HCM CITY — Vietnamese-American singer Khánh Ly will stage her first live show in HCM City this Friday, after leaving Việt Nam 41 years ago to settle in the US.

Khánh Ly will perform with singers Ý Lan, also a Vietnamese-American living in the US. Other singers from Việt Nam’s pop stars Hồng Nhung and Hồ Ngọc Hà and Quang Dũng will also join the legendary singer in her show.

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the Khánh Ly – Live Concert in Saigon, to take place at the 7^th Military Zone Gymnasium.

She will perform 30 songs by famous composers, including Phạm Duy, Lam Phương, Vũ Thành An, Nguyễn Ánh 9 and Anh Bằng. 

The 70-year-old, whose career is closely connected with anti-war songs by the late songwriter Trịnh Công Sơn, will sing her greatest hits from the composer’s best albums. 

“We invited an orchestra of 20 musicians to support Khánh Ly on stage. We wanted the show to mark her return in the city after four decades,” said musician Nguyễn Quang, the show’s art director. 

Khánh Ly, whose real name is Nguyễn Thị Lệ Mai, was born into a traditional family in 1945 in Hà Nội. She began her singing career when she was nine years old.

In 1956, she moved with her family to the South and won her first prize in a children’s singing contest with a song by Phạm Duy, one of the country’s most outstanding composers in contemporary music.

In 1964, she met Trịnh Công Sơn in Đà Lạt and they quickly became a couple in the music  world. Three years later, she started singing his songs in Sài Gòn, leaving a strong impression on young audiences.

Khánh Ly and Trịnh Công Sơn performed together for students at several venues in the city, including Văn Khoa University, to spread his anti-war lyrics on the famous album Da Vàng (Yellow Skin).

In 1970, Khánh Ly performed at the Osaka Fair in Japan following an invitation by the Nippon Columbia recording company. She also recorded an album in both Vietnamese and Japanese, featuring Trịnh Công Sơn’s songs like Diễm Xưa (Old Fame) and Ca Dao Mẹ (Mother’s Folk Songs)

Diễm Xưa (Utsukushii Mukashi in Japanese), was listed among the country’s top 10 favourite love songs.   

Since 2012, Khánh Ly has performed in Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng and Huế and the provinces of Bình Dương and Đồng Nai.

Her show, Khánh Ly-Live Concert in Saigon, will open at 8pm, December 2, at the 7^th Military Zone Gymnasium at 220 Hoàng Văn Thụ Street in Tân Bình District. — VNS