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Hold steady: Wong Ka Kui’s legacy has gone beyond music.

Twenty years ago today, Asia lost one of its greatest rock stars. We remember the musical genius that was Beyond’s Wong Ka Kui.

I am still free and still myself,
I will forever sing my songs,
No matter how far away I go
– Lyrics from the song Vast Seas, Clear Skies by Beyond, written by Wong Ka Kui

I REMEMBER the day I found out Wong Ka Kui died. A friend of mine, who was also a fan of Beyond, announced to my class, almost tearfully, that Ka Kui had passed away. I remember my usually noisy and chaotic classmates at the time instantly quieting down, and then sitting sombrely at their desks, pondering the depressing news.

We didn’t want to believe it – after all, this was the immortal Beyond we were talking about. Together with his bandmates (brother and bassist Ka Keung, guitarist Paul Wong Kun Jong and drummer Yip Sai Wing), Ka Kui enthralled us with songs about upholding one’s culture and beliefs, living life to the fullest and never compromising on one’s ideals and principles.

Back then, the Internet was non-existent, and the only source of entertainment news we had came from the newspapers. Without the immediacy of Twitter, Facebook, or even the convenience of mobile phones, it was hard for us to verify how true the news was.

But as I read about the tragedy later in the newspapers, about how the 31-year-old had fallen from a stage while filming a show in Japan, how he hit his head and fell into a coma, and how he passed away a few hours later from severe internal bleeding, it finally hit me – the heart and soul of Beyond was gone forever.

To the teenage me back then, Ka Kui’s death was more devastating than even that of Kurt Cobain, who died just a year later. After all, Beyond was one of the greatest, nay, THE greatest rock bands Hong Kong has ever produced. Led by Ka Kui, the band’s music was a shining beacon of light in a music industry filled with generic love songs, manufactured pop stars and unoriginality.

Founded by Ka Kui and Yip in 1983 (Paul and Ka Keung joined the band later), the band’s story is a good old rock and roll tale of hardship, persistence and defiance in the face of familial and financial pressure.

They paid to make debut album Goodbye Ideals out of their own pockets, and the band continued to struggle (despite a strong underground following) until they finally made a breakthrough with 1987’s The Arabian Dancing Girl album. After that, they became an enigmatic mainstay in Hong Kong’s otherwise predictable Cantopop scene.

Being the band’s primary songwriter and lead vocalist, Ka Kui was unsurprisingly the figurehead of the band, and to his credit, he never let success get to his head. Throughout his career, he and the rest of the band held steadfastly to their rock and roll principles, writing songs that highlighted social and political issues, racism, poverty in Africa, and above all, the importance of never giving up on your dreams.

After his death, the remaining members of Beyond chose to carry on as a trio. During an interview with The Star before a concert in Kuala Lumpur back in 1996, Ka Keung explained their decision to continue as a threesome rather than find a replacement for Ka Kui.

“It won’t be easy finding another person who will fit in with our music and style. Since that is the case, we might as well remain a threesome,” said Ka Keung back then.

“It is difficult to express our feelings regarding the loss of a good friend and comrade. But Ka Kui will always be around, in spirit, of course,” Sai Wing added.

Although they managed to release several criminally underrated albums as a threesome, there was always a sense it just wasn’t the same without Ka Kui.

Beyond officially disbanded in 2005, with all three members going on to pursue different musical paths. They recently announced that they won’t be getting back together even for the band’s 30th anniversary this year.

Wong Ka Kui’s death on this very day 20 years ago was a massive blow to Asian music in general, and there has arguably never been a rock band with the influence or popularity of Beyond ever since.

In the West, the list of gifted musicians who died young include Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. For his impact on Asian music and unwavering rock and roll spirit, Wong Ka Kui surely deserves to be on that list as well.