HCM CITY — American-Vietnamese pop singer Khanh Ly will perform in Đa Lạt this week, celebrating her 60-year career. 

The show, Dấu Chan Địa Đang (The Earth and Heaven), will feature famous songs by Vietnamese composers in the 1960s and 70s in the south. 

Ly will sing romantic songs by late song writer Trịnh Cong Sơn, such as Nắng Thủy Tinh (Crystal in Sunlight), Hạ Trắng (White Summer) and Ru Tình (Lullaby to Love).

Sơn is considered the “Bob Dylan of Viet Nam.” His anti-war music collection in the 1970s, including Ca Khuc Da Vang (Yellow Skin Song), Kinh Viet Nam (Vietnamese Prayer) and Ta Phải Thấy Mặt Trời (We Must See The Sunlight), are still fresh today. 

He died in HCM City in 2001 after a prolonged illness.

Ly performed Sơn’s most famous love song, Diễm Xưa (Diễm, My Cherished Old Flame) in Osaka in 1970. Later, the song was written in Japanese, titled Utsukushii Mukashi, and was listed among Japan’s top 10 favourite love songs.

Fans are expecting Ly to sing a new version of Diễm Xưa at her new show Dấu Chan Địa Đang. 

"I hope my music will meet Vietnamese fans’ taste," said Ly, 77, who returned to introduce her art in Viet Nam after 47 years away from home, in an interview with local media. 

Ly, whose real name is Nguyễn Thị Le Mai, was born in 1945 in Ha Noi. 

In 1956, she moved with her family to the South. She began her professional career in 1962, singing works by well-known composers such as Phạm Duy and Vũ Thanh An. 

In 1964, she met Sơn in Đa Lạt and they quickly became a couple playing music together.

Ly and Sơn performed for students at several venues in HCM City, including Văn Khoa (Literary) University, to spread the musician’s anti-war lyrics from the famous album Da Vang (Yellow Skin).

In 1970 and 1979, Ly performed in Japan following an invitation by the recording company Nippon Columbia. She was also invited to record two albums of Sơn’s music in both Vietnamese and Japanese. 

After 1975, Ly moved to live in California. 

Since 2012, she has performed in HCM City, Ha Noi, Đa Nẵng and Huế, along with Bình Dương and Đồng Nai provinces. 

She will perform her show, Dấu Chan Địa Đang, two nights, June 24-25, at 8pm at the music venue May In The Nets in Đa Lạt. Tickets are available at https://m.facebook.com/VietEntCenter. — VNS