Tran Thai Hoa

Trần Thái Hòa (1973-    ) is a famous overseas Vietnamese singer.

He was born on January 28, 1973 in Ban Mê Thuột of Đắk Lắk Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as the third eldest in a family of four children.  Both of his parents are originally from Huế.  Due to harsh economic conditions, his family was split apart in 1983 when his father and eldest brother relocated to Ho Chi Minh City to find work.  The following year both his father and eldest brother left Vietnam and resettled in the United States leaving the rest of the family behind in Ban Mê Thuột.  Finally at the end of 1993, the entire family were reunited upon the arrival of Tran Thai Hoa, his mother and two siblings to Southern California from Vietnam.

After resettling in the United States, Tran Thai Hoa attended Santa Ana College for a couple of years and then transferred to San Diego State University as a computer science major.  He worked odd jobs to help supplement his family's income and pay for his books.  In 1997, he switched majors to music and graduated with a bachelor's of arts degree two years later.

While he was still in college, Tran Thai Hoa started singing at various Vietnamese coffee houses to earn some extra money.  Audiences were quickly enchanted with his smooth style of singing.  In 1999, he was asked by mutual acquaintances of legendary singer Lệ Thu to be a contributing guest performer at her show held at the Majestic Nightclub in Huntington Beach, California entitled as Ðêm Lệ Thu.  His live performance of the song, Ðâu Phải Bởi Mùa Thu written by Phu Quang, that night would mark his very first appearance in front of a major audience.  Two years later, while performing at a concert held in honor of songwriter Từ Công Phụng at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose, California Tran Thai Hoa caught the attention of Marie Tô Ngọc Thủy, the CEO of Thuy Nga.  He was subsequently offered with a recording contract with the label.

Tran Thai Hoa made his first appearance on the Paris By Night stage in 2001 on volume 60 in a duet performance with singer Trúc Quỳnh of the song written by Đức Huy, Xin Một Ngày Mai Có Nhau.  For the next 15 years, he would go on to appear in more than 50 volumes of the Paris By Night video series.  Tran Thai Hoa has recorded a total of 8 solo studio albums released under the Thuy Nga label including Cô Láng Giềng (2002), Cõi Vắng (2004), Đêm Đông (2004), Tình Khúc Lê Uyên Phương (2006), Bao Giờ Biết Tương Tư (2007) and Tình Khúc Tiền Chiến (2009).  In 2006, he recorded a duet album for Thuy Nga with singer Ngoc Ha entitled as Khắc Khoải, Buồn Tàn Thu.  Tran Thai Hoa has also recorded duets with many other artists including Loan Chau, Nhu Quynh, Nhu Loan, Thanh Ha, Khanh Ly, Khanh Ha, Thuy Tien, Lam Anh, Minh Tuyet and Ngoc Anh.  Among his most memorable solo performances on Paris By Night include songs such as Đường Em Đi written by Pham Duy, Hạ Trắng written by Trinh Cong Son, Tình Khúc Buồn written by Ngo Thuy Mien and Dưới Giàn Hoa Cũ written by Tuan Khanh.  

Truc Mai

Trúc Mai (1941-    ) is a famous Vietnamese pop singer who had first risen to prominence during the late 1950s as a popular headliner in the cabaret circuit of Saigon.

A native of Saigon, South Vietnam, Truc Mai was raised in a working class family in the district of Thủ Đức.  At the age of 16, she began her professional singing career when she joined an organization which held live shows in support of South Vietnam's military troops and their families called Cục Tâm Lý Chiến.  In 1959, Truc Mai became a singer at the prestigious Văn Cảnh cabaret in Saigon performing nightly alongside other headliners such as Thanh Thúy, Thùy Hương, Thu Hương, Thái Xuân, Hùng Cường and Jo Marcel who was then known as Ngọc Minh.  Shortly after, she was invited to join the lineup of performers headlining nightly at the Hòa Bình cabaret which included Bạch Yến, Túy Phương, Bích Chiêu and Nhật Thiên Lan.  Within a short period of time, Truc Mai would become one of the most popular singers of South Vietnam with a nightly performing route consisting of as many as six different venues around Saigon which included Olympia, Arc-en-Ciel and Đại Nam.  Truc Mai's signature live interpretation of Bambino, a song originally made famous by French pop singer Dalida, in translated Vietnamese lyrics became a favorite with her audience at cabarets and earned her the title as "Nữ Hoàng Mambo", the Queen of the Mambo.  In 1960, she signed with Sóng Nhạc record company as an exclusive recording artist.  Among her most popular signature songs recorded were Con Thuyền Không Bến written by Đặng Thế Phong, Gởi Gió Cho Mây Ngàn Bay written by Đoàn Chuẩn, Đường Xưa Lối Cũ written by Hoàng Thi Thơ and Hàn Mặc Tử written by Nhật Trường.

