Mandarin pop legend Fong Fei-fei, the 'Queen of Hats' died on Jan 3, 2012 in Hong Kong aged 58

Taipei, Feb 14 (CNA) Fong Fei-fei (鳳飛飛), one of Taiwan's most prominent pop divas in the 1970s and 1980s who enjoyed an enduring following in much of Asia, died from lung cancer Jan 3 in Hong Kong at the age of 58, her family and lawyer announced at a news conference Monday. The belated announcement came a day after the pop queen's ashes were placed in a Buddhist temple in her hometown of Dasi in Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan. "We did not break news of her death earlier in line with her will," her attorney Chiang Yen-wei said. Noting that Fong Fei-fei, the stage name of Lin Chiu-luan, was a fairly modest and low-profile person, Chiang said the singer demanded that information of her death be withheld until after her funeral was completed. "Fong Fei-fei also asked me to convey her heartfelt thanks for all the support her working partners and faithful fans had offered her throughout her career and life," Chiang said. Fong Fei-fei, who started her legendary career by winning the first prize of a radio singing contest in 1968 when she was still a junior high school student, was originally scheduled to hold a concert at Taipei Arena last June. While rehearsing for that concert in May, she noticed abnormalties in her vocal cords, Chiang said. Medical examinations confirmed that the problems with her vocal cords were caused by lung cancer, forcing her to decide to cancel her scheduled concert, according to Chiang. He further said Fong Fei-fei's health condition deteriorated abruptly Jan. 1 and she died at a Hong Kong hospital two days later. A posting on the late singer's official website said Monday that Fong Fei-fei had willed that her death be announced after the Lantern Festival, which fell on Feb. 6 this year. The posting also quoted Fong Fei-fei, who attained a goddess-like status among her fans with her charming voice and amiable manner, as saying that she had lived a happy and wonderful life and would like to sing for her fans again in her next life. "She still personally wrote birthday cards and 2012 New Year cards for her friends and loyal fans in the last month of her life," the posting said. Fong Fei-fei married a Hong Kong travel industry tycoon in 1980 at the age of 27. Her husband died from lung adenocarcinoma in 2009. She is survived by a 23-year-old son. In her prime, Fong Fei-fei recorded songs for soundtracks of romantic films adapted from novels of noted writer Chiung Yao. The popularity of those films also helped take her career to new heights. Music and film critics said Fong Fei-fei's geniality and the plain lyrics and simple melodies of those songs, which were easy to sing along with but whose vocal intensity was difficult to copy, produced a unique mix of legendary virtuosity and approachable reality. Wen Tien-hsiang, a film critic, said Fong Fei-fei's charm was not just for young female audiences but also male listeners. According to him, some of the Chiung Yao film songs, sung in Fong Fei-fei's somewhat masculine voice, actually portray the male protagonists' feelings, so male listeners found great empathy in them. Throughout her decades-long career, Fong Fei-fei produced more than 80 albums and held numerous sold-out concerts at home and abroad, particularly in countries with a large Chinese-speaking population. In addition to Mandarin songs, she also sang many old Taiwanese songs and engaged in reviving the Taiwanese ballad tradition. In 1992, she released her 78th album, "Wishing to Play the Same Tune." Most of the songs on the album had long been forgotten until its release. A versatile signer, Fong Fei-fei also sang new Taiwanese songs that broke free from the typically slow and sad style of traditional Taiwanese ballads. She once said "embracing the past is good, but embracing the present is wonderful." (By Sabine Cheng and Sofia Wu) enditem/npw