Roman Tam

Honorarily crowned the Godfather of Cantopop, Roman Tam enjoyed a long and successful singing career that spanned three decades. Born in Guangxi, China, on February 16, 1950, he immigrated to Hong Kong in 1962 at 12 years of age. He began his musical career in 1967 as the singer of Roman & the Four Steps, and later joined the staff of TVB as a contract singer in 1974. Most memorably, he sang the theme song for Below the Lion Rock, a TVB show that aired for 20 years, from 1974 to 1994. His popularity peaked in the 1970s and '80s, when he sang several classic duets with Jenny Tseng. He retired from the music industry in 1996 and later died from liver cancer on October 18, 2002, at age 52. ~ Jason Birchmeier