While at her career peak, Truc Mai got married in 1965 and walked away from the music industry to start a family.  Money saved up from many years as one of the highest paid headliners at major cabarets in Saigon and as a recording artist allowed Truc Mai to take an extensive 7-year career hiatus, during which time she dedicated herself to her family as a housewife and as a mother.  Although she was content in her settled married life, Truc Mai often reminisced of her days performing at cabarets.  Finally, in 1972 she came out of retirement and resurfaced onto South Vietnam's pop music industry with several memorable appearances on Nhat Truong's music variety television show.  For the remainder of years Truc Mai spent living in Saigon, she managed to successfully resume both her careers as a headliner at cabarets and as a recording artist scoring another major hit with the song, Nhà Anh Nhà Em, written by Hà Liên Tử.  She also recorded a solo album for the label, Shotguns, entitled as Tiếng Hát Trúc Mai (1972).

In 1975, Truc Mai and her family left Vietnam to begin their new lives in the United States.  She first resettled in the state of Nebraska.  Nearly a year would pass before Truc Mai would officially resume her music career.  During the Tết (Vietnamese Luna New Year) season of 1976, she accepted a personal invitation from veteran Vietnamese actress/singer Túy Hồng to perform at a live show in Washington, D.C. alongside Xuân Phát, Nhật Minh and La Thoại Tân.  Her debut live performance in the United States was warmly embraced by the audience.  Truc Mai then went onto performing for live shows for Vietnamese communities in other major cities in the United States including Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans and Chicago.  In 1982, she and her family relocated to San Jose, California.  Throughout the 1980s, Truc Mai collaborated as a recording artist with various overseas Vietnamese music production labels such as Thanh Lan, Truong Hai, Giang Ngoc and Da Lan.  In 1993, Truc Mai embarked on a successful European concert tour with fellow singers Minh Hiếu, Hoàng Liêm and burlesque performer Kim Qui.  For a number of years in the 1990s, she owned and operated Truc Mai Nightclub in San Jose.  On video, Truc Mai has appeared on popular live shows produced by Truong Thanh, Thuy Nga on volume 78 of Paris By Night in a medley duet performance with singer Phương Hồng Quế in 2005 and Asia Entertainment on volume 50 in a duet performance with singer Y Phương in 2006, volume 52 in a medley ensemble with singers Tuấn Vũ and Kim Loan also in 2006, volume 73 in a medley duet performance with singer Thanh Thúy in 2013 and volume 74 in the following year in a solo performance of one of her signature songs, Nửa Đêm Ngoài Phố written by Trúc Phương.  Now in her seventies, Truc Mai continues to perform for Vietnamese audiences all over the world.

Next 25 Featured Viet Celebs

The next 25 Vietnamese celebrities to be featured share a diversity in various generations, pop cultures and art forms.  Here is a combination of Viet Celebs of Pre-'75 Saigon, Overseas Viet Celebs Since 1975, World Celebs of Viet Descent, Celebrities of Vietnam Today, Blast from the Past Viet Celebs and Tributes in Memory of Viet Celebs.

