Thuy Hang

Thuy Hang (1980-    ) is a famous overseas Vietnamese singer who had risen to stardom with her appearances on the Hollywood Night live show music video series produced by Mây Productions during the 1990s.  She was mostly known for her interpretations of more traditional popular Vietnamese music.

Born in Chicago, Illinois to an Anglo-American mother and Vietnamese father, Thuy Hang was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana from the age of 2.  She grew up in a household of 6 children.  At the age of 9, her parents divorced and she along with her siblings were then raised by her father.  Despite being born and raised in the United States, Thuy Hang's father made sure that the Vietnamese language and culture would be passed to all of his children.  From an early age, Thuy Hang had expressed an interest in singing.  With the encouragement of her father, she developed a keen interest in Vietnamese music and learned to sing Vietnamese songs.  At the age of 13, Thuy Hang took first prize at a singing contest held at the Vietnamese New Year's Festival in New Orleans.  In 1995, her father submitted karaoke recordings of two songs by Thuy Hang, Lòng Mẹ written by  Y Van and Unchained Melody, a Righteous Brothers classic written by Hy Zaret, through a mutual friend to Trần Đình Thăng, the owner of Mây Productions.  To his delight, he was contacted by Trần Đình Thăng shortly thereafter with a contract offer for Thuy Hang to his label. 

When Thuy Hang first appeared on volume 14 of the Hollywood Night live show music video series, her performance of Lòng Mẹ earned overwhelmingly positive responses from viewer audiences.  The amount of fan mail received led Thuy Hang to appear on volume 15 of Hollywood Night performing the title track, Mười Năm Áo Tím written by Nguyen Anh.  Under the Mây Productions label, she recorded a total of 6 solo studio albums, Mười Năm Áo Tím (1996), Mùa Thu Nhớ Ai (1997), Tình Thiên Thu (1998), Tình Buồn Trong Mưa (1998), Giờ Này Anh Ở Đâu (1999) and Tình Xót Xa (2000).  Her popularity with more traditional Vietnamese popular music put her in the ranks of Nhu Quynh and Phi Nhung.  She toured extensively during the 5 years under contract with Mây Productions performing at live shows for overseas Vietnamese audiences all over the United States and abroad.  It has been said that if Ngoc Lan had been dubbed as Queen of the Hollywood Night video series, then Thuy Hang was definitely known as the Darling of the Hollywood Night video series.  

At the height of her popularity, Thuy Hang decided to leave the music industry to concentrate on her studies.  Without any formal announcement of retirement, many of her fans were left puzzled.  Her last recorded solo studio album to date, Hoa Mẫu Đơn (2003), was released by the label Dạ Lan.  In 2007 she embarked on a successful concert tour of Australia, her last concert tour to date .  However, false rumors began circulating the following year that Thuy Hang had passed away.  What had prompted such false rumors are still unclear.  However, several of her devoted fans have since come forward with postings on various websites including YouTube with updates about her current whereabouts and disprove such rumors .  

Thuy Hang still lives in New Orleans, Louisiana today and is married with two children.  She currently works as a dentist and goes by the professional name, Dr. Thuy-Hang Wiesner.  

Link(s):

• 50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
• 10 Viet Celebs Who Don't Look Vietnamese