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Beyond

Beyond was a Hong Kong rock band formed in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Mainland China. The band was, and still is, widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantonese music group from Hong Kong. In 1993, the group's founder and key vocalist Wong Ka-kui died due to an accident while filming a show at Fuji Television in Tokyo. Beyond continued to perform and record after Wong Ka-kui's death. In 2005, the remaining members Paul Wong, Wong Ka-keung, and Yip Sai-wing decided to pursue their own solo careers, and Beyond officially disbanded.Early yearsIn the early 1983s, Wong Ka Kui and Yip Sai Wing started out as young musicians and both had interests in Pink Floyd's progressive rock. In 1983, they decided to join a music contest for "Guitar magazine", and they decided to form a band. A guitarist William Tang (???) wished the band's name to convey a feeling of surpassing or going beyond themselves (??), so the name "Beyond" was chosen. However, the band name was not definite at the time. The band's musical style was still experimental. Wong Ka-kui and another musician Joey Tang (???) formed a temporary group called the "NASA band" that did art rock style of music with English pop.In 1984, Ka Kui's younger brother Wong Ka Keung joined the band. At the time, the group had four members: Wong Ka Keung, Wong Ka Kui, Yip Sai Wing and Chan See On. Chan See On soon had to leave the country, leaving the band without a guitarist. In 1985 Paul Wong joined the band to take the guitarist role.In the early years, time was difficult for the band. They had to do everything themselves, including organizing its finance, selling tickets, performing and buying their own equipment. They rented out Caritas Hong Kong for a mini concert called "Forever waiting concert" and invited people. Not a single record company showed up, and the audience was indifferent to the band. Someone stepped in as their manager to help them raise HK$16,000, but the group was soon left with only HK$1000.In 1986, the group rented a studio to record the album "Goodbye my Dreams" (????). Lau Chi Yuen then joined Beyond. At the time Small island (??), Tat Ming Pair and Beyond made a recording together. Small island was scheduled to go to a July 1986 Pan-Asian Music Festival in Taipei Taiwan, and Beyond was added to the schedule. Beyond was well liked and they joined another festival that same year. They would then sign with Kinn's Music record company.Commercial successIn 1987, Beyond produced several albums. The album "The Arabian Dancing Girl" was one of the band's first commercial hits. They soon were in a new music underground trend along with a few number of groups such as Tai Chi, Cocos and Raidas. One member Lau Chi Yuen left the band in 1988, leaving the group with only four members.In 1989, Beyond became the first Hong Kong band to perform in Beijing at the Capital Indoor Stadium. Since Beyond's songs were in Cantonese (instead of Mandarin), the performance was not well received by the audience. Before the stadium was filled, half the people have already left. However, they still considered the concert a success. After a couple of flops, Beyond started to gain popularity following the release of the hit song "Dai Dei" (??). They would soon win their first musical awards, the 1988 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation and 1989 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards.In 1990, they released one of the band's signature songs called "Glorious years" (????). The song was about racism and the struggle of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The song was a huge hit, and had a fresh sound that stood out from the sea of love songs that dominated the Cantopop scene in Hong Kong. The song was from the band's album "Party of Fate", which sold extremely well, achieving triple platinum.In 1991, Beyond released another critically acclaimed song "Amani" from the album "Hesitant". The song was written during Beyond's trip to Tanzania. Part of the song lyrics was in Swahili language. The title of the song "Amani" means peace. As suggested by the title, the song is about the plight of war-ravaged Africa and the yearning for world peace. The song is still often used by Hong Kong's human rights groups to spread the message of peace.In the same year, Beyond made their first appearance on Japan's NHK station. They immediately signed with record company Amuse. Beyond started to become a more international band, and began to focus more time in Japan and Taiwan. The album Continue the Revolution achieved commercial and critical success. In May 1993, Beyond released the album Rock and Roll which included the song "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" (????). That song would become Wong Ka Kui's last song with the band.Death of Wong Ka KuiOn 24 June 1993 Beyond appeared at a Tokyo Fuji Television game show (???????????????????!). The stage platform was 2.7 to 3m high. Actor Uchimura and Wong Ka Kui both fell off a broken stage and sustained massive head injuries. Wong was sent to the Tokyo Women's Medical University hospital. He fell into a coma and died one week later at aged 31.The death occurred at the prime of the group's career. Especially with the tremendous success of the song "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" released at the time of Wong Ka Kui's death, the remaining members would be propelled into legends. His funeral procession caused traffic in various major streets in Hong Kong to come to a standstill, and almost every famous Hong Kong Cantopop singer attended and paid tribute at the funeral. Criticisms followed that the Japanese were having too many late night shows of this type, and the TV station crews were overworked.Post Ka Kui EraThere was a lot of debate as to whether the remaining three members should continue to record and perform as Beyond. Eventually, they reappeared on 30 November 1993 in Hong Kong at the Composer's Tribute Night concert. In the new era their albums have a more alternative rock feel, unlike the progressive rock sound of previous albums. Beyond's first album in the post Ka Kui era was "2nd Floor Back Suite" (????). In 1997 the album "Please Let Go of Your Hands"(?????) also made a reference to Hong Kong's cultural changes after the handover of Hong Kong to China.In November 1999, the three remaining Beyond members announced that they would pursue their own solo career after a world tour. In 2003 for the group's 20th anniversary, they came out to embark on a world tour. The tour included stops in Toronto Canada, and various cities in mainland China.In 2005, they played their last tour (The Story Live 2005) under the name Beyond and announced their disbandment at their last stop in Singapore.For the first time in three years, the three remaining members of Beyond reunited to play "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" (????) for the Wong Ka Kui Memorial Concert. The concert was organized by Wong Ka Keung as a birthday tribute to his brother 15 years after his death which featured covers of Ka Kui's songs by bands and artists such as Kolor, Tai Chi, Soler, and at17.Yip Sai Wing and Paul Wong held a concert called "Beyond Next Stage Live 2008" on 11 Oct 2008 in Genting Highlands, Malaysia and later on 8 Nov 2008 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.In 2009, Wong Ka Keung and Paul Wong held a series of concerts called "This is Rock & Roll" between July 24 and the 26th in Hong Kong.LegacyThe song "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" (????) has been used in many charity events. For example, the song's lyrics was modified and used for the massive Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.The song "Glorious Years" (????) was often used as the theme song for Hong Kong's political activities. For example, the song was used for Hong Kong's Five Constituencies Referendum where the pan-democrats tried to push for a by-election.BandmatesWong Ka Kui – vocals, rhythm guitarPaul Wong Koon Chung – lead guitar, vocalsWong Ka Keung – bass guitar, vocalsYip Sai Wing – drums, percussion, vocals