Minh Thuan

Minh Thuan (1969-2016) was a popular singer and actor in Vietnam.  Born on September 12, 1969 in Saigon, South Vietnam, he had come from a family of first-generation Northern Vietnamese migrants from Ninh Binh province.  At the age of five, Minh Thuan began singing for the local church choir in Saigon with encouragement from his mother.  He began his professional singing career at the age of 14 in early 1984 when he became a regular performer at the Cultural Performing Arts Theater located in the fifth district of Ho Chi Minh City.

In the early 1990s, Minh Thuan first gained national prominence as part of a singing duo along with another fellow male vocalist Nhat Hao.  The two began performing together back in 1988 when they had first met singing for a political music troupe known as Tien Dat in Ho Chi Minh City.  Four years later, the duo would record their very first studio album together titled as Chang Trai Beijing (Beijing Boy) which featured a collection of covers of popular Chinese love songs.  Its enormous success with skyrocketing sales made it one of the bestsellers in the pop music industry of Vietnam during the year of 1992.  The unexpected success with the release of this debut album led to a series of Chang Trai Beijing releases in the years to come which in total consisted of 12 volumes.  They had become one of the most in demand acts among nightly performers at various music venues and cabarets in Ho Chi Minh City during the 1990s.  At the height of their popularity, Minh Thuan and Nhat Hao maintained a grueling schedule of performing at 22 different locations around Ho Chi Minh City on a nightly basis, a record among live performers in Vietnam that is still firmly held by the duo to this day.  The duo had also become known with several signature trademarks such as their high energy live performances and style of dress that was often compared and praised to the ranks of Hong Kong's top male celebrities and fashion icons.  Minh Thuan and Nhat Hao  were also among the very few famous Vietnamese entertainers with long hair.  In a traditionally conservative culture like Vietnam, this had never happened before.  Yet not only did the audience accept these two male singers with long hair, but it had become a signature look for the duo and contributed significantly to their popularity.

Nhat Hao (right) and Minh Thuan (left)
 photographed on the cover of one of their recorded studio albums as a duo

After eight years of performing together as a duo, Minh Thuan and Nhat Hao both decided to go their separate ways in 1996.  Although the both of them would go on to pursue solo careers, Nhat Hao eventually would leave Vietnam and take up permanent residence in the United States while Minh Thuan's career as a solo artist in Vietnam would continue to flourish throughout the next decade.  Minh Thuan has since appeared on many music video productions and has recorded for prominent record labels in Vietnam such as Kim Loi, Mua Hong, Rang Dong and Hoang Dinh.  In 1996, Minh Thuan had set up his own music production label in which had released several of his most successful studio albums Loi Chuc Phuc (1996), Tra No Tinh Xa (1998), Tinh Phieu Lang (2001) and Ngay Tho Au Da Xa (2003).  He has also appeared on many duet albums with other artists, most notably Phuong Thanh who also happens to be one of his closest friends.  Minh Thuan and Phuong Thanh have enjoyed tremendous success with their recorded duets of hit songs like Telephone, Ly Ngua O and Con Gai Bay Gio.  Other artists that have also recorded duets with Minh Thuan include My Tam, Cam Ly, Minh Tuyet, La Suong Suong and Sy Ben.

As of 2006, Minh Thuan had chosen to remain inactive in his career as a recording artist.  Despite making occasional appearances as a music performer at live shows, he had since shifted his focus into his acting career.  Minh Thuan has appeared on the big screen of Vietnamese cinema with an impressive resume which includes films like Hon Thuong Ba, Da Hang Thit (Truong Ba's Soul in the Butcher's Body) (2006) which had starred Johnny Tri Nguyen and Phuong Thanh and two starring vehicles of film actress Van Trang, Thien Menh Anh Hung (2012) and Scandal:  Bi Mat Tham Do (2012).  In 2008, he had starred in his most famous role to date as Ninh Lam in the extremely popular Vietnamese drama series, Co Gai Xau Xi, which was a Vietnamese adaptation of the popular television series, Ugly Betty, produced in the United States.  Although this was his first casting on a television drama series, Minh Thuan successfully proved himself to television viewer audiences  that he could definitely hold his own working alongside such acting pros like Ngoc Hiep, Lan Phuong and Binh Minh.  Two years later, Minh Thuan would be cast on another Vietnamese television drama series called, Cho Mot Tinh Yeu, which also starred fellow singers turned actors My Tam and Quang Dung.

On September 2, 2016, Minh Thuan was admitted to Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after suffering a stroke.  It was there that doctors discovered that he had been stricken with advanced stage lung cancer.  Minh Thuan took his last breath at 8:15am on September, 18, 2016.  He was cremated at Binh Hung Hoa Cemetary in Ho Chi Minh City.  Minh Thuan was only 47.