1. Trúc Mai:  Vietnamese Pop Singer

2. Trần Thái Hòa:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer

3. Ani Hoang:  Bulgarian Pop Singer of Mixed Bulgarian and Vietnamese Descent 

4. Quách Ngọc Ngoan:  Vietnamese Actor and Male Model

5. Bảo Hân:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer 

6. Jo Marcel:  Vietnamese Singer, Songwriter and Music Promoter

7. Sơn Tuyền:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer 

8. Johnathan Ke Quan:  Former American Film Child Actor of Vietnamese Descent

9. Hồ Quỳnh Hương:  Vietnamese Pop Singer 

10. Gia Huy:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer 

11. Kim Ngọc:  Southern Vietnamese Folk Opera Performer and Comedic Actress

12. Andy Quách:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer 

13. Séverine Ferrer:  French Actress and Singer of Vietnamese/Italian Descent

14. Huỳnh Đông:  Vietnamese Actor 

15. ZaZa Minh Thảo:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer 

16. Xuân Phát: Late Legendary Stage and Film Actor of South Vietnam

17. Thúy Nga:  Comedienne

18. Nikolai Kinski:  Vietnamese/German Actor of French, German and American Cinema

19. Bảo Thy:  Vietnamese Pop Singer and Actress

20. Quốc Anh:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer of Vietnamese and African-French Descent 

21. Phượng Liên:  Southern Vietnamese Folk Opera Actress

22. Vân Sơn:  Overseas Vietnamese Comedian and Founder/CEO of Vân Sơn Entertainment

23. Karrueche Tran:  American Fashion Model and Actress of Vietnamese and Jamaican Descent

24. Hứa Vĩ Văn:  Vietnamese Actor 

25. Trịnh Vĩnh Trinh:  Overseas Vietnamese Singer

Kim Ngân

Kim Ngân (1963-    ) is a famous overseas Vietnamese singer.  In the 1980s, she was considered one of the most beautiful overseas Vietnamese singers.  Sometime in the 1990s, Kim Ngan fell into a state of severe depression which eventually led to her becoming homeless and stricken with mental illness.

Born in Saigon, South Vietnam, she grew up as the eldest in a family of three children.  In 1975, Kim Ngan left Vietnam with her mother, younger brother and younger sister to resettle in the United States.  At the age of 19, Kim Ngan married Nguyen Tien Bac, who would later become owner of Thuy Anh Productions.  The marriage would produce two daughters.  In 1983 with coaching from musician/singer/producer Truong Hai she recorded her very first song, Khong written by Nguyen Anh 9, on an album comprised of various artists.  Although her talents as a vocalist were minimal, her striking good looks put her on the cover of the ablum.  Soon after, she would form her own music production label simply entitled as Kim Ngan.  Throughout the 1980s, Kim Ngan was among the most prominent of overseas Vietnamese music production labels.  Among the singers that had recorded for Kim Ngan included Che Linh, Thanh Tuyen, Hung Cuong, Mai Le Huyen, Julie Quang, Duy Quang, Ngoc Lan, Duc Huy, Kieu Nga and Thuy Vi.  Kim Ngan also recorded for her own label and released a series of albums of French popular music consisting of various other artists.  She also appeared on music videos for Giang Ngoc and Da Khuc Productions, which was headed by Nhat Ha and her former husband, Howard Hue.  Kim Ngan headlined at Saigon Cabaret and Dem Mau Hong nightclubs in Orange County, California and toured extensively performing at live shows for overseas Vietnamese audiences worldwide.  In 1989, Kim Ngan went on a triumphant European concert tour performing alongside Thai Thanh, Nhu Mai, Duy Quang and Ngoc Lan.  By the mid 1990s, many of her colleagues in the overseas Vietnamese music industry had noticed that something was definitely wrong with her.  She began to miss performances habitually, forget lyrics to songs while on stage and lash out at others unexpectedly.  At first, Kim Ngan's erratic behavior were dismissed by most as 'typical' behavior of someone under the influence of drugs and alcohol.  But as her temperamental outbreaks increased through time, becoming more sporadic and spinning out of control, it became apparent that these were actual signs of mental illness in development.  After returning from a tour of Australia during the late 1990s, Kim Ngan gave birth to a son out of wedlock.  It is unclear who is the biological father of her son.  By then, she was homeless and living out of her car with her young son.  In 2001, Kim Ngan's son was taken away by Child Protective Services.

Kim Ngan today

Since the early 2000s, many former colleagues and old friends have tried to reach out and help Kim Ngan.  Several fundraiser events have been held in her honor.  Some former colleagues have even taken her into their own homes such as Julie Quang, Le Uyen, Viet Dzung and Hoang Liem.  However, she always wound up running away after just a few days.  Her mother, Annie Vo Thi Nhon, who now resides in Vietnam, has made several unsuccessful attempts to help Kim Ngan by taking her back with her to Vietnam.  But with each trip, Kim Ngan would find ways to flee from her mother and return to the United States.  Her two grown daughters, Mai Khanh and Thuy Anh, have had similar results after taking their mother into their own homes.  At present, Kim Ngan continues to be homeless.  Sadly, the once beautiful face that had graced the covers of many Vietnamese magazines and audio cassettes is now replaced with that of an old, homeless lady pushing around a shopping cart on the streets of Little Saigon begging strangers for spare change.


