Profile | How Shirley Kwan, Cantopop’s complex ‘queen of cool’, is a star like no other

Kwan experienced a meteoric rise followed by an artistic metamorphosis in the 1990s, before personal struggles began to take the spotlight

Reading Time:4 minutes

Cantopop singer Shirley Kwan attends a press conference in 2006. Kwan’s tumultuous life is one marked by artistic innovation and personal challenges. Photo: SCMP

Published: 7:15am, 24 Oct 2025

This is the 62nd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.

On October 8, news broke that the Cantopop star Shirley Kwan Suk-yee had been hospitalised in intensive care in Hong Kong following emergency cardiac surgery, and her adult son reportedly flew back from America to be by her side.

The sudden health crisis has stirred immense concern, placing the fiercely private singer at the centre of public attention. It is the latest chapter in a life marked by perplexing silences and unpredictable turmoil.

In recent years, headlines about Kwan have been dominated not by her music, but by a string of troubling incidents: an apparent suicide note posted on Facebook in 2012; a 2016 incident that saw her rescued from the waters off Discovery Bay; and a 2017 court case for assaulting a hotel worker.

Kwan is pictured in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park in 1988. Photo: SCMP

This pattern of public struggle stands in contrast to the artist revered by fans and critics as the “queen of cool”. For those who have followed her career, Kwan is defined by an ethereal voice and an avant-garde spirit that has left a steadfast presence on the Cantopop landscape.

Kwan’s journey from chart-topping sweetheart to boundary-pushing icon is a testament to her profound talent and, at times, a cautionary tale about the pressures of the entertainment industry.

SCMP Series

Hong Kong’s pop culture icons

[ 62 of 65 ]

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Kwan experienced a meteoric rise followed by an artistic metamorphosis in the 1990s, before personal struggles began to take the spotlight

Kwan experienced a meteoric rise followed by an artistic metamorphosis in the 1990s, before personal struggles began to take the spotlight