Mai Le Huyen

Mai Le Huyen (1946-    ) is a Vietnamese singer and actress.  She has often been accredited as the pioneer female singer of rock and roll music of Vietnam.  Born as Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc to Laotian-Vietnamese intermarried parents, she started her professional singing career at the age of 17 when she relocated to Saigon from her hometown of Binh Long.  At one of her earliest steady performing gigs, Van Canh music venue in Saigon , she had befriended several musicians such as Dinh Viet Lang, Tran Trinh and Van Thuyet Linh who together had come up with a stage name for the up and coming rock and roll chanteuse.  From then on, she would be known across the country as Mai Le Huyen.

As a protégée of musician/songwriter Tran Trinh, Mai Le Huyen's first hit single that had brought her to prominence was a ballad he had written especially for her called Le Da (Tears of a Stone).  Other songs she had also become known for had been written and composed by musician Y Van such as Ao Anh (Illusions) and Thoi (No).  But it was Mai Le Huyen's interpretations of Vietnamese rock and roll music that truly had set her apart from other singers of South Vietnam during her day.  Among her signature rock and roll tunes that had turned her into a major star included Hai Trai Tim Vang (Two Golden Hearts), Mat Xanh Con Gai (Blue Eyed Girl), Co Nho Dem Nao (Remember That Night?) and Tup Leo Ly Tuong (Ideal Shack).  

On stage, Mai Le Huyen's trademark livelihood and unmatched energy had quickly earned for herself a reputation of being among Saigon's top crowd pleasers.  Her career had skyrocketed at the rate that was comparable to that of a speeding bullet.  From the moment she first exploded onto the cabaret scene of Saigon, Mai Le Huyen had evolved from a featured up and coming new sensation into a major headliner almost overnight.  Shortly after she had relocated to Saigon, through an introduction from veteran performer Tran Van Trach, Mai Le Huyen began singing at several clubs and bars which catered primarily to US military personnel patrons alongside other up and coming new performers also on the rise to stardom such as Elvis Phuong, Khanh Ha and Anh Tu. Soon after, she would become one of the most bankable and in demand headliners of various major concert events across South Vietnam.  She had also conquered the hearts of the South Vietnamese ARVN troops through her countless interpretaions of songs that had similar themes pertaining to the lives of military troops such as Nguoi Linh Chung Tinh (Faithful Soldier), Nang Tien Cua Linh (A Soldier's Goddess) and Tinh Yeu va Thuy Thu (A Sailor's Love).  Along with veteran performers such as Duy Khanh and Nhat Truong, she toured relentlessly throughout the country entertaining ARVN troops.

Hung Cuong and Mai Le Huyen 

Her numerous collaborations with various major record labels in South Vietnam like Shotguns, Continental, Song Nhac, Viet Nam, Thanh Thuy, Thuong Ca, Hoang Thi Tho, Nha Ca and Hoa Mi had made Mai Le Huyen one of the most prolific recording artists in the music industry of South Vietnam from 1965 until 1975.  When she teamed up with famous actor/singer Hung Cuong as a duo, her fame continued to grow even higher as the pair enjoyed blockbuster successes with their many duets recorded and released on vinyl, as well as a series of studio albums recorded as a duo released on audio cassette.  Hung Cuong and Mai Le Huyen would become the most popular among singing duos in South Vietnam.  They would become the highest paid singing duo act of South Vietnam with an unprecedented highest salary command per live concert appearance.  Their popularity would also include their contributions as movie actors as the two had starred in a series of light-hearted, comedic movies together in Saigon.


During the height of Mai Le Huyen's singing career in South Vietnam, she had also partaken another successful career as an actress.  Beginning as a stage actress, she starred on several plays as a theater troupe performer headed by Tham Thuy Hang and Tuy Hong.  On the small screen, Mai Le Huyen also found success familiarizing herself with television audiences of South Vietnam with her frequent appearances in comedy sketches of the weekly television program produced and hosted by La Thoai Tan called 45 Phut Vui La Thoai Tan (45 Minutes of Comedy La Thoai Tan).  Her popularity from that show would lead to her own television weekly show simply called Mai Le Huyen's Show.  And on the silver screen, Mai Le Huyen would also achieve fame and success with starring roles in a string of movie productions in South Vietnam such as Gac Chuong Nha Tho (The Church Bell Towers), Manh Luc Dong Tien (The Power of Money), Ly Ruou Mung (A Toasted Glass), Con Gi Cho Nhau (What Has Remained for Us) which costarred Hung Cuong and Mong Tuyen and Nha Toi (My Old Man), a well received comedy in which she had costarred with La Thoai Tan who was also producer of the movie.

Mai Le Huyen's extraordinary successes in both careers as a singer and an actress had made her one of the wealthiest women in show business of South Vietnam by 1970.  Being one of the highest paid musical performers at live shows, as well as her lucrative earnings as a recording artist in less than five years had enabled her the financial capability to go into business for herself.  After buying out the cabaret club at Khach San De Nhat (Premiere Hotel) in Saigon, Mai Le Huyen joined the ranks of her colleagues Thanh Thuy and Khanh Ly in running her own nightclub.  According to several articles published on various Vietnamese entertainment magazines, it was at this nightclub under the ownership by Mai Le Huyen where performers like Thai Chau and Jeannie Mai had started their careers.  Mai Le Huyen would remain on top of her career in South Vietnam all the way until the year of 1975.  Audiences in South Vietnam will always remember Mai Le Huyen for her signature look of mini skirts, short hair and curvaceous figure.

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, Mai Le Huyen moved to the United States.  She has continued her career as a performer recording for various overseas Vietnamese music production labels and has performed at live shows all over the world.  Mai Le Huyen has focused more in her career overseas as a comedic actress appearing in several comedy sketches for Asia Entertainment.

As for her personal life, Mai Le Huyen has been twice married.  Her first husband was musician Tran Trinh who had written the song, Le Da.  That first marriage had produced a daughter, Kim Dung, who is now a singer in Vietnam.  Her second marriage took place in the United States.  Recently widowed, Mai Le Huyen has experienced some financial woes having to care for a grown daughter with Down Syndrome.

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