Link(s):

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time

Bao Liem

Bảo Liêm (1961-    ) is a famous Vietnamese-American comedian best known as Vân Sơn's sidekick in comedy sketches produced by Vân Sơn Entertainment.

While still living in Vietnam, at the age of 14 Bao Liem began his career in performing arts as a theater troupe dancer.  Eventually he would find his niche in comedy.  During the 1980s Bao Liem formed a comedy act known as Mập Ốm and performed at various stages and venues all around Ho Chi Minh City.  In 1991 he left Vietnam to resettle in the United States.

After arriving in Southern California from Vietnam, Bao Liem met up with Van Son and formed the comedy duo act, Van Son - Bao Liem.  They started out performing for weddings and parties.  As their popularity grew, Van Son - Bao Liem were booked to perform at major live shows for Vietnamese audiences all over the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe becoming the most popular comedy act in the overseas Vietnamese entertainment industry.  After several appearances on singer Ý Nhi's weekly variety television program, the pair were invited to perform on four consecutive volumes of the popular live show music video series produced by Asia Entertainment from 1993-1994.

Van Son and Bao Liem

Bao Liem appeared on the very first volume of Van Son Entertainment's live show video series in musical/comedy sketches alongside Van Son, Diễm Lệ, Phương Nga and singer Ngọc Anh in 1994.  Shortly thereafter, Van Son - Bao Liem parted ways after a disagreement.  Bao Liem then went on to form his own production company, Bao Liem Productions.  For the next five years, Van Son continued on with his success replacing Bao Liem with comedian Hoài Linh.  As sales of DVDs produced by Van Son Entertainment soared to the ranks comparable to Thuy Nga Paris and Asia Entertainment, Bao Liem Productions tanked after only a couple of forgettable releases.  After over a 3-year absence on video, Bao Liem traveled to Vancouver, Canada in 1998 to film a comedy sketch with actress Uyên Chi for volume 18 of Mây Productions' Hollywood Night series.  

Van Son and Bao Liem mended their friendship, as well as resumed their professional association in 1999.  For the next ten years, Bao Liem appeared on 30 volumes of Van Son Entertainment's video series.  He and Van Son performed in numerous videotaped comedy sketches with many other performers including Văn Chung, Lê Huỳnh, Giáng Ngọc, Xuân Phát, Việt Hương, Nguyễn Thắng, Quang Minh, Hồng Đào, Chí Tài, Việt Thảo, Trường Vũ, Johnny Trí Nguyễn and Diễm Liên.  Toward the end of 2008, Van Son and Bao Liem once again parted ways.  In 2016, Bao Liem had a supporting role in the feature comedy movie, Cao Thủ Ẩn Danh, starring Quang Minh, Hồng Đào, Ốc Thanh Vân and Hiếu Hiền.

Bao Liem (left) and Bao Vy at their wedding in 2008

Married to actress/singer Bảo Vy since 2008, he and his wife continue to perform all over the United States at live shows for Vietnamese audiences.  Bao Liem has three children from a previous marriage.

  

Ngoc Bich

Ngọc Bích (1955-    ) is a famous Vietnamese pop singer.  During the peak of her popularity, she was hailed by her many fans in Vietnam as "Nu Hoang Nhac Tre", the Queen of Pop Music.  

Her parents, Viet Hung and Ngoc Nuoi, were both famous veteran performers of Southern Vietnamese folk opera known as cai luong.  Ngoc Bich grew up as the fourth child in a family household of six children.  Although she had been trained to sing in the cai luong genre, she had taken a liking to American pop music from early on. At the age of 13, she began her professional career in music as the lead vocalist in a group formed by her siblings called The Crazy Dogs.  With a forte of doing covers of American pop music, The Crazy Dogs had risen to become one of the most successful rock and roll bands in Saigon within a short period of time. They performed primarily at nightclubs and venues in Saigon which catered primarily to US military personnel and civilians such as Sherwood Forest, Au Baccara, Au Ma Cabane and the USO.  Although members of The Crazy Dogs were underage teenagers, Ngoc Bich, her older sister, Ngoc Quy, and her three brothers, Viet Tai, Viet Nang and Ngoc Chau were able to earn the respect of being serious musicians comparable to their older peers like CBC, Enterprise, The Uptight and The Dreamers.

