Profile | Who is Sandy Lam? Cantopop diva of nearly 40 years has gone from strength to strength since idol days but has never cared to ‘live in the public eye’
- Trailblazing artist Sandy Lam began her career as a teen idol in the 1980s and has drifted in and out of the limelight since
- The singer is not a fan of publicity – ‘I just prefer to live in private’ – but continues to put in surprise appearances, such as in a singing contest in 2017
While there have been many Cantopop divas down the years, one name that never fails to appear on lists of Cantopop queens is that of Sandy Lam Yik-lin.
Known as one of the most versatile singers of the 1990s, Lam began her career as a teen idol singing Japanese-style songs, before becoming one of the most trailblazing artists of her time with a distinctive R&B sound.
Today she maintains a low profile, but there is often no telling when she will be back with her next appearance.
Born in Hong Kong in 1966, Lam grew up with two musical parents – her father played the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, and her mother was a Yue opera performer. When she was 16, she began working as a disc jockey at Commercial Radio Hong Kong, and was signed to Sony as a singer in 1985.
While Lam’s early songs – mostly upbeat Japanese-style songs that were trendy at the time – did not garner her much success, she began gaining mainstream popularity with the release of the album Grey (1987).
