Thái Thanh

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 (Tân nhạc)'.[1]

In this Vietnamese name, the family name is Phạm, but is often simplified to Pham in English-language text. According to Vietnamese custom, this person should properly be referred to by the given name Thanh.
Thái Thanh
Thái Thanh in 2020.
Born
Phạm Thị Băng Thanh

(1934-08-05)August 5, 1934
Hanoi, French Indochina
DiedMarch 17, 2020(2020-03-17) (aged 85)
Orange County, California, U.S
NationalityVietnamese, American
OccupationSinger
Years active1947–2002
Known forVietnamese pop icon
Notable work
Trường ca Hòn Vọng Phu, Thiên Thai, Mẹ Việt Nam, Tình hoài hương.
Spouse(s)Lê Quỳnh
ChildrenÝ Lan, Quỳnh Hương, Lê Xuân Việt, Lê Đại
RelativesPhạm Đình Chương, Thái Hằng, Phạm Duy
Thái Thanh
OriginHanoi, Saigon
GenresTân nhạc
InstrumentsVocal
LabelsContinental, Diem Xua production, Thuy Nga
Associated actsPhạm Duy, the Thăng Long

Early and family life

Thái Thanh started her career before the First Indochina War when she was 14 years old, without any formal music education. She learned singing from her informal knowledge of northern Vietnamese folk singing and French music books, which she later fused in her performances.[2]

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.[2] Her older sister Phạm Thị Quang Thái was a famous singer under the stage name Thái Hằng, and her older brother Phạm Đình Chương was a prominent musical figure and singer under the stage name Hoài Bắc.[2] Her brother-in-law was the leading songwriter Phạm Duy, who was married to Thái Hằng.[2]

In 1956, Thái Thanh married Lê Quỳnh, and they had three daughters and two sons together: Ý Lan (1957), Lê Việt (1958), Quỳnh Dao (1960), Thanh Loan (1962) và Lê Đại (1964).[3]

Career

Thái Thanh later gained her prestige in the record industry and pop culture in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. She was famous for her performances of works by musicians including Đặng Thế Phong, Lê Thương, Văn Cao, Dương Thiệu Tước, Phạm Đình Chương, and especially Phạm Duy, her brother-in-law, with whom she had a long-lasting collaboration. Some of her most well-known songs, written by Phạm Duy, were Dòng sông xanh, Cho nhau, Nương chiều, Bà mẹ Gio Linh and Kỷ niệm.[3]

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.[4]

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.[2]

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

She died on March 17, 2020, in Orange County, California.[5] In 2017, according to her eldest daughter Ý Lan, she had been in very poor health.[3] 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'.[2] It described her death as a 'great loss' for Vietnamese music.[2]

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References
  1. Stewart Lone Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Asia: From the Taiping ... 2007- Page 235 "As in many societies in the 1960s–1970s, recorded music came to play an increasing role in the daily lives of civilians with the ... One of the most famous singers in the more traditional style was Thái Thanh, a woman in her twenties who sang songs of longing and loss."
  2. "Giọng hát vượt thời gian Thái Thanh qua đời ở Mỹ, hưởng thọ 86 tuổi". Tuoi Tre. March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. Hoàng Yến (March 18, 2018). "Danh ca Thái Thanh qua đời". Zing. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. Adelaida Reyes Songs of the Caged, Songs of the Free: Music and the Vietnamese Refugee Experience. 1999 Page 124 "The local in this case has global implications. Many of Vietnam's most famous musicians now reside in Orange County. The presence of Pham Duy, Thai Thanh, Hoang Oanh, Hoang Thi Tho, Viet Hung, Duy Khanh, Khanh Ly, and Kim Tuyen, among others — luminaries in the Vietnamese musical firmament by the time they left Vietnam — has led overseas.."
  5. "Danh ca Thái Thanh qua đời - VnExpress Giải Trí". vnexpress.net (in Vietnamese). Retrieved March 18, 2020.
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