On April 30, 1975 within hours before the Fall of Saigon, her father, Viet Hung, along with four of her siblings, Viet Tai, Viet Nang, Ngoc Quy and Ngoc Chau were evacuated by an American helicopter leaving Saigon while Ngoc Bich, her mother, Ngoc Nuoi, and younger brother, Viet Sinh, were left behind.  With the changes under the new communist regime that had taken over South Vietnam, Ngoc Bich like many other Vietnamese pop singers struggled to make a living for the first several years as the nightclubs and cabarets of Saigon had all closed down.  She then switched to cai luong and joined her mother performing with the Thanh Nga Folk Opera Theater Troupe.  It was there that she would meet and marry Thanh Sang, the famous cai luong theater actor.  Unfortunately, the marriage would end in divorce after just one year.  

With the rebirth of the pop music scene in Vietnam during the early 1980s after the communist regime had eased up on certain government regulations, Ngoc Bich was then able to resume her career as a pop singer.  Ngoc Bich's stardom would then rise beyond even her own expectations.  Her biggest success came from doing covers of songs in the English language from the famous Swedish pop music quartet, ABBA, which gained her a huge fan base and the unofficial title as "Nu Hoang Nhac Tre", the Queen of Pop Music.  Ngoc Bich headlined at all the major venues around Ho Chi Minh City and toured all over Vietnam in the 1980s.  Among her signature Vietnamese songs were Tam Biet Chim En written by Tran Tien, Ngoi Sao Co Don and Loi To Tinh cua Mua Xuan, both written by the late Thanh Tung.  

While at her career peek Ngoc Bich, her mother, younger brother and eldest of two sons left Vietnam in 1990 to resettle in the United States where they would reunite with her father and four other siblings who had been living there since 1975.  Unfortunately, the family reunion would turn out to be bittersweet after discovering that her father has since remarried.  On top of having to overcome such shock, she also missed her youngest son who was living with his father back in Vietnam.  Despite such matters, Ngoc Bich forged ahead and resumed her music career in the overseas Vietnamese communities.    

Several weeks after arriving from Vietnam, Ngoc Bich performed at a sold out event held in her honor at Dem Dong Phuong, a Vietnamese nightclub owned and operated by singer Duy Quang and his then wife, My Ha, in Santa Ana, California.  Shortly after, she became a regular weekly performer at the Diamond Nightclub in Fullerton, California.  As a recording artist, she accepted offers from various overseas Vietnamese music labels such as Nguoi Dep Binh Duong and Lang Van.  During the craze of medleys known as "Lien Khuc" in the overseas Vietnamese music industry, Ngoc Bich recorded a series of such albums with other singers like Anh Son, Kieu Nga, Elvis Phuong and Huong Lan.  It was Huong Lan who had played a key part in helping Ngoc Bich resume her singing career in the United States by introducing her to various video production studios and show promoters of the overseas Vietnamese entertainment industry.  One such introduction from Huong Lan led to a contract deal with Thuy Nga, the most prolific overseas Vietnamese production label.  In 1991, Ngoc Bich traveled to France twice to appear on the popular Paris By Night live show music video series performing covers of Woman in Love and Unchained Melody, both in English and translated Vietnamese lyrics.  This would be followed with six appearances on the Hollywood Night video series produced by Mây Productions from 1994 to 1997 with stellar performances of songs such as I Will Always Love You, The Power of Love and Still Loving You.

After Diamond Nightclub closed its doors Ngoc Bich was then recruited by Ngoc Chanh to join his lineup of singers over at Ritz Nightclub in Anaheim, California.  She would remain as a weekly regular performer at Ritz for the rest of the 1990s decade.  Ngoc Bich also recorded and appeared on video for various other music labels during this period including World Productions, Nhac Tre, Thanh Hang and Van Son Entertainment.  Her most well received solo studio album, Biet Yeu Lan Dau, was released in 1993 by World Productions.  Ngoc Bich has also recorded several duet albums with other singers like Viet Dzung and Thai Chau.  Among her most popular recorded Vietnamese songs during this period included Mot Coi Di Ve written by Trinh Cong Son, Bai Khong Ten So 2 and Bai Khong Ten So 8 both written by Vu Thanh An.  

