Chhom Nimol ( km, ឆោម និមល; ) is a Cambodian-American singer and lead vocalist for the band

Dengue Fever Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characterist ...

, which she joined in 2001.

Career

Chhom Nimol was born in Cambodia and for a time her family lived in a refugee camp in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. She learned how to sing from her family, who are well-known musicians and singers in Cambodia. In 1997, she won Cambodia's Apsara Awards, a national singing competition. She emigrated to the United States in 2001. Upon arriving in America, Nimol began singing in restaurants and bars in the

Little Phnom Penh Cambodia Town (also known as Little Phnom Penh or Little Cambodia) is the official name for a roughly one mile long business corridor along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero avenues in the Eastside of Long Beach, California. The area ...

area of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. She was soon discovered at an audition by the American rock band

, who were interested in the Cambodian rock and pop music of the 1960s and 70s and sought a singer who could handle the Khmer lyrics of the original Cambodian songs they wished to perform. Dengue Fever released their first album in 2003 and have since expanded their repertoire into original songs inspired by Cambodian rock and many other world music styles. Nimol still usually sings in Khmer but now occasionally sings in English as well. She became a United States citizen in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chhom, Nimol Living people Cambodian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Cambodian women singers Year of birth missing (living people) Khmer-language singers