Roman Tam

{{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, China

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|10|18|1945|02|12}}

| death_place = Queen Mary Hospital, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

| occupation = Singer

| years_active = 1960s–2002

| awards = RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
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}})
Saint of Singing ({{linktext|歌|聖}})

| background = solo_singer

| genre = {{hlist|Cantopop|Hong Kong English pop}}

| instrument = Vocals

| label = {{ubl|EMI|BMG|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".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.

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.{{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}} 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,{{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}}{{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}} 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 main theme duet with Jenny Tseng.{{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}}

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'".{{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}} He never married and maintained a high degree of privacy in his personal life.

Tam officially retired in 1996, but continued to perform occasionally with other artists.

On 19 October 2002, Tam died in Hong Kong at Queen Mary Hospital from liver cancer at the age of 57. Then-Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho expressed his condolences.{{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}}{{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}}