The untimely death of her older brother, Viet Nang, in 2000 followed by the deaths of both her father and mother the following year plunged Ngoc Bich into a severe state of depression.  She then made the decision to put her singing career all behind her during this time of mourning.  For the next three years, Ngoc Bich stayed clear from the spotlight and found a job working at a computer manufacturing company.  After the company she worked for went bankrupt, Ngoc Bich was out of a job.  Once again, her childhood friend, singer Huong Lan, stepped in and reintroduced her back onto the music scene.  Ngoc Bich started performing again at live shows across the United States and in her native Vietnam.  

Since her first trip back to Vietnam in 1997 as a featured performer on a concert tour for charity sponsored by the Ve Nguon organization, Ngoc Bich has made many more return trips back to her native homeland.  The warm reception she has received with audiences in Vietnam has given her singing career a second wind.  In 2003 she was the featured performer in the Vietnamese television program, Mot Thoang Saigon.  Ngoc Bich continues to travel back and forth from the United States to Vietnam where she is still a major draw in the cabaret circuit of Ho Chi Minh City.  

Ngoc Bich is a mother of two grown sons.  Her oldest son, now in his thirties and living in the United States, was from a brief relationship after her divorce from theater actor Thanh Sang in the 1970s.  Her younger son,  who is now in his twenties and living in Ho Chi Minh City, came from her second marriage during the 1980s.  

Thiên Phú

Thiên Phú (1972-    ) is a Vietnamese-American singer.

Born as Viktor Lassley on July 1, 1972 in Saigon, South Vietnam to a Anglo-American father and a Vietnamese mother, Thien Phu was raised primarily outside of Vietnam as an only child.  At the age of 16, after a chance meeting with one of his idols, the late legendary Vietnamese pop singer Ngoc Lan, who had invited him to appear on her music video as a backup dancer, he then considered a career in Vietnamese entertainment.

While in his early twenties in the 1990s, Thien Phu embarked on a singing career starting out performing for local Vietnamese bands in Orange County, California. This led to performing regularly at Vietnamese cafes, bars, nightclubs, and professional shows throughout the United States and abroad. He quickly found his niche with Vietnamese audiences singing in French, a language he had first acquired as a young child when he had lived in New Caledonia right after leaving Vietnam.

With the encouragement from several Vietnamese singers he had befriended, particularly Julie (Julie Quang) and the late Anh Tu, Thien Phu decided to record his first CD sometime in the mid 1990s. What would take a total of almost 2 years to produce in which Thien Phu had collaborated with some of the biggest names among Vietnamese musicians including the late legendary Tung Giang, Alan Nguyen and Sy Dan would finally be released under the label, Bien Tinh Productions, in the spring of 1998, entitled Tiec Nho (Missing). This album would also feature tracks recorded by 3 other contributing fellow artists:  Julie, Anh Tu, and Thai Thao. This debut album for Thien Phu sold quite well within the overseas Vietnamese communities worldwide. Part of its success had to do with the heavy rotation of airplay that had been given to several of the tracks Thien Phu had recorded on the album, in particular a cover of a Jacques Brel-penned timeless classic, Ne Me Quitte Pas.  Pham Long, a well known radio personality for Little Saigon Radio Broadcasting Network, had taken an instant liking to Thien Phu's version of the song, in which was recorded in both the original lyrics in French, as well as the translated Vietnamese lyrics written by the late legendary Vietnamese composer, Pham Duy. Soon after, other Vietnamese language radio programs would also began giving airplay for Thien Phu's recorded songs from this debut album. The airplay would reach Vietnamese audiences in the 3 major regions with the highest Vietnamese populations of the United States: Orange County in Southern California, San Jose in Northern California, and Houston, Texas, giving Thien Phu a much wider exposure to the Vietnamese music scene. That along with a series of radio interviews and several appearances on Vietnamese language produced television shows to further promote the album greatly enhanced Thien Phu's popularity as a singer.  Among other tracks on the album included covers of French popular songs such as Aline, Magic Boulevard, both of which were recorded by Thien Phu, the Edith Piaf signature classic, La Vie En Rose, recorded by Julie Quang in an upbeat, modified new up-tempo arrangement by Sy Dan and Envie de Pleurer recorded by Anh Tu.

After the release of Tiec Nho, Thien Phu embarked on a busy touring schedule performing at live shows for Vietnamese audiences throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe and Australia. The success of this debut album was what prompted Bien Tinh Productions to put together a sold-out show held at the Majestic Nightclub in Orange County to formally introduce Thien Phu to the Vietnamese audience of the Little Saigon community. It was during the night of that performance when Thien Phu first accepted the invitation from New York Night Productions to make his debut appearance on music video. 

