In the late 1960s, the Singapore government decided to develop of a plot of land on the then-named Pulau Blakang Mati (currently known as Sentosa Island) for entertainment purposes.

After the Sentosa Development Corporation was incorporated, one of their major plans for the island was to build a musical fountain feature.

[1] The Sentosa Musical Fountain required a decade to build, at a cost of SG$ (Singapore dollar) 3.2 million.

[1] On 30 April 1982, Singapore news publication, The Straits Times reported that the fountain will open briefly for an official preview on May Day.

[4] In the late 1980s, the concrete wall that stood behind the fountain was rebuilt into a man-made cliff and waterfall, then in 1992, the co-operation decided that extra features like the newly introduced 1982 Sentosa logo; drawn onto a large wooden plank, ponds, a symphony stage, and renewed water jets would be added.

In 1996, the gigantic 31 metres (102 ft) tall Merlion Statue was added above the Musical Fountain as a new attraction on Sentosa Island.

After this upgrade, visitors had no access to the Merlion Statue tower after 7 pm due to laser radiation blinding and other safety issues.

The Sentosa Musical Fountain was the venue for many events, special performances, and variety shows – from its opening in 1982 until its closure in March 2007.

The Musical Fountain was the venue for a gala dinner held in conjunction with the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in 1996.

In 1993 the flame of the 1993 Southeast Asian Games was lit at the symphony stage of the fountain by then Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong.

In 2002, the then unheard of, Media Development Authority was announced at the fountain by David Lim, the then acting minister for the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

Production company: Laservision Mega Media Pty Ltd "Rise of the Merlion" is considered the first show to use laser animation and graphics at the 'Musical Fountain'.

The second part was "Spirits of Sentosa", developed by Laservision Mega Media Pty Ltd designers, Simon McCartney, Lloyd Weir, and Richard Tan.

In a behind-the-scenes video, the cast members who performed as the three "Spirits of Sentosa" were filmed while posed in a bathtub while on set in Laservision's Sydney studio.

After using ideas from earlier production in France and restoring the fountain again which took about two years, engineers installed new equipment to create an all-new nighttime show that placed Kiki the Hyperactive Monkey of Sentosa, the official mascot of Sentosa Island at that time, as the host.

The other theme was from informal 'nature's wonderland' imagery; using a small pond, flowering trees and ornamental plants, and a constructed large naturalistic waterfall, which was formerly a concrete wall.

The Musical Fountain's main swan-shaped pool was 5 metres (16 ft) deep and contained 31,700 gallons of water, which took a total of 3 hours to completely fill.

The fountain could also produce more than 19 different water formations (16 originally), including the famous form of a Phoenix flanked by waltzing chorus-lines.

Numerous fireball shooters and water geysers added to the pool and the pond during the upgrade by ECA2 Group and later used on the Magical Sentosa show.