Hong Kong composer Joseph Koo

Joseph Koo, a top composer during Hong Kong cinema's golden age, died in Vancouver, age 91.

He also received the Life Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2010, presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. With Hong Kong under Chinese rule from 1997, Koo received the territory’s Bronze Bauhinia Star award in 1988 and a Gold Bauhinia Star in 2015. While there, he produced scores and theme songs for films including 1980’s “Shanghai Bund” and the theme songs of the TV series “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” and “Five Easy Pieces,” which became all-time classics. Koo spent much of his career in the Hong Kong film, TV and pop music industries. He also penned the theme song for TV series “Below the Lion Rock” which remains Hong Kong’s unofficial anthem for many people, and for Later he became a performer and band leader performing at venues including the Luk Kwok Hotel in Hong Kong.

Koo, 92, was dubbed the "godfather of Cantopop" or Cantonese pop music for laying the foundation for the genre through his TV drama theme song compositions. He ...

"And so I knew that the time would be arriving, but I just never expected it to hit so suddenly. He composed more than 1,200 songs in his decades-long career. "He is to Hong Kong music what Bruce Lee is to Kung Fu and martial arts.

Chinese netizens have paid tributes to renowned composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai who passed away in Canada on Tuesday at the age of 92.

Guo Minglu, an assistant professor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Koo played an important role in the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Koo had received numerous awards in his life. , TVB's production to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

Renowned Cantopop and Hong Kong television and film composer Joseph Koo has died in Vancouver, Canada on 3 January.

[“Hong Kong treasures”](https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1682464-20230104.htm) that provided immense contributions to the Hong Kong music scene. Koo moved to Vancouver in the 1990s, before retiring four years ago. Other Koo-penned film themes which became Cantopop classics included 1980’s ‘The Bund’, and 1979’s ‘Below The Lion Rock’, which is today an unofficial Hong Kong anthem. He was appointed music director at Hong Kong’s TVB network in 1973. Over his career, Koo penned over 1,000 songs for television and film, many of which were written with lyrics by his frequent collaborator, James Wong Jim. Together with James Wong Jim, the songwriting duo were responsible for over 200 hits, earning them the reputation as Hong Kong’s equivalent of Lennon-McCartney.

Joseph Koo died at the age of 91 in Vancouver on January 3. We take a look at his achievements in Hong Kong movies and the music industry.

Koo spent most of his career in the Hong Kong film, TV, and pop music industries. But what made Koo’s era so special was how his career coincided with the rise of local television, which meant that his music was listened to far and wide and well beyond the shores of Hong Kong.” Actress and singer Liza Wang, who sang his and Wong’s composition ‘The Brave Chinese’, elaborated on the loss of the musician. In 1961, he got his first big break when he published the song ‘Dream’, which was performed by his sister and chosen as the theme song for the hit black-and-white movie Love Without End. The duo’s famous works included ‘Below The Lion Rock’, a 1979 theme song for the TV series of the same name. His musical interest came from his elder sister, singer-actress Carrie Koo Mei, who was famous during the 1950s and 1960s.

Work of Koo, a prolific composer during Hong Kong's golden era, lives on today and will never be forgotten.