Thanh Bui

Thanh Bùi (1983-    ) is an Australian singer and songwriter of Vietnamese descent who had first gained international prominence back in 2004 as one of the original members of the popular Australian boy band named North.

He was born as Bùi Vũ Thanh to Vietnamese immigrant parents in Adelaide, Australia on January 12, 1983.  At the age of 7, Thanh Bùi and his family relocated to the city of Melbourne, where he would remain for many years well into adulthood and where he had been formally educated.  By the age of 10, Thanh Bùi had learned to play the piano and developed a craft to sing a capella in perfect pitch.  In 2000, Thanh Bùi graduated from Melbourne High School and enrolled on a full ride scholarship at Swinburne University of Technology as a business major.  Despite graduating from college with honors in 2004, Thanh Bùi decided to concentrate on obtaining a career in music with the full support of his parents who had always encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

Immediately after college, Thanh Bùi along with three other young Australian male vocalists formed a boy band called North in the year 2004.  The initial lineup of this quartet were Thanh Bùi, Alfred Touhey, Beau McCleish and Scott Folley.  After the release of North's debut eponymous studio album in 2004 by the Universal music label, Scott Folley was replaced by Joel Velasco, who had first appeared on North's hit single, Because I Love You.  The instant success of North was largely due to their debut hit single, a cover of American singer Peter Cetera's Glory of Love, which shot directly to the top of the charts in both Thailand and Indonesia upon its release.  North went on a successful promotional concert tour in 2004 playing at major venues throughout Australia and various countries in Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.  North followed up with their second and final studio album, Straight Up (2004), released on the EMI music label.  The quartet disbanded shortly thereafter.

As a songwriter, Thanh Bùi has achieved even more success than as a performer.  Besides having written most of the songs recorded by North, Thanh Bùi has written a total of more than 600 songs, altogether.  After leaving North, during the following two immediate years Thanh Bùi concentrated solely on writing songs for other artists to record.  His songs have been recorded by international artists in many countries including Germany, South Korea and Japan.  Among the songs he had written that have been recorded by international music artists include Take a Minute (recorded by Room 2012 of Germany in 2008), Picture of You (recorded by TVXQ of South Korea in 2008), I Won't Hold Back (recorded by Arashi of Japan in 2008), Breath You In (recorded by Monrose of Germany in 2010), Culpable (recorded by Edurne of Spain in 2010), Hello (recorded by Kat-tun of Japan in 2010) and Love Evolution (recorded by William Chan of Hong Kong in 2010).

By 2008, it was evident that Thanh Bùi had truly missed being on stage as a performer after the two years he had devoted to songwriting.  He decided to enter himselft as a contestant on the popular Australian Idol television show during that same year.  Although he did not win, Thanh Bùi did manage to make it into the Australian Idol top 8 finals becoming the first Australian contestant of Asian descent to do so.  On April of 2009, Thanh Bùi traveled to Southern California to appear on volume 96 of the popular overseas Vietnamese live show music video series, Paris By Night, produced by Thúy Nga, where he performed Gương Thần, Gương Thần, a Vietnamese version of the song he had written in English, Mirror, Mirror, and a cover of an ABBA classic, The Winner Takes It All.  One year later, Thanh Bùi released his very first single in Vietnam, Lặng Thầm Một Tình Yêu, a duet he had recorded with singer Hồ Ngọc Hà.  The song would also be selected as the theme song for the Vietnamese feature film, Để Mai Tính (Fool for Love), starring Dustin Nguyễn, Kathy Uyên and Thái Hòa.   That same year, Thanh Bùi performed live in concert for the first time in Vietnam with a pair of highly successful concert shows, Thanh Bùi & Villa FB and Love Heart 2010, held on May and July, respectively.  In 2012, Thanh Bùi released another single in Vietnam, Đừng Quay Bước Đi, which he had recorded as a duet with singer Hồng Nhung.  On May of 2013, Thanh Bùi founded the Soul Music & Performing Arts Academy in Ho Chi Minh City which offers students classes on vocals, dance, piano, guitar, violin and drums. 

Trương Huệ Vân and Thanh Bùi

Thanh Bùi has been happily married to wealthy restaurant and hotel heiress, Trương Huệ Vân, since 2013.  On September of 2016, the couple became proud parents of a set of twin daughters, Khải An and Kiến An.

Link(s):

Thanh Bùi's Facebook Page
Soul Music & Performing Arts Academy