Thu Phuong

Thu Phuong (1972-    ) is a famous Vietnamese singer originally from Hai Phong, Vietnam.

Born on October 9, 1972, Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong was the middle child in a family of three.  From early on, her father took notice of her keen interest in singing and enrolled her in music classes from the age of seven.  When she was just 12 years old, Thu Phuong made her debut appearance on stage with a solo performance of Chi Co Mot Tren Doi, a song written by Truong Quang Luc.  After completion of junior high school, she enrolled at the prestigious Hai Phong Performing Arts Academy (Cung Van Hoa Huu Nghi Viet Tiep).  In 1985, Thu Phuong would be one of a handful of students selected by Hai Phong Performing Arts Academy's faculty staff to study abroad in Moscow, Russia for an entire semester.

At the age of 14, Thu Phuong was accepted as a singer with the Hanoi youth singing troupe, Nha Hat Tuoi Tre.  This would prompt her family to relocate to Hanoi where she would continue with her studies at the Conservatory of Hanoi, graduating in the year of 1990.  During her tenure as a troupe singer for Nha Hat Tuoi Tre, Thu Phuong and a few of her friends formed a pop music group called Tay Ho.   Among the other members of Tay Ho included a young drummer by the name of Quang Huy, who would later become known as Huy MC.  In 1991, Thu Phuong along with members of Tay Ho went on a successful concert tour of Southeast Asia which included shows in Thailand, Laos and China.  This would mark her first time performing for overseas audiences.  Two years later, she and Huy MC married.

Thu Phuong's professional singing career really began to take flight in 1995 when she won first prize at the annual Vietnamese national music festival, Lien Hoan Nhac Nhe Viet Nam Toan Quoc, held in Hanoi.  Together with Huy MC, the two often were often billed as a duo act in live performances and on audio recordings.  Among their most popular songs recorded together included Loi Cua Gio, written by Duy Thai, Tinh Hong, written by Quoc Vuong, and a Vietnamese version of a popular Diana Ross hit song, When You Tell Me That You Love Me.  As a solo artist, her star shined even brighter.  During the second half of the 1990s decade, Thu Phuong gained national fame after scoring a string of monster hit singles recorded under the Ben Thanh Audio record label.  To her many fans in Vietnam, her name was linked to songs such as Shalala, Hoa Tim Ngay Xua, Dong Song Lo Dang, Co Phai Em Mua Thu Hanoi and Khi Xua Ta Be (Bang Bang), a song originally made famous internationally by American singer Cher and a French version by French singer Sheila in the 1960s, but first became popular as a signature song for singer Thanh Lan back in the early 1970s when she had recorded her version in both French and Vietnamese lyrics that were written by the late Pham Duy .  Thu Phuong enjoyed further success when she teamed up with pop male artist Lam Truong to record duets of Trai Tim Tim Khong Ngu Yen and Thoi Anh Hay Ve for the Hang Phim Tre label .  Both the audio recordings and music videos made for these two duet songs would become bestsellers in the year of 1998.

With a fan base that spanned beyond Vietnam to overseas Vietnamese communities across the globe, Thu Phuong began to perform extensively abroad in the early 2000s.  In 2001, she performed in the United States for the first time on a successful concert tour together with fellow singers Phuong Thanh, Lam Truong and her then husband, Huy MC.  During the North American leg of a world concert tour in 2003, Thu Phuong and Huy MC shocked many of their fans in Vietnam with their decision to reside in the United States permanently.  By remaining overseas beyond the designated expiration date on their visas, the pair were in violation of Vietnamese laws for international travel.  The following year, Thu Phuong along with another fellow singer Bang Kieu publicly stated their discontent with the limited freedoms for performing artists in Vietnam,  As a result of such actions, they were banned from working in the music industry in Vietnam.   For the next five years, Thu Phuong would be restricted from partaking on live performances, audio recordings, television appearances or magazine interviews to be conducted in Vietnam.  Whether or not she was permitted to travel to Vietnam during this time was unclear.  The only remaining privilege she clearly had as a citizen of Vietnam then was the usage of her Vietnamese passport for international travels.  As a mother being apart from her two small children who were still in Vietnam and cared for by Thu Phuong's parents, this was undoubtedly an extremely difficult period in her life.  Finally in 2008, Thu Phuong was granted clearance by the Ministry of Information and Communications Department of Vietnam to legally work as a performance artist in Vietnam again.  That same year, she would make her first return to Vietnam to perform at the Duyen Dang Viet Nam 19 Festival held at the Hoa Binh music venue in Ho Chi Minh City.  Thu Phuong has since made several more triumphant returns to her homeland performing at sold out concerts in various cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Da Nang.  In 2015, Thu Phuong was among the panel of judges on Vietnam's popular television show, Giong Hat Viet, which airs on channel VTV3.  This had marked her first national television appearance in Vietnam in more than 13 years.

In 2004, Thu Phuong made her debut appearance on Thuy Nga's Paris By Night on volume 77 performing a medley of Cho Toi Lai Tu Dau, written by Tran Quang Loc, and Que Huong, Tuoi Tho Toi, written by Tu Huy.  Thu Phuong has since appeared on a dozen other volumes of the Paris By Night series.  Among her most memorable performances on Paris By Night have included her solo performances of Huong Ve Hanoi, written by Hoang Duong, Da Khuc Tinh Nhan, written by Le Uyen Phuong, Bai Tho Khong Doan Ket, written by Lam Phuong, Nhung Ngay Tho Mong, written by Hoang Thi Tho, Tinh Ho and Ngin Trung Xa Cach, both written by Pham Duy, and a duet performance with singer The Son of a medley of two songs written by Tran Quang Nam, 10 Nam Tinh Cu and 20 Nam Tinh Cu.  Three of Thu Phuong's solo studio albums, Cau Chuyen Tinh Toi (2008), Ha Noi & Toi (2012) and Bien, Noi Nho... va Em (2013) were distributed by Thuy Nga Paris.

Thu Phuong was married to singer Huy MC from 1993 until 2007.  That marriage had produced two children.  After 14 years of marriage, Thu Phuong and Huy MC divorced.  It has been reported that the cause of their divorce was Huy MC's infidelity with singer/actress Ho Ngoc Ha.  After her divorce with Huy MC, Thu Phuong met and became romantically involved with Clarence Dung Taylor, a show promoter of African-American and Vietnamese descent who was once engaged to Amerasian pop singer Lilian.  In 2008, Clarence Dung Taylor traveled to Vietnam to bring back with him both of Thu Phuong's children from her first marriage.  In 2010, Clarence Dung Taylor helped sponsor both of Thu Phuong's parents to the United States.  The couple married in 2012 and together have two more children.

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