The Áo Trắng trio (from left): Minh Thư, Tuyết Ngân and Minh Tú will reunite on stage in HCM City next month during a rare visit to Việt Nam. — Photo courtesy of the artists

HCM CITY — The Áo Trắng trio, one of Việt Nam's best-known female pop groups of the 1990s, will reunite on stage in HCM City next month during a rare visit home after more than two decades living in the US.

The trio is scheduled to perform at the Một Thời Để Nhớ (A Time to Remember) concert in early August, revisiting some of the songs that made them household names during the 1990s.

"This is an opportunity for us to reunite with fellow artists and reconnect with audiences back home," one member of the trio, Tuyết Ngân, said.

The three singers returned to Việt Nam in mid-July to rehearse, record music and spend time with family and friends.

The concert marks one of the few occasions they have performed together professionally since disbanding in 2005. They briefly reunited in 2023 to record the music video Ai Cũng Cần Yêu Mà (Everyone Needs Love).

The group consists of elder sister Tuyết Ngân and twins Minh Thư and Minh Tú. They began singing together as children, regularly performing at HCM City's Children's House and on the popular television programme Những Bông Hoa Nhỏ (Little Flowers).

Their breakthrough came in 1992 when they won first prize at HCM City's Radio Singing Contest. Inspired by the white áo dài traditionally worn by Vietnamese schoolgirls, Tuyết Ngân chose the name Áo Trắng to evoke memories of their school days.

During their career, the trio released four Vietnamese-language pop albums, two Japanese-language albums and a Christmas album with singer Hồng Nhung. Their youthful image and close vocal harmonies made them one of the defining acts of Vietnamese pop music in the 1990s.

Their duet with singer Lam Trường, Những Bánh Xe Quay Nhanh (The Wheels Keep Turning), remains familiar to many Vietnamese as the long-running theme song of the annual HCM City Television Cycling Cup.

The trio disbanded in 2005 after all three members married and emigrated to the US. While they have reunited on occasion, including for a music video in 2023, next month's concert marks one of their few professional performances together in more than two decades. — VNS