I. Introduction
Sammi is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is considered one of the most prominent female singers from Hong Kong, with album sales of over million copies throughout Asia. In the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the "Cantopop Queen". Having success in entertainment industry for over three decades, Cheng is also best known for her roles in Hong Kong rom-com films in the early 2000s that were box office hits. For her performance in the 2022 film Lost Love, she won 4 best actress honors including the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress. She has produced over 80 studio albums, 10 live concert albums, over 130 singles (songs) with also over 30 cover songs and had received numerous awards from acting to singing. She also starred in close to 40 films and 7 television dramas and has held approximately 200 concerts up to date with over 11 concert tours. She is one of the female artists with most concert shows in Hong Kong Coliseum, at 115. She also received Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award for Female Singer in 2011 Metro Radio Hits Awards. She had also won many top honors in various Chinese music awards held in Asia, including the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist Hong Kong 3 times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
II. Life
Sammi Cheng was previously named Twinnie Cheng. Contrary to popular belief, "Twiny" is not her birth name. The name came about when Sammi was still in school and her English Language teacher wanted everyone in class to have an English name. When Sammi turned to her sister for help, her sister came up with the name "Twiny". The name was later changed to "Sammi" as "Sammi" sounds a little like "Sau Man". Cheng received her education at SKH St. Peter's Primary School and Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School. She has three sisters and one brother. Two of her sisters are twins. She was in an on and off relationship with singer Andy Hui from 1991 to 2013, at which point she and him married in private. It has been very public, that he has cheated on her numerous times, to which she has made many comments in interviews and on social media saying "Love involves forgiveness".
III. Career
Sammi Cheng entered the entertainment industry at the age of 16 in 1988. Although she was offered an recording contract, Cheng at the time was still in school, and had to balance her studies with her rising singing career. Sammi released 3 full-length studio albums prior to leaving school: "Sammi", "Holiday" and "Never Too Late". One of her first major award was the 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, where she was recognized as a best new prospect.
Cheng's acting career began with the TVB series A Life of His Own (浪族闊少爺) in 1991. A year later she began her film career with the movie Best of the Best (飛虎精英之人間有情) in 1992 with fellow Cantopop star Jacky Cheung. She would follow with another comedy film Feel 100% (百分百感覺) with Ekin Cheng and Gigi Leung.
She capitalized on the attention received from her duet with artist Andy Hui, "Do you really have me in your heart?" (其實你心裡有沒有我), winning the 1993 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards with that song. Cheng then went through a transformation, dying her hair orange, changing her style. Her 4th studio album "Sammi's Happy Maze" (鄭秀文的快樂迷宮) was also released, which include the hit single "Chotto Matte" (Chotto 等等), meaning 'wait a moment' in Japanese. Her new image fitted well with the new single, which was a remake of a Japanese song by Maki Ohguro. The success helped Sammi and boosted her singing career. In 1994 she continued to capitalize on her wild, new image. Her first album of that year was "Big Revenge" (大報復). The album included the hit "Ding Dong" (叮噹), which became one of Sammi's signature songs. But with her new fame also came a lot of backlash from the media. Critics argued that Sammi purposely westernized her Cantonese. Instead of saying "Ding Dong", Sammi pronounced it as "Deen Dong". Despite the criticism, the song was one of the most popular dance songs of that year. In 1994 the racy and controversial cut of "Ten Commandments" (十誡) was banned from the radio for a few days after its initial airplay of the track including tiny bits of what can be recognized as pornography soundtrack. In 1995 Cheng disappeared from the public eye for nearly half a year. Later that year, it was revealed that Warner Music Group had signed her. She let her hair color return to black and temporarily abandoned the wild image she used to have.
In 1995 she released her first album "Missing you" (捨不得你). In 1996, the company decided it was time for Sammi to expand her market and fan base beyond Hong Kong. They released her first Mandarin album, "Worth It" (值得). The album was number one on the Taiwan IFPI chart for six consecutive weeks. She won a number of awards, most notably she was voted back-to-back as the most popular female artist by TVB from 1996 to 1997. She went on to win the top female award again in 2001. She would finish that year with her first concert titled "Sammi's X-Dimension Concert" (鄭秀文X空間演唱會). In 1998 she was also a featured star in a Heineken sponsored Music Horizons concert along with international singers such as Boyz II Men and Julian Lennon. By the time Cheng was 24 years old, she had already released four greatest hits albums. In the 1990s, another female star, Faye Wong was one of her main rivals. When they were on stage together, they would be cold to one another. The rivalry was confirmed in the 1999 TVB music award night. Both Wong and Cheng were arranged to sit next to each other backstage. Cheng avoided Wong by repeatedly going off stage to fix her make-up. In addition, her fans were angry and hissed at Faye Wong when she went on stage to receive an award. Wong herself has insisted that the rivalry wasn't true, and that she was friendly toward Cheng.
In the late 1990s during the slump of the Hong Kong film industry, Cheng starred in the film Needing You... by director Johnnie To, co-starring Andy Lau and the movie Summer Holiday in 2000. The films were hits at the box office hit in all South East Asia regions, and Hong Kong has cumulated nearly HK$60 million at the box office. The Needing You... VCD received a sold out record of more than 200,000 copies. Cheng has been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 10 times, becoming one of the most nominated leading actresses in the history of the Hong Kong Film Awards. She has also earned 3 nominations for Best Leading Actress at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, the most prestigious awards for Chinese-language films, for Needing You..., My Left Eye Sees Ghosts and Blind Detective. She also won the Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Song for "DoReMi" (Romancing in Thin Air) in 2012. She was named Best Actress by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in 2002 for her role in Wu yen.
For her contribution to the Hong Kong film industry and having starred in over 30 films, Cheng received the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award at the 11th Asian Film Awards in 2017.
In 2017, she held a series of mini-concert tours entitled Naked. Sammi in Taiwan and China. Also, she held a private mini-concert in Macau, entitled Sammi Cheng VIP Music Private Enjoy Show. She held a single-show Sidetrack Birthday Gig concert at Macau on 19 August 2018 in conjunction of her 46th birthday as a treat to her fans. At the same year she collaborate for the first time with Taiwanese rock band 831, releasing her remake song "眉飛色舞Plus" (Eyebrow Dance Plus). In conjunction with her 30th anniversary in the entertainment industry, her 10th concert world tour is organized, which began with 13 shows at Hong Kong's Coliseum in July 2019. This brought her total shows in Hong Kong's Coliseum exceeding 100-mark, at 102.
In conjunction with her 49th birthday in 2021, she held a single-show 'Listen to Mi Birthday Gig' concert at Hong Kong on 18 August 2021. For her 50th birthday, she held a Christmas-themed 'You Are Beautiful To Mi Christmas Party' event at Hong Kong in December 2022.
