Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as "Queen of Cantopop". She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.

Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of Asia", which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.

In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in tandem with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists. Her 1985 album, Bad Girl, sold over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong and remains the highest-selling album of all time in the territory.

Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, China, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Malaysia. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui consistently remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40; her sister, Ann Mui, died three years earlier, at the same age from the same disease.

Mui was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, in October 1963. She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children, and the only one of the four born in Hong Kong, as her siblings were born in China. Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born in Xiguan,Guangzhou, still alive as a Centenarian. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming, Mui Tak-Ming and singer Ann Mui, The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and that her family was impoverished. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered the show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres, amusement parks and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.

At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.

In 1982, encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been singing for more than 10 years performing as a busker from street and club performances during her childhood.

For winning the New Talent contest, Mui released her debut album, Debt Heart (心債), with the local record company Capital Artists. The album drew a lukewarm response from the market. However, her subsequent albums, Red (赤色梅艷芳) (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight (飛躍舞台) (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image, with guidance and support from fashion designer Eddie Lau. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.