Shirley Kwan

Shirley Kwan - born Kwan Suk Yee (simplified Chinese) in Hong Kong on August 15, 1966 – is a Cantopop and Mandopop singer and actress best known for her hit single “Happy Are Those In Love” (1989). Born in Hong Kong, Kwan moved to Los Angeles, California when she was 12 years old. She first came to prominence in 1986 when she was one of twelve finalists on the televised talent competition New Talent Singing Awards. Kwan did not win, but two years later, she recorded a demo that landed her a deal with Apollon Records. She recorded two Japanese pop albums (sung in both Japanese and English) before she was signed to Polygram Records. In March 1989, she released Winter Love, her first Cantonese album. Her next album, Happy Are Those In Love, was released later the same year and featured the title track, which was a massive hit single. “Happy Are Those In Love” was the beginning of a successful career that included releases in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Japan. At the beginning of her career in the ‘80s, her records were aimed towards a pop audience but when she entered the 1990s, she began to record songs that were more experimental in nature. Kwan stepped out of the spotlight in 1996 after leaving Polygram Records. She continued to collaborate with other artists on occasion, but didn’t release a new album under her own name until 2001’s Freezing Flame (Cantonese). Her comeback was short-lived when she became pregnant and moved to Canada. Kwan then signed to the Music Nation label and returned to the top of the charts in 2006 with the single “About Me”. She returned to live performing after the release of the Shirley Kwan EP, playing a series of live comeback shows. Signing to the Star Entertainment label, she released a series of hit singles between 2007 and 2009. All of these singles were compiled on the 2009 Cantonese release Shirley’s Era. Continuing to perform live, her studio recordings were infrequent although there were several live performances and compilations. Kwan signed to Universal Music Group and returned to the charts in 2019 with the Psychoacoustics album. Due to problems between Kwan and her label, she announced her retirement from the music business in April, 2020.

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.