He first performed at Taihoku City Public Auditorium as part of a children's group, and later as a singer of Japanese patriotic songs.
He led a group of singers that performed frequently near the Danshui River until the February 28 Incident forced Hong to move to Tainan.
His radio performances drove his popularity, and, in 1957, he released his debut album A Handsome Young Man on a Hilltop (Chinese: 山頂黑狗兄; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Soaⁿ-téng O͘-káu Hiaⁿ), under his best known stage name Ang It-hong, which was suggested by a fortune teller.
Ang spent the late 1960s and 1970s in Japan, as Kuomintang authorities censored Hokkien pop and other media.
As restrictions against Hokkien media were lifted in the 1980s, and martial law was suspended, one of Ang's students, Jody Chiang, rose to stardom.