Thai Hien

Thai Hien (1958-    ) is a famous overseas Vietnamese singer.  She is the eldest daughter of the late legendary composer Pham Duy and singer Thai Hang.

Born in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1958, Pham Thi Thai Hien began singing professionally at the age of 13.  As a teenager, she became a pop singing sensation in South Vietnam recording for various record labels such as Song Ngoc, Shotguns, Nhac Tre and Hoa Mi.  She had developed a trademark sound that was unusually high-pitched and at times, could even be described as screeching with her earliest recordings while still a teenager in South Vietnam.  Among her most popular recorded songs during this period in her native homeland included songs written by her father such as Ong Trang Xuong Choi, Tuoi Mong Mo, Tuoi Hong and Tuoi Than Tien.  She also recorded several duets with other artists such as her brothers, Duy Quang and Duy Cuong, and Tung Giang.  In 1974, she replaced her then sister-in-law, Julie Quang, becoming the new lead female vocalist of her brothers' band known as The Dreamers.  The following year Thai Hien and her parents left Vietnam to resettle in the United States.

After a hiatus of several years, Thai Hien resumed her music career in the late 1970s in the United States.  She has performed for overseas Vietnamese audiences throughout the United States, Europe and Australia.  As the Vietnamese music industry in the United States became more established in the 1980s, so did Thai Hien's singing career.  Now with a more mature voice in a much lower register and the ability to sing in perfect pitch, she recorded her first solo album in 1982, Hoa Thuong Nho Ai, a collection of songs written and composed by her father.  Thai Hien has recorded for various overseas Vietnamese music production labels such as Da Lan, Diem Xua Productions, Thuy Anh, Khanh Ha Productions, Lang Van, Asia Entertainment and Dream Musical Productions.  In 1987, she along with her younger sister, singer Thai Thao, recorded Nguoi Trong Mo, a duet studio album of popular New Wave/Italo Disco songs in both English and Vietnamese, produced by her brother Duy Quang and released by Thuy Anh.  Two years later, Thai Hien teamed up with singer Tuan Ngoc on a duet studio album for Diem Xua Productions, Loi Goi Chan May, which has been considered to be one of her best works.  Among the songs featured on the album included Tuong Rang Da Quen written by Trinh Cong Son, Tinh Khuc Thang Sau written by Ngo Thuy Mien and three very well-produced duet tracks written by Le Uyen Phuong, Vung Lay Cua Chung Ta, Tinh Khuc Cho Em, as well as the title track.  The album marked the return of Tuan Ngoc as a recording artist to the Vietnamese music industry after an absence of nearly five years spent living in Hawaii.

Thai Hien has appeared on several volumes of Thuy Nga's Paris By Night video series.  Among her most memorable appearances on the video series have included her solo performances of Em Con Nho Mua Xuan written by Ngo Thuy Mien, Ngin Trung Xa Cach and Loi Ru, Bu Bom, Nang Niu, both of which were written by her father, Pham Duy.  She has also performed several medleys on the Paris By Night stage as part of an ensemble with other artists such as Tuan Ngoc, Thai Thao, Duy Quang and Don Ho.  In the early 1990s, Thai Hien had also appeared on several music videos for Truong Thanh, Mây Productions and Khanh Ha Productions, which is owned by singer Khanh Ha.

Thai Hien Live in Concert at Saigon Opera House (2006)

In 2005, Thai Hien returned to Vietnam upon the repatriation of both her father and older brother.  The following year, she held her first live concert in Vietnam in over 40 years entitled as Dem Hien:  Thai Hien Live in Concert at the Saigon Opera House in Ho Chi Minh City.  Thai Hien has recorded a total of five solo studio albums including Thu Ca Dieu Ru Don (1990), Huyen Thoai (1997), Mau Thoi Gian (2006) and her latest, Tu Do Khon Nguoi (2013).