Thái Thanh (born Phạm Thị Băng Thanh; August 5, 1934 – March 17, 2020) was a Vietnamese-American singer. She was one of the most iconic singers of the Western-influenced popular music in Vietnam, known as ' New music of Vietnam' ().

Early and family life

Thái Thanh was born in 1934 in the village of Bạch Mai, Hanoi, in an artistic-traditioned family. Her father, Phạm Đình Phụng, had 2 wives - the first one gave birth to Phạm Đình Sỹ and Phạm Đình Viêm; the second one gave birth to Phạm Thị Quang Thái (

Thái Hằng Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

Phạm Đình Chương Phạm is the fourth most common Vietnamese family name from , which may be rendered as ''Fan'' in Chinese or ''Beom'' (범) in Korean. It is not to be confused with Phan (潘), another Vietnamese surname. Origin Phạm is the Sino-Vietnames ...

, and Phạm Thị Băng Thanh. Thái Thanh started her career before the First Indochina War when she was 14 years old, without any formal music education. She learned about singing from her informal knowledge of northern Vietnamese folk songs and French music books, which she later fused in her performances. She was a member of her family-based band, Thăng Long, one of the first widely known music bands in Vietnam during the 20th century. She began her solo career and adopted her stage name Thái Thanh in 1950. Her older sister Phạm Thị Quang Thái was a famous singer under the stage name Thái Hằng, and her older brother

was a prominent musical figure and singer under the stage name Hoài Bắc. Her brother-in-law was the leading songwriter

Phạm Duy Phạm Duy (5 October 1921 – 27 January 2013) was one of Vietnam's most prolific songwriters with a musical career that spanned more than seven decades through some of the most turbulent periods of Vietnamese history and with more than one ...

, who was married to Thái Hằng. In 1956, Thái Thanh married Lê Quỳnh, and they had three daughters and two sons together:

Ý Lan Ý Lan is a Vietnamese-American female singer. Her full name is Lê Thị Ý Lan. She was born on January 1, 1958, in Saigon, in an artistic-traditioned family. Her mother was the singer Thái Thanh, and her father is actor Lê Quỳnh. Ý La ...

(1957), Lê Việt (1958), Quỳnh Dao (1960), Thanh Loan (1962) and Lê Đại (1964).

Career

Thái Thanh later gained her prestige in the record industry and pop culture in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

during the Vietnam War. She was famous for her performances of works by musicians including Đặng Thế Phong, Lê Thương,

Văn Cao Văn Cao (born Nguyễn Văn Cao, ; 15 November 192310 July 1995) was a Vietnamese composer whose works include '' Tiến Quân Ca'', which became the national anthem of Vietnam. He, along with Phạm Duy and Trịnh Công Sơn, is widely consid ...

, Dương Thiệu Tước,

, and especially

, her brother-in-law, with whom she had a long-lasting collaboration. Some of her most well-known songs, written by

, were ''Dòng sông xanh'', ''Cho nhau'', ''Nương chiều'', ''Bà mẹ Gio Linh'' and ''Kỷ niệm''. During the early 1970s, she and Thăng Long band regularly performed at the ''Đêm màu hồng'' (Pink Night) nightclub.VÀI GHI NHẬN NHANH, NGẮN, GỌN VỀ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH VINH DANH THÁI THANH: TIẾNG HÁT VƯỢT THỜI GIAN
- bài của nhạc sĩ Trường Kỳ After 1975, Thái Thanh was banned from performing publicly due to her refusal to cooperate with the communist government of Vietnam. In 1985, she emigrated and became part of the Vietnamese musical diaspora in Orange County, California. Thái Thanh continued her music career amongst the Vietnamese community in the United States and Canada. In 2000, she suffered a brain haemorrhage, and announced her retirement in 2002, after 55 years of contribution to the music industry and pop culture of Vietnam throughout the 20th century. However, she did continue to appear on the music scene sporadically. In 2005, an event named "Vinh danh Thái Thanh, tiếng hát vượt thời gian" (In honor of Thái Thanh, the timeless singer) was held in Montreal, Canada. The event was participated by Thái Thanh and many other famous singers of the next generation - including

Tuấn Ngọc Lữ Anh Tuấn (born 4 October 1947) stage name Tuấn Ngọc is a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese singer. His first album appeared in 1990 and over the following 20 years, he has released 20 more albums, becoming one of the most recognised singe ...

Trần Thu Hà Trần Thu Hà, also known as Hà Trần (born August 26, 1977 in Hanoi, Vietnam) is a Vietnamese singer and producer. She is considered by the public and critics as one of the four divas in Vietnam, alongside Thanh Lam, Hồng Nhung, and Mỹ ...

, etc.THÁI THANH CHẮC CHẮN SẼ CÓ MẶT TẠI MONTRÉAL
- bài viết của Kỳ Vũ In 2006, she returned in the event "Thái Thanh và ba thế hệ" (Thái Thanh - three generations). Thái Thanh's unique style of singing combined Tonkinese folk music, French popular music, and Western opera. This pioneering singing style, had a significant impact on many younger singers and artists even after the Fall of Saigon.

Death

Thái Thanh died on March 17, 2020, in Orange County, California. In 2017, according to her eldest daughter

, she had been in very poor health. According to the government-run newspaper '' Tuoi Tre'', her voice was the most archetypal of Tân nhạc, and that she was 'a voice that spanned generations'. It described her death as a 'great loss' for Vietnamese music.

References

External links

* Georges Etienne Gauthier
Nghĩ Về Nghệ thuật Của Thái Thanh
, 1972
Thái Thanh - Phố Xưa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thai Thanh 1934 births 2020 deaths American musicians of Vietnamese descent Musicians from Orange County, California People from Hanoi 20th-century Vietnamese women singers Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese pop singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women pop singers People of French Indochina