Thanh Thuy

For the Vietnamese Actress, see Thanh Thúy (Actress).

Thanh Thuy (1943-     ) is a famous Vietnamese singer originally from Hue, Central Vietnam who began her professional singing career around the age of 16 in Saigon and would later become known as Tieng Hat Lieu Trai (The Sultry Singing Voice). 

How Thanh Thuy had become a professional singer was somewhat of an accident, as her career choice had come about unplanned.  Growing up in Hue in a family of 5 siblings, up until her early teenage years Saigon seemed like a faraway destination to Thanh Thuy as a young girl.  However, when she was 15, her mother had been stricken with tuberculosis and the family had to relocate to Saigon for her medical treatment.  To contribute to her family's income along with the high costs of medical care for her mother, Thanh Thuy found work singing at lounges and cabarets while still a minor at age 15, just a few weeks prior to her 16th birthday.  Almost overnight, audiences took notice of her unique style of singing that was unlike most other Vietnamese female vocalists at the time.  Among the characteristics that made her stand out was her husky, sensual singing voice in a much lower register than what was considered typical for a female vocalist along with her distinct style of pronunciation that was reminiscent of the Central Vietnamese dialect most common among native residents of the imperial city of Hue.  One other advantage she had was her natural beauty which coincided with her regal stage presence.

In a very short period of time, Thanh Thuy by 1960 had become one of the most popular musical performers at cabarets throughout Saigon.  It was at the Duc Quynh Cabaret in Saigon where she first started performing nightly that catapulted Thanh Thuy into Stardom.  Among her many admirers included a list of prominent Vietnamese songwriters.  One particular songwriter by the name of Trinh Cong Son, who was then still a virtual unknown, had been one of her biggest fans.  His very first composition, Uot Mi (Tear Drenched Eyelashes), was written particularly for Thanh Thuy.  It can be said that Trinh Cong Son had been given his first big break as a composer through the introduction of Thanh Thuy's vocal interpretations of Uot Mi which first brought his name to prominence with Vietnamese music audiences.  After the success of Uot Mi, Trinh Cong Son followed up with another composition he had written especially for Thanh Thuy entitled, Thuong Mot Nguoi (To Love Someone).  

Throughout her career, Thanh Thuy would have similar experiences with many other prominent Vietnamese composers as many other popular Vietnamese songs had been initially written specifically for Thanh Thuy's singing voice.  Hoang Thi Tho had written Loi Hat Ta On (Lyrics of Thanks) with Thanh Thuy's voice in mind.  Ton That Lap's Tieng Hat Ve Khuya (Nocturnal Voice) had also been written for Thanh Thuy, as well.  Thuy Da Di Roi (Thuy Has Left), the theme song of a 1961 film of the same name directed and written by film actor / director Nguyen Long based on Thanh Thuy, was written by Nguyen Long and composed by Y Van had also become one of Thanh Thuy's most famous signature songs throughout her career.  And her most famous collaboration was with songwriter Truc Phuong which had spawned a long list of popular songs for Thanh Thuy such as Hai Loi Mong (Both Sides of Splendor), Nua Dem Ngoai Pho (A Night Out on the Town) and Chuyen Chung Minh (Our Story).  

Thanh Thuy throughout the 1960s and 1970s in Saigon was one of the most in-demand cabaret headliners, as she graced the stages of major venues like Anh Vu, Tu Do, Queen Bee, and Quoc Te (International), in which she along with one of Saigon's most celebrated promoters, Ngoc Chanh, had each co-owned up until the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  Her tremendous success allowed her to form her own record label simply named as Thanh Thuy which produced and released most of her solo studio albums as well as for various other recording artists of South Vietnam.  In 1962, Thanh Thuy was voted by a national poll conducted by Trang Den Magazine in Saigon as Hoa Hau Nghe Si (Beauty Queen Among Entertainers).  The same magazine would also place her as most popular singer of the year for three consecutive years from 1972-1974.

In addition to her extraordinary career as a professional singer, Thanh Thuy had also acted in several films produced in South Vietnam.  Among her most popular films include Thuy Da Di Roi (1961), a film based on her own life directed by Nguyen Long and costarred Minh Hieu, and To Tinh (1963), costarring Tham Thuy Hang and La Thoai Tan.

During her initial years since her rise to fame, Thanh Thuy broke the hearts of many of her admiring male fans when she decided to get married and start a family of her own.  Happily married to On Van Tai since 1964, Thanh Thuy is a mother to a grown son who is now a pharmacist and since 1995 has been a grandmother.  Thanh Thuy has one younger sister, Thanh Chau, who had followed in her footsteps in the singing profession and is now an attorney at law.  Since 1975, Thanh Thuy has resettled in the United States and has started her own music production label which has produced and released an impressive collection of her studio recorded albums.  She continues to tour the world and makes video appearances on Thuy Nga Paris and Asia Productions.

Link(s):

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time

External Link(s):

Thanh Thuy Facebook Page