As a follow up after his debut album, Bien Tinh Productions had planned a duet album with Thanh Ha for Thien Phu. For a recording artist recently introduced onto the Vietnamese pop music scene such as Thien Phu, to be paired up with another artist of Thanh Ha's caliber at the time would be definitely serve as a career boost.  However, due to scheduling conflicts, the project was ultimately cancelled.  This was a major setback for Thien Phu. On an interview for VOV Radio on 96.7FM, he had said, "I was really looking forward to working with Thanh Ha. Think about it, a duet album featuring two Amerasian singers together.  But I understand that she was under contract with Thuy Nga at the time and couldn't commit to another production label.  It would have been a great experience since not only was [Thanh Ha] one of my favorite singers, she was also my friend."

Several offers from various Vietnamese labels would pour in for Thien Phu for his next album toward the end of 1998. But each of them would be turned down simply because he wanted complete artistic control.  In the winter of 1999, Thien Phu was the featured guest on an album with Kha Tu and Phuong Hung, Co Nang Mat Nai, released by Kha Tu Productions.  During this time, Thien Phu was mourning the loss of one of his closest friends, singer and owner of Empire Nightclub in Dallas, Texas, Michelle Diem My, who had died mysteriously in a fire during the summer of 1998.  Thien Phu managed to turn the devastation into inspiration for his next studio album, Ngay Em Di, literally translated to "The Day You Left".  Thien Phu's second album would be released in the fall of the following year to round out the decade.  Like his debut album, the release of Ngay Em Di would also be followed by a sold out show held at the Majestic hosted by Viet Dzung.

Unlike the previous album with all the backings from Bien Tinh Productions, Thien Phu's sophomore effort was a project he decided to produce and release himself.  Sales of his second album failed to match the success of the previous debut album. Nevertheless, Thien Phu would continue to tour extensively for the next couple of years.

The beginning of the new millennium for Thien Phu was met with a series of tragedies in his personal life.  In 2000, Thien Phu experienced the death of his grandmother, Marie Nguyen, to whom he was rather close to.  His grandmother had been a well respected businesswoman from Saigon, South Vietnam. She was owner of the famous Au Ma Cabane Cabaret Nightclub in Saigon that featured nightly live entertainment from some of the biggest names among Vietnamese singers. Among the list of regular performers at Au Ma Cabane were Thai Thanh, Thanh Lan, Jo Marcel, Duy Quang, Giao Linh , Ngoc Bich and the late Jeannie Mai, who was also Thien Phu's aunt at one point by marriage.  In a sense, it can be said that Thien Phu had come from a showbiz family. 

Following the death of his grandmother, Thien Phu was met with yet another blow the following year with the passing of one of his idols, singer Ngoc Lan.  But another tragedy would be in store for Thien Phu, less than 2 years after when singer Anh Tu suddenly passed away on December of 2003.  Anh Tu had been one of the most influential people in Thien Phu's life, as well as in his career.  It was all too much for Thien Phu to take which consequentially prompted his decision to leave the singing business.  He then found work as a bartender at a high end sushi restaurant in Newport Beach, California and successfully completed his studies with a bachelor's of arts degree in English at Cal State Long Beach.  Although content with his life away from the spotlight as a singer, momentarily Thien Phu would find himself reminiscing of his past as an entertainer.  That was when he came to the realization that there was definitely something missing in his life.

After a 7 year hiatus, Thien Phu would make his return to the stage.  This came about after running into an old friend and colleague, singer Randy, while attending the funeral of Amerasian singer Luu Quoc Viet during the spring of 2008. After an exchange of phone numbers, Randy telephoned Thien Phu with an invitation to perform at a sold out show for Amerasians in Oklahoma City organized by the Gia Dinh My Viet Foundation.  A series of other live shows for Gia Dinh My Viet performing alongside the likes of other Amerasian performers such as Lilian, Van Anh, Ngoc Anh, Hoang Dung and Randy would follow.  In the summer of 2009, Thien Phu traveled to Paris, France to fulfill a successful one night engagement for the Vietnamese community there.  Once again, he had been caught with the singing buzz.

In 2014, Thien Phu shot a pair of music videos for Viet Star Productions in Seattle, Washington.  He is currently working on an upcoming solo studio album.  

Link(s): 

• ThienPhu-VietSinger.BlogSpot.com
• Thien Phu Facebook Page
• Thien Phu YouTube Channel