Born July 14, 1983 in Hawaii, Hong Kong pop star Khalil Fong was steeped in music from an early age thanks to his father, a professional drummer. He sang in concerts with his dad before he was five, and began playing the guitar as a teenager. First getting a foot in the industry as a producer, Fong released his debut album, Soul Boy, in 2005, which introduced his sound, Cantopop with a heavy soul and R&B influence. He quickly followed with 2006’s This Love (one of the ten best-selling mandarin albums of that year) and 2007’s Wonderland, and became a perennial winner of industry awards including New Hot Voice at the 2006 Metro Radio Music Awards and Best New Asian Artist at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival. His 2009 covers album Timeless featured versions of songs made famous by some of Fong’s biggest influences including Michael Jackson (“Bad”), Stevie Wonder (“You Are the Sunshine of My Life”), and Ray Charles (“Georgia On My Mind”). His 2011 album 15 won multiple Album of the year awards. An in demand songwriter, producer, and arranger for others, Fong has collaborated with artists like Eason Chan, Fiona Sit, and Ivana Wong while continuing to release new material of his own including 2012’s Back to Wonderland, 2014’s Dangerous World, and 2016’s Journey to the West. A 2020 world tour was aborted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Khalil Fong continued to release music over the years, including singles "Mr. Inspiration" in 2021 and "清楚點" in 2022, followed by another album of his, The dreamer, in 2024, featuring pre-released singles "才二十三" and "我不是农人". On March 1, 2025, Khalil Fong's management company, Fu Music, released a statement announcing his passing on the morning of February 21, 2025, at the age of 41. The statement mentioned that Khalil Fong had faced his illness with a positive attitude over the past five years and passed away peacefully.
