Phượng Liên
Phượng Liên is a veteran cải lương (Vietnamese reformed opera) artist who has performed on stage since before 1975 and is called the "queen of vinyl records" by audiences thanks to her vast body of recordings. She is associated with her signature role in Nửa đời hương phấn and the songs Lấy chồng xứ lạ, Đời cô Hạnh and Hẹn một mùa xuân.
Career story
Born in 1947 in Cần Thơ, Phượng Liên started out singing modern songs in an amateur arts group around 1960, taught herself vọng cổ singing from records and was then mentored by artist Phước Hậu. She joined the Kiên Giang and Tinh Hoa troupes in small roles, and by 1963 had become the leading lady of the Tuấn Kiệt troupe and recorded her first vọng cổ record, Sao rụng giữa thiên hà.
From 1964 she played leading roles with the Kim Chưởng troupe in Quỷ bão, Người nhạn trắng and Song long thần chưởng, received the 1966 Thanh Tâm Award Gold Medal for promising artists, and went on to work with Dạ Lý Hương, Bạch Tuyết – Hùng Cường and many other major troupes. In the 1970s she and Mỹ Châu were the two leading female recording artists; after 1975 she performed with the Thanh Minh – Thanh Nga troupe, including her role in Nửa đời hương phấn, and then the Trần Hữu Trang troupe.
Since the 1990s she has performed in the United States on Paris By Night and Asia programmes and co-hosted Cổ nhạc phương Nam on SBTN.
Babyface Entertainment, a Vietnam casting agency since 2009, helps brands, agencies and production houses book Phượng Liên for commercials, TVCs, key-visual shoots, events and KOL campaigns, working through the artist’s management to confirm availability and fees.
Awards · titles
Phượng Liên established her talent on the cải lương stage early, receiving the Thanh Tâm Award Gold Medal in 1966 in the promising artist category. This prestigious award marked the start of her long performing career.
Award names are kept in Vietnamese as officially published. Linked items open the original press report.
Sources · references
Ảnh: Vietnam Council on Foreign Relations · Public domain