At the age of 41, “King of Golden Melody” Fang Datong lost the battle with a stubborn illness and was confirmed to have passed away on February 21st, shocking the entertainment industry. His management company only stated, “He faced the illness positively for 5 years,” without disclosing the specific cause of his death, leading to various speculations.
According to the Hong Kong media “Eastern Web,” on March 2nd, news emerged that a body examination report of Fang Datong leaked from a private hospital in Hong Kong. It revealed that his BMI before his passing was only 14.3, equivalent to an adult male weighing less than 44 kilograms (approximately 96.8 pounds) at 175 centimeters tall. There were online rumors suggesting that Fang Datong’s attending physician purportedly said, “If he could eat beef for 3 months, his heart and lung function could have lasted 5 more years.”
After promoting his new song “Clearly” for over 2 years, Fang Datong had been keeping a low profile. Some speculated that he had been on sick leave, while others guessed that he had given up his singer identity to start farming. Finally, on September 6th last year, he posted a video on Instagram to share updates on his situation and confessed that he had been in seclusion for a period due to illness, with his thin figure causing distress among fans.
His management company, Fuyin Music, issued a statement on March 1st announcing the passing of the 41-year-old King of Golden Melody, Fang Datong, on the morning of February 21st, without specifying the exact disease that led to his departure. In fact, 15 years ago, Fang Datong had suffered from a condition popularly known as “pneumothorax” or “lung burst,” for which he had been hospitalized several times without improvement.
Fang Datong’s passing has once again brought attention to a controversial topic – vegetarianism. Born into a vegetarian family, Fang Datong had followed a meat-free lifestyle since childhood. In 2010, he fully embraced veganism, completely giving up dairy and eggs.
It was rumored online that at the time of his passing, there were 28 cards from various vegetarian associations placed on a table beside his bed. Additionally, there were mentions of a backstage CCTV footage from his concert in 2018, where his assistant handed him a bowl of chicken soup, only for him to pour it into a plant pot himself. Fang Datong once carved an eggplant into the shape of a “chicken leg” to fool his parents into thinking he was eating meat. Moreover, he had also invested in a vegetarian restaurant in Hong Kong.
Reports stated that a nutrition doctoral professional calculated that the amount of protein Fang Datong consumed daily was not even enough to sustain one high-pitched song. There were also claims that after suffering from “pneumothorax,” he couldn’t undergo surgery because his vegetarian diet had prevented him from reaching the required weight, which was truly lamentable.