Joseph Koo Dead: When it comes to the Hong Kong music scene, no one is more towering than Joseph Koo Ka-Fai. Koo is both a household name and a true legend; he has composed over 1,200 songs, many of which were iconic theme songs for popular tv series from the golden age of television.
His prominence in Cantopop is demonstrated by the outpouring of grief & condolences upon his death at age 92 in Canada. Most Chinese people, both at home & abroad, probably know at least a few of the songs in his extensive repertoire.
In the 1970s, when Western and Mandarin numbers dominated the local scene, the former TVB music director was a pioneer along with others by composing Cantonese songs for TV prime-time series.
Who Was Joseph Koo?
Born on February 23, 1931, in Guangzhou, China, Koo moved with his musical family from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1948. Reports indicate that Koo has worked predominantly in the Hong Kong cinema, television, and pop music industries.
After the turn of the century, he made the journey north to Canada. The composer remained engaged with his professional community in Hong Kong. There's no denying that Koo became well-known and well-liked thanks to his work in the movie and TV business.
Because of this, many people's hearts have been broken by his untimely passing. Regarding further details on Joseph, he picked up the piano at an early age. He wrote songs for his sister when he was little, and he made her listen to them.
Dream, it has been reported, was the film for which he composed his debut piece. After relocating back to Hong Kong, Joseph found employment with a Shaw Brothers firm. The score's composer was honored with a Golden Horse Award as well.
To those who are unaware, this is one of China's highest honors. His untimely death is now one of the most mourned subjects on the web. All of society is mourning his loss and paying respect to him today.
How Did Joseph Koo Die?
Joseph Koo Dead: According to reports, Joseph Koo passed away on Tuesday, January 3, 2022. Neither his relatives nor his representatives disclosed any information about his passing. This means we don't know what ultimately killed Joseph Koo.
His family is grieving his untimely death, which has become one of the web's hottest subjects. What happened to him and how he died are still unknown. The composer's death has been attributed to old age due to the claims of multiple sources.
Joseph Koo Early Life
Koo moved to Hong Kong from Guangzhou, China when he was 17 years old. Koo had a younger brother named Koo Kar-Tseung and an elder sister named Koo Mei, who was a famous Chinese singer and painter. When Koo was 17, he began taking piano lessons from the same Filipino music teacher who was instructing his sister in singing.
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Joseph Koo Career
Sir Run Run Shaw paid for Koo's tuition at Boston's Berklee College of Music in the 1960s. After finishing college, he went back to Hong Kong & found work at the Shaw Brothers & Golden Harvest film studios, where he composed the music for a number of films, including the 1972 Bruce Lee blockbusters Fist of Fury & Way of the Dragon.
In 1973, Koo became TVB's director of music & from the late '70s until he immigrated to Canada in the '90s, he worked closely with the writer Wong Jim on several iconic TV theme tunes. Over the course of his career, Koo has written more than 1,200 songs, many of which have entered the canon of classic Cantopop.
He has only two short works to his name as a lyricist & both of them are rather brief. The first one was a children's song about numbers 1 through 10, while the second one was the “Goodnight” jingle that played at the end of Enjoy Yourself Tonight. His sister Koo Mei recorded his first released song, “Dream,” in 1961.
Later, his song “Suburban Road” became a smashing success, too. The Fatal Irony, one of the earliest successful Cantopop songs, was written by him in 1974 and was the first Cantonese TV theme song. In 1982, Koo received the honorary title of “Member of the Order of the British Empire.”
The government of Hong Kong awarded him the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 1998. In addition to the Music Accomplishment Award, the Highest Honour Award, the Best Music Award & the Best Lyric Award from the Hong Kong Film Honors & the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards in Taiwan, he has won numerous additional awards.
Koo moved to Canada from Hong Kong in the 1990s, yet he never stopped making music for his own country. When TVB wanted to do something special for the tenth anniversary of the Hong Kong handover, they turned to him to compose the theme song for their drama, The Drive of Life, which aired in 2007.
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On November 30–December 3, 2012, he hosted a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum under the title “Joseph Koo Concert 2012,” which featured a wide variety of artists such as Adam Cheng, George Lam, Teresa Cheung & Anthony Wong. He announced his retirement as a conductor in 2015, stating that he would be producing far less music & instead taking up oil painting like his sister.
