Kenny Bee

Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), also known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the singer of the group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong entertainment industry for nearly three decades. Kenny Bee’s ancestral hometown is Xinhui district (新會區), Jiangmen city, Guangdong province

Kenny Bee
Born
Chung Chun-to

(1953-02-23) 23 February 1953
Hong Kong Ancestral hometown: Xinhui district ( 新會區), Jiangmen city, Guangdong province
Occupation
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
Years active1973–present
Spouse(s)
(m. 1988; div. 1999)

Fan-jiang Su-zhen
(m. 2014)
Children4
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese鍾鎮濤
Simplified Chinese钟镇涛
Musical career
GenresCantopop, Mandopop, Hong Kong English pop
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • guitar
  • saxophone
Associated actsThe Wynners

Career

Bee made his break into the Hong Kong entertainment industry in 1973 as a member of the popular 1970s band, the Wynners, sharing vocal duties with Alan Tam. Before joining the Wynners, he was a vocalist and saxophonist on the Hong Kong nightclub circuit, and briefly fronted a band called the Sergeant Majors.

Acting

As members of the Wynners went separate ways in 1978, Bee embarked on a solo career as an actor in Taiwan, playing lead roles in a number of romantic movies, amongst which were The Story of a Small Town, (directed by Li Hsing, 1979), Good Morning, Taipei (directed by Li Hsing, 1979), both of which won the Golden Horse Award, and The Green, Green Grass of Home (directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1983).

In the eighties Bee moved his base back to Hong Kong, and has since amassed a large number of movie credits, mainly in the genre of romantic comedies. Career highlights include "Let's Make Laugh" (directed by Alfred Cheung, 1983), "Shanghai Blues" (directed by Tsui Hark, 1984), "Fist of Fury 1991" (with Stephen Chow, 1991), "the Chinese Feast" (directed by Tsui Hark, 1995) and "Initial D" (directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, 2005). In addition, he was credited as the director for "100 Ways to Murder Your Wife" (starring himself, Chow Yun-fat and Anita Mui, 1986).

Musicianship

Alongside acting, Bee develops his career as a solo singer-songwriter and has released over fifty studio and compilation albums, in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, to date. The 1980s marked the peak of Bee's popularity with the Hong Kong audience so far, during which four of his studio albums went gold and two went platinum.[1] Notable hits from this period include "Let Everything Be Gone With the Wind" (讓一切隨風), "If We Were Meant To Be" (要是有緣) and "A Romance" (一段情).

Known for a distinct, husky voice, the singer penned most of his own hits and plays multiple instruments. In the early days he was often seen on stage with keyboards or a saxophone. In recent performances he usually accompanies himself with a guitar.

Bee released his latest Cantonese solo album, Escape (濤出新天), in December 2006, backed by his new band Black Tea.

Recently, Bee partnered with violin luthier Scott Cao to design their own line of classical guitars, "Bonstar." In 2008, Bee performed a series of solo concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum, as well as in Singapore and Macau. Aside from working solo, the Wynners continued their world tour.

Personal life

Bee has a blood brother and six half brothers and sisters, with his father a former real estate agent.[2] He married socialite-turned-actress Teresa Cheung in 1988, with whom he had a son, Nicholas Bee, and a daughter, Chloe Bee. The marriage ended in a high-profile divorce in 1999, feeding tabloids with stories on extramarital affairs, expensive spending habits and financial troubles for many months to come. Bee filed for personal bankruptcy in 2002, which expired on 17 October 2006. He is currently living with his second wife Fan Jiang, with whom he has two daughters.

