Though he was regarded as a non-professional singer during his career, Michael Kwan became one of the most influential Cantopop artists of the '70s and '80s. A number of his big hits were theme songs for Hong Kong dramas of the period—panoramic ballads with melodies influenced by traditional Chinese music and poetic, meditative lyrics interpreted through Kwan's measured voice. In the late '80s, Kwan retired from singing to work as an architect, but his legacy lived on in admirers like Samuel Hui and Jacky Cheung.