And then ... ... there was one

Twenty years after hitting the big time, Eason Chan reigns unchallenged. Chen Nan reports.

In the 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong held huge sway over the music markets of the mainland, Taiwan and other parts of Asia with its Cantopop, four of its best-known exponents being Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai and Andy Lau, who came to be known as the Four Heavenly Kings.

But these days the volume has well and truly been turned down on Cantopop as music tastes worldwide continue to diversify, and the four kings have given way to a sole sovereign, Eason Chan, dubbed the King of Cantopop. In fact, Chan is just about the only Cantopop singer these days who might be considered anything like a global phenomenon.