In December 2007, Bee released an autobiography, MacDonnell Road, titled after a street in Hong Kong he grew up on.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1975Let's Rock
1976Gonna Get You
1977Rainbow in My Heart
Chelsia, My Love
1978Making It
1979The Story of a Small Town
Good Morning, Taipei
All's Well that Does Well
1980Sai Fung Dik Ku Heung
The Spooky Bunch
Cute Girlaka Lovable You
Don't Forget the Promise
Spring in Autumn
Burning Love
Love Comes from the Sea
1981Errant Love
My Cape of Many Dreams
Another Springaka Once Again with Love
Bang Bang Yat Chun Sam
The Funniest Movie
Undated Wedding
Fung Kwong Sai Kai
The Land of the Brave
Special Treatment
Cheerful Wind
Lucky By Chance
1982Crimson Street
Six is Company
The Green, Green Grass of Home
Ye Sing Dik Ching Chun
1983Let's Make Laugh
1984Prince Charming
And Now What's Your Name
The Funny General
Shanghai Blues
1985The Flying Mr. B
1986Strange Bedfellow
100 Ways to Murder Your Wife
Millionaire's ExpressFook Loi
1987To Err is Humane
Armour of GodBand member
Reincarnation
My Cousin, the Ghost
My Heart is that Eternal Rose
Project A Part II
The Happy Bigamist
1988Mr. Possessed
One Husband Too Many
18 Times
Spy Games
1989Happy Together
A Fishy Story
Burning Sensation
City Squeeze
Bachelor's Swan SongChan Chi-Nam
Hearts No Flowers
Miraclescameo
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose
1990BB30
1991Sisters of the World Unite
Mainland Dundee
Top Bet
Today's Hero
Fist of Fury 1991Smart
1992Fist of Fury 1991 II
Mary from Beijingaka Awakening
Once a Black Sheep
Saviour of the SoulSiu-Chuen
The Ape which Turned into a Man
1993The Eagle Shooting HeroesWong Chung-Yeung
The Tigers: the Legend of Canton
Rose, Rose I Love You
The Moon WarriorsEmperor Yen Ling
1994Smoke Amongst the Floor[3]Yuhang Jiang/Zeng
1995Ten Brothers
The Chinese FeastKit
1996What a Wonderful Life
Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star
1998Ninth Happiness
2000Healing Hearts
2002Happy FamilyMr Han
Troublesome Night 16Sung Kong
2004Super Model
Elixir of Love
Leave Me Alone
2005Initial DYuichi Tachibana
A Chinese Tall Story
2006Shanghai Red
The Return of the Condor HeroesGongsun Zhi
2007It's a Wonderful Life
2010Just Another Pandora's Box
Shanghai Blue
2011Mr. Zhai
A Land without Boundaries
East Meets West 2011
2012100% Kiss
Together
2013The Rooftop
Traversal 101
Star of Bethlehem
2018Air Strike
House of the Rising Sons
2019FagaraHa Leung

[4][5]

Discography

Cantonese albums

  • 閃閃星辰 – 1980
  • 不可以不想你 – 1981
  • 說愛就愛 – 1983
  • 要是有緣 – 1983
  • 我行我素 – 1984.07
  • 鍾鎮濤精選 (Collection) – 1984
  • 痴心的一句 – 1985.01
  • 鍾鎮濤(淚之旅) – 1985.09
  • 鍾鎮濤(Trip Mix): 淚之旅/太多考驗 (12" Single Mix) – 1985
  • 情變 – 1986.05
  • 鍾鎮濤(Trip Mix II): 香腸、蚊帳、機關槍/原諒我 (12" Single Mix) – 1986
  • 最佳鍾鎮濤 (New Song + Collection) – 1986
  • 寂寞 – 1987.03
  • 聽濤 – 1987.10
  • 晴 – 1988.05
  • 情有獨鍾 (New Songs + Collection) – 1988.10
  • 人潮內... 我像獨行 – 1989.03
  • 看星的日子 – 30 November 1989
  • B歌 (Collection, distributed in Singapore) – 1989
  • 鍾鎮濤 (3" CD, Collection) – 1990
  • 不死鳥 – August 1990
  • 仍是真心 – August 1992
  • 全部為你 – January 1994
  • 鍾鎮濤金曲精選 (2 Discs, Collection) – 1993.12
  • 88極品音色系列: 鍾鎮濤 Kenny Bee (Collection) – 1997.07
  • B計劃 (2 Discs, New Songs + Collection) – March 1998
  • B歌集 (2 Discs, Collection) – 1998.07
  • 鍾鎮濤dCS聲選輯 (Collection) – 2000.02
  • 俠骨仁心原聲專輯 – 2001.04.20
  • 真經典鍾鎮濤 (Collection) – 2001.07.27
  • 還有你 (2 Discs, Collection) – 2002.08.22
  • 濤出新天 – 2006.12.29
  • 佛誕吉祥 – 2009[6]

Mandarin albums

  • 我的伙伴 – 1979.05.09
  • 早安台北 – 1979.08.20
  • 白衣少女 – 1980
  • 鍾鎮濤專輯 (Collection) – 1981
  • 鍾鎮濤(阿B) (Mandarin/Cantonese) – 1982
  • 表錯七日情(國) (Mandarin/Cantonese) – 1983
  • 哦!寶貝‧為甚麼 – 1983
  • 詩人與情人 – 1989.02
  • 捨不得•這樣的日子 – 1989
  • 捨不得 – 1990
  • 飄 – 1990.09
  • 活出自己 – 1991.06
  • 我的世界只有你最懂 – 1992.06
  • 祝你健康快樂 – 1993.09
  • 情人的眼睛 (Collection) – 1994.02
  • 簡簡單單的生活 – 1994
  • 《煙鎖重樓》 – 1994.11.22
  • 情歌對唱集(寂寞) (with Teresa Cheung, Mandarin/Cantonese) – 1995.05
  • 痴心愛你 – 1995.06
  • 男人 – 2004.02.16

English albums

  • Why Worry – 1997

References

  1. "Gold Disc Award" Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group) Ltd. (IFPI Hong Kong). Retrieved 19 July 2007
  2. 10-point Hall of Fame – Kenny Bee (part 1) (Mandarin) on YouTube
  3. Chiung Yao#煙鎖重樓
  4. "Kenny Bee". IMDb. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  5. "Kenny Bee". chinesemov.com. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  6. 佛誕吉祥 on YouTube
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