Although born in Saigon, South Vietnam, Trinh Nam Son considers Da Lat as his hometown since his family had resettled there when he was just two years old. From early on, he had developed a keen interest in music which would eventually evolve into a life long obsession. Years prior to reaching his teenage years, Trinh Nam Son had already learned and mastered playing the guitar. Upon the Fall of Saigon in 1975, he and his family left their native Vietnam for the United States.
As with a lot of newly arrived immigrants to the United States, Trinh Nam Son had struggled with a language barrier during the first several years in his newly adopted homeland. In order to make ends meet, he took all sorts of odd jobs ranging from dishwasher at a restaurant to attendant at a car wash. He even took on a job working on an Alaskan fishing boat which had required him to be away out at sea for 6 months at a time. After a year working off the shores of Alaska, Trinh Nam Son realized he could no longer take the brutal, freezing cold weather and decided to relocate to Southern California during the winter of 1976. He immediately enrolled himself at a community college for the coming spring semester and found work as a guitarist with a local Asian band based out of the Los Angeles Chinatown community. After graduating from the prestigious Dick Grove School of Music in Hollywood, California in 1986, he began writing and composing songs.
The next several years in his career as a fledgling musician would be filled with would be filled with rejection after rejection by various different music labels. Undaunted, Trinh Nam Son relentlessly continued on in pursuit of his dreams. In 1990, Trinh Nam Son was finally able to see his lifelong dreams come to fruition with the release of Dĩ Vãng, an album comprised of 9 songs he had written and composed, four of which were recorded with his own vocals while the remaining five were recorded with vocals from various artists such as Nhu Mai, Y Nhi, Minh Xuan and Minh Phuc. The title track would also feature Trinh Nam Son on lead guitar, piano and saxophone. A music video would be made for his song, Dĩ Vãng, co-starring model/actress Thanh Hang, who had also been featured on the cover of his debut album. Immediately following the summer world premiere of his video featured on Asia Entertainment's very first video production, Tình YêuTuổi Trẻ (Young Love), Trinh Nam Son turned into an overnight Vietnamese pop music sensation. In addition to the title track, Trinh Nam Son had also scored major hits with two other songs featured on his debut album, Quên Đi Tình Yêu Cũ and Tình Vào Thu.
Released in 1991, Về Đây Em, was Trinh Nam Son's follow up on the success of his debut album, Dĩ Vãng. The title track of this album would become his most well-received written and composed song with overseas Vietnamese audiences worldwide. A top selling duet album recorded with singer Ngoc Lan for the Mây Productions label, Chờ Nhau Kiếp Nào, was also released right around the same time. During the spring of 1991, Trinh Nam Son accepted an invitation by Thuy Nga Productions to travel to France for the filming of volume 15 of the Paris By Night live show music video series where he would perform two of his hit songs, Về Đây Em and Nuối Tiếc, a duet with singer Ai Van. During the winter season of 1991, Trinh Nam Son finished out what had proven to be a stellar year in his music career with the release of another solo studio album, Con Đường Màu Xanh. Although the title track to this third album comprised of Trinh Nam Son's compositions failed to match the caliber in popularity among overseas Vietnamese audiences with only a lukewarm reception unlike his previous major hits, Dĩ Vãng and Về Đây Em, to his amazement the song would eventually become his biggest hit with audiences in Vietnam. His unique vocal style coupled with his distinguished presence made Trinh Nam Son one of the most popular overseas Vietnamese music video performers during the 1990s. He also appeared on music videos produced by Khanh Ha Productions and the popular live show series, Hollywood Night, produced by Mây Productions, the most memorable performance being a duet with singer Ngoc Lan of his song, Nhớ (Remember). Through the years, Trinh Nam Son has made several re-recordings and remakes on video of his most popular hit songs. In 1995 on volume 7 of Asia Entertainment's live show, Đêm Sài Gòn 6: Tác Giả & Tác Phẩm, he performed a remake live video of his first hit song, Dĩ Vãng. In 2014 on volume 74 of Asia Entertainment's live show, Những Giọng Ca Huyền Thoại - The Best Duets of All Time, he performed a duet remake of Nuối Tiếc with singer Thuy Tien. Trinh Nam Son has also re-recorded this song as duets with other singers such as Ngoc Bich, Kieu Nga and Phuong Thanh. Also in 2014, on volume 75 of Asia Entertainment's live show, Journey to a Dream - Hành Trình Một Giấc Mơ, he performed as a trio with singers Lam Thuy Van and Thanh Truc a medley of his songs, Về Đây Em and Mây và Dòng Sông.
Throughout his career, Trinh Nam Son has recorded a number of well received studio albums. Among them include Đêm (1992) released by Khanh Ha Productions, Niềm Nhớ Cuối Cùng (1992) a bestseller duet album with singer Julie Quang released by Mai Productions and Một Chút Ân Tình (1996). In addition, Trinh Nam Son has also released several compilation albums of his greatest hits including The Best of 90 (1992) and Selections 2 (1992), both under the Khanh Ha Productions label. Aside from the songs he had written and composed, Trinh Nam Son has recorded many songs written by other famous Vietnamese composers such as Em Đi written by Duc Huy, Giọt Mưa Trên Lá written by Pham Duy, Bài Không Tên Số 2 written by Vu Thanh An and Rồi Mai Tôi Đưa Em written by Truong Sa.
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| Trinh Nam Son and Thanh Lam in concert (11/2012 Hanoi, Vietnam) |
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| Trinh Nam Son and Le Thu in concert (1/10/15 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) |
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