Pham Duy

Phạm Duy got married to singer Thái Hằng, and the couple were blessed with eight children. All of them made a name for themselves in the music industry, including sons Duy Quang, Duy Cường, and daughters Thái Hiền and Thái Thảo.

The famous songwriter succumbed to gout as well as heart and liver ailments in Ho Chi Minh City, on January 27, 2013. A concert was organized as a tribute to him, and the proceeds were gifted to the family.

He was cremated in the ‘Binh Duong Park Cemetery’, his demise being lamented by famous singer Anh Tuyet and distinguished filmmaker Đặng Nhật Minh.

Phạm Duy Cẩn was born to famous journalist Phạm Duy Tốn and his wife Nguyễn Thị Hòa, in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city, on October 5, 1921. At the age of two, his father passed away, and his elder brother Phạm Duy Khiêm, who was a writer and Vietnam's ambassador to France, brought him up.

The young boy pursued his elementary education from the 'Thang Long High School', where he was taught by the likes of famous military general Võ Nguyên Giáp. He then continued his studies in music from the 'College of Arts' and the 'Ky Nghe Thuc Hanh Vocational College'.

In 1943-44, Duy began singing as a part of the 'Duc Huy' musical group. During that decade, the French had occupied Vietnam, and the young singer joined a musical team for the nationalist organization 'Việt Minh'. Phạm and fellow musician Văn Cao wrote their earliest songs together, while serving for the organization.

After leaving 'Việt Minh', he was taught music by Robert Lopez during 1954-55, in France. He also attended the 'Institut de Musicologie' in Paris, even though he wasn't registered to the school. He returned to Vietnam and settled in the city of Saigon, where his songs were prohibited from being released or performed.

In 1975, Saigon was seized by the 'People’s Army of Vietnam' and 'Việt Cộng', marking the end of the 'Vietnam War' and start of the Communist government. Phạm travelled to California, United States, with his family. His songs were "reactionary", according to composer Đỗ Nhuận, and thus were not allowed to be sung in Vietnam.

Across the world, however, Duy's songs became quite popular and they gradually gained recognition even in Vietnam. Throughout his life, he wrote more than a thousand songs that could be categorized into 'Dân Ca' ('Folk Songs'), 'Tâm Ca' ('Heart Songs'), 'Đạo Ca' ('Spiritual Songs') and 'tị nạn ca' ('Refugees Songs'), amongst others.

In 2000, this prolific songwriter returned to his homeland for a brief stay, and settled permanently in Vietnam five years later. During the same period, the communist government that had initially opposed his creations, started doing away with all bans on his works.

This song writer's most popular work is 'Tình Ca', written in 1953, which speaks about patriotism. Once the ban on the song was lifted, a company purchased rights to the initial ten notes of the song for 100 million Vietnamese dollars.