18 October 2020|website=South China Morning Post}}</ref>

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'".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2022-03-27|title=Godfather of Canto-pop Roman Tam: 'an imperfect man' who sought perfection|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3105501/memories-roman-tam-godfather-canto-pop-and|date=15 October 2020|website=South China Morning Post|author-first1=Mercedes|author-last1=Hutton}}</ref> He never married and maintained a high degree of privacy in his personal life.<ref name="Godfather"/>

Tam officially retired in 1996, but continued to perform occasionally with other artists.<ref name="Godfather"/> 

On 19 October 2002, Tam died in Hong Kong at [[Queen Mary Hospital (Hong Kong)|Queen Mary Hospital]] from [[Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer]] at the age of 57. Then-[[Secretary for Home Affairs]] [[Patrick Ho]] expressed his condolences.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2022-03-27|title=Canto-pop legend Roman Tam dies of cancer|url=https://www.scmp.com/article/394922/canto-pop-legend-roman-tam-dies-cancer|date=19 October 2002|website=South China Morning Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|access-date=2022-03-27|title=Hong Kong pop icon Tam dies|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2342029.stm|date=19 October 2002|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Roman Tam}}
*[http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/Roman_Tam/about/index.html Applauding Hong Kong Pop Legend: Roman Tam – About the collection], Hong Kong Memory

{{s-start}}{{s-ach}}
{{succession box
| title=Golden Needle Award of [[RTHK]] Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award
| years=1991
| before=[[James Wong Jim|Wong Jim]]
| after=[[Leslie Cheung]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Roman}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Cantonese people]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from Guangzhou]]
[[Category:Singers from Guangdong]]
[[Category:Singers from Guangxi]]
[[Category:People from Baise]]
[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer]]
[[Category:20th-century Hong Kong male singers]]
[[Category:Cantopop singers]]
[[Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers]]
[[Category:Hong Kong male film actors]]
[[Category:Hong Kong male television actors]]
[[Category:Hong Kong LGBTQ singers]]
[[Category:Gay singers]]
[[Category:Hong Kong gay men]]