Kenny Bee

Kenny Bee
Background information
Chinese name 鍾鎮濤 (traditional)
Chinese name 锺镇涛 (simplified)
Pinyin Zhōng Zhèntāo (Mandarin)
Jyutping Zung1 Zan3tou4 (Cantonese)
Birth name Chung Chun-to
Born (1953-02-23) 23 February 1953
British Hong Kong
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
Genre(s)
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • saxophone
  • keyboards
Voice type(s) Baritone
Years active 1973–present
Associated acts The Wynners
Spouse(s) Teresa Cheung (m. 1988; div. 1999)
Fan-jiang Su-zhen (m. 2014)
Children 4
Ancestry Xinhui, Guangdong
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chung.

Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, and actor. He is well known as a member of the pop group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong entertainment industry for nearly three decades.

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
1975 Let's Rock
1976 Gonna Get You
1977 Rainbow in My Heart
Chelsia, My Love
1978 Making It
1979 The Story of a Small Town
Good Morning, Taipei
All's Well that Does Well
1980 Sai Fung Dik Ku Heung
The Spooky Bunch
Cute Girl aka Lovable You
Don't Forget the Promise
Spring in Autumn
Burning Love
Love Comes from the Sea
1981 Errant Love
My Cape of Many Dreams
Another Spring aka 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
1982 Crimson Street
Six is Company
The Green, Green Grass of Home
Ye Sing Dik Ching Chun
1983 Let's Make Laugh
1984 Prince Charming
And Now What's Your Name
The Funny General
Shanghai Blues
1985 The Flying Mr. B
1986 Strange Bedfellow
100 Ways to Murder Your Wife
Millionaire's Express Fook Loi
1987 To Err is Humane
Armour of God Band member
Reincarnation
My Cousin, the Ghost
My Heart is that Eternal Rose
Project A Part II
The Happy Bigamist
1988 Mr. Possessed
One Husband Too Many
18 Times
Spy Games
1989 Happy Together
A Fishy Story
Burning Sensation
City Squeeze
Bachelor's Swan Song
Hearts No Flowers
Miracles cameo
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose
1990 BB30
1991 Sisters of the World Unite
Mainland Dundee
Top Bet
Today's Hero
Fist of Fury 1991 Smart
1992 Fist of Fury 1991 II
Mary from Beijing aka Awakening
Once a Black Sheep
Saviour of the Soul Siu-Chuen
The Ape which Turned into a Man
1993 The Eagle Shooting Heroes Wong Chung-Yeung
The Tigers: the Legend of Canton
Rose, Rose I Love You
The Moon Warriors Emperor Yen Ling
1995 Ten Brothers
The Chinese Feast Kit
1996 What a Wonderful Life
Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star
1998 Ninth Happiness
2000 Healing Hearts
2002 Happy Family Mr Han
Troublesome Night 16 Sung Kong
2004 Super Model
Elixir of Love
Leave Me Alone
2005 Initial D Yuichi Tachibana
A Chinese Tall Story
2006 Shanghai Red
The Return of the Condor Heroes Gongsun Zhi
2007 It's a Wonderful Life
2010 Just Another Pandora's Box
Shanghai Blue
2011 Mr. Zhai
A Land without Boundaries
East Meets West 2011
2012 100% Kiss
Together
2013 The Rooftop
Traversal 101
Star of Bethlehem
2016 The Bombing

[3][4]

Discography

Cantonese albums

Mandarin albums

English albums

References

  1. "Gold Disc Award" International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group) Ltd. (IFPI Hong Kong). Retrieved on 19 July 2007
  2. 10 point Hall of Fame - Kenny Bee (part 1) (Mandarin) on YouTube
  3. "Kenny Bee". imdb.com. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  4. "Kenny Bee". chinesemov.com. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  5. 佛誕吉祥 on YouTube
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