Khalil Fong, Hong Kong Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 41

Khalil Fong, a Hong Kong singer-songwriter who infused a soul and R&B sensibility into Chinese pop songs, died on Feb. 21. He was 41.

His death was announced on Saturday by his record label, Fu Music. The announcement did not say where Mr. Fong had died or specify a cause of death, but it said he had battled a “relentless illness” for five years.

Beloved for its soulful vocals and distinctive blend of soul and Mandarin pop, Mr. Fong’s music found an audience in Hong Kong, mainland China and much of the wider Chinese-speaking world.

“Trying to introduce soul music, or soul R&B, was not the easiest thing,” he said in a 2016 interview with The South China Morning Post, noting that the genre was not widely embraced in the region. “One of the things I wanted to do was to introduce this type of music within the context of Chinese language.”

He broke into the popular music scene in 2005, when Warner Music Hong Kong released his funky, syncopated debut album, “Soulboy.” In the following decade, he released eight albums and performed in stadiums and large concert halls around the world, wearing his signature thick black glasses.

But Mr. Fong’s career was cut short by health problems, and in recent years he had largely retreated from the public eye. Inspiration never stopped flowing, however, and he sporadically released singles.

He recorded his final album, “The Dreamer,” during what he described as various stages of illness, the nature of which he never disclosed.

Making the music was “both a challenge and a relief from the rather tedious circumstance” of ill health, he wrote on Instagram when the album was released in October.

“I had tons of notes and ideas, song structures and lyrics jotted down and whenever I could manage, I would gradually chip away at them,” he added.

Khalil Fong, whose Chinese name was Fong Tai-tung, was born on July 14, 1983, in Hawaii.

His father was a drummer, and Mr. Fong grew up listening to his collection of blues and soul records from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. His mother was a language teacher who later became his full-time business manager and was credited in some songs as a lyricist.

When Mr. Fong was 5, the family moved to Shanghai, where they lived for several years. After a brief stint in Guangzhou, they settled in Hong Kong. He began learning guitar and writing music as a teenager, and he was soon submitting demo tapes to record labels.

He was 22 when “Soulboy” was released. More albums, among them “Love Love Love,” “Orange Moon” and “Timeless,” followed in quick succession, along with world tours.

His interpretations of American hits like “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You” and “Red Bean,” a Chinese ballad by the popular singer Faye Wong, accumulated millions of views online.

While most pop musicians in Hong Kong sang in Cantonese, he acknowledged in interviews that he did not feel comfortable singing in what was his third language. He mostly sang in Mandarin and English.

In 2016, he founded the independent label Fu Music, saying he wanted it to pay tribute to both Chinese and Western influences.

“JTW,” named after the Ming-dynasty Buddhist epic “Journey to the West,” was released that year. The album included collaborations with two South Korean pop stars, Zion T. and Crush, as well as the Taiwanese-American pop star Wang Leehom.

In 2018, Mr. Fong began publishing “Emi the Dream Catcher,” a fantasy graphic novel series he wrote in Chinese and English, about a girl who has lucid dreams that help her understand her place in the world.

“I think these stories are a reminder to myself and others of the things we should be mindful of, to create a better society for future generations,” he said in an interview at the time.

He did not disclose that he had been struggling with health problems until 2024, when he introduced “The Dreamer,” his last album.

“In life we are each faced with challenges but through it all let’s not forget how to be dreamers,” he wrote.

Complete information about Mr. Fong’s survivors was not available. He said in interviews that he was an only child and had no children himself.

He recently told Chinese-language media outlets that he hoped to start touring again and had plans for new music. Just a few weeks ago, he promoted the video for “Oasis,” a song from “The Dreamer.”

The album was wide-ranging. Its songs included a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to an internet rumor that he had taken up farming and a whimsical review of the “Godfather” trilogy: “It was good but it was sad/ Mike was good and Mike was bad / But mostly mad and lonely.”

Most poignant, perhaps, was how he conveyed the swift passage of time. Many songs on the album, including the last one, “Not Much Left to Say,” ended abruptly midsentence, just before he could complete the thought.