Billy Shane

Billy Shane (1946-1994) was a Vietnamese pop singer most famous for his interpretations of French love songs. 

Born as Billy Yamasaki on March 20, 1946 in Saigon, South Vietnam and was registered as an overseas born Japanese national.  While attending Lasan Taberd, a private French high school in Saigon, he had acquired German citizenship through adoption from his stepfather and was given the name, Billy Lee Klassen.  In 1966, he formed a pop group called The Spotlights and performed nightly at various nightclubs all around Saigon.  Billy Shane would later sing for other Vietnamese pop groups such as The Vibrations and The Strawberry Four, along with fellow musicians/singers Đức Huy, Tuấn Ngọc and Tùng Giang.  It was during his tenure as a member of The Strawberry Four that Billy Shane experienced his greatest success of his music career while still in Saigon.  Billy Shane became famous for his interpretations of popular songs of American and French music such as Love Me, Please Love Me, Sherry and Maman. 

The Strawberry Four:  (Left to Right)
Đức Huy, Tùng Giang, Tuấn Ngọc and Billy Shane 
(1970)

The Strawberry Four (1992)

Billy Shane left South Vietnam for the United States on March of 1972.  For the next 10 years, he lived in Hawaii and remained out of the music industry.  In the early 1980s, Billy Shane relocated to Southern California and eventually resumed his music career.  He became one of the first recording artists for the Asia Entertainment label, which was formed in 1984.  Billy Shane appeared on numerous audio cassettes produced by Asia Entertainment which comprised of various artists such as Duy Quang, Julie Quang, Thanh Mai, Jo Marcel, Kiều Nga, Elvis Phương, Ngọc Lan, Như Mai, Thái Hiền, Minh Xuân, Minh Phúc and Thái Thảo.  Among his most popular recorded songs for the Asia Entertainment label include Coupable, Living in the USSR and duets with Duy Quang of bilingual versions of famous French love songs such as Tombe la Neige, Elle était si jolie and Je N'ai Pas Changé.  On such duets, Billy Shane's vocals would be featured singing the French original lyrics, while Duy Quang's vocals would be featured singing the translated Vietnamese lyrics.  The massive popularity of the bilingual duets with Duy Quang led to an album produced by another label, Kim Ngân, entitled as Je t'aime in 1986.  For the remainder of the 1980s, Billy Shane headlined frequently at Club Rex, a Vietnamese cabaret located in Santa Ana, California and occasionally performed for overseas Vietnamese audiences in various regions of the United States.  In the 1990s, Billy Shane became a weekly headliner at the Diamond Nightclub in Fullerton, California.  In 1993, Billy Shane appeared with Duy Quang in a duet performance of their previously recorded song, Tombe La Neige, on volume 2 of Asia Entertainment's live show video series.  The following year, he would return on volume 4 of Asia Entertainment's live show video series in a trio performance of the song, Green Fields, with Duy Quang and Trung Hành.  Prior to his passing, Billy Shane had recorded background vocals for the title track of Thanh Hà's debut album, Một Đời Xin Nhớ Mãi (1994), released by Diễm Xưa Productions. 

During the summer of 1994, Billy Shane died unexpectedly from cardiac arrest leaving behind a wife, Barbara.  He was 48.  Very little is known about his personal life, as Billy Shane had always avoided being interviewed throughout his entire career.  Many of his colleagues and associates have recalled that Billy Shane had often made claims of being Emperor Bao Dai's illegitimate son.