Vinh Su: From the King of sentimental music with 4 wives to a life of illness and poverty

Known as the "King of sentimental music" with a time when his salary for a song could be up to several dozen taels of gold, and he had up to four wives, but in his old age he lived alone, sickly and poor.

Thrown in the trash

Musician Vinh Su's parents came from Ha Tay to work as laborers on a rubber plantation for the French and then wandered to the Southeast region in the 1940s. Later, his parents returned to Saigon to make a living by making vermicelli. The musician was born in a poor working-class neighborhood in Ben Van Don, District 4.

Recalling his childhood years, musician Vinh Su said: "My father was a very rich noodle seller, the richest in the neighborhood, but he was very stingy. When he was thirsty on the street, he did not dare to buy water to drink. When his children were 9 or 10 years old, he forced them to learn a trade so they would not have to support them. My family had four siblings, all of whom were ignorant, except for me who was able to go to school properly. My younger siblings followed my father's profession and are now very rich, but I am the only one who loves music and is adrift."

Being a bit rebellious and stubborn in his teenage years, Vinh Su dropped out of school and started composing music at the age of 15. He had to endure many skeptical looks from his family and close neighbors. He confided: "My father was illiterate, so everyone in the neighborhood thought I was like him. No one believed that I wrote music. They said, 'What kind of music is this? You stole it, you didn't write anything.' Even when I became famous, no one believed me."

Music was in his blood since his previous life. While studying music, he bought books to learn how to compose. After a year of studying music, Vinh Su quietly practiced composing. His works were all about separation and the loss of love between couples.

However, composing was one thing, but releasing it or not was a difficult problem for the young musician who was just starting out writing music at that time. Vinh Su's eyes couldn't help but shine with bitterness as he recounted: "Before entering the music industry, I stole money from my parents to pay for people in the Saigon radio industry, famous artists at that time. I sold the entire house my parents gave me. At that time, gold was worth 1,000 VND/tael, and the house was sold for about 300 - 400,000 VND. I ate, drank and played until I ran out of money, but no one helped me with anything. When I lost my house, I hid it from my family and lived with a cyclo friend in an alley in District 4. Later, my parents found out, and they were so angry that they called the police to arrest me.

At that time, Che Linh recorded the song "Love the person sharing the wall" for me. Every night, I took the small tape to smoothie shops and sidewalk cafes and played it for everyone to listen to. Everyone praised it. I sold the copyright to a music publisher on Nguyen Trung Truc Street to listen to, but he just mumbled and asked me to go home and wait. A few days later, when I returned, I suddenly saw the cover of my tape in the trash can but I didn't dare to bend down to pick it up. I had to use the sandals I was wearing to hold the tape and hide it, then quietly went home."

The more you love, the easier it is to compose.

Despite suffering a lot of hurt and being looked down upon, Vinh Su still considered this a lucky thing when not long after, his first song "Love the person sharing the wall" was broadcast for free for a week on Saigon Radio thanks to a chance meeting with the head of the station's art department at that time.

Vinh Su said: "After the song was released, I received flowers from people everywhere sending compliments. Even Mr. Minh Phat, who had thrown the song in the trash, came to me and offered to buy it back to release. Having been cheated out of a house, I became wary of everyone around me. Even when I was offered a very good price for the song, I only agreed to print 10,000 songs according to his order for him to release. I was afraid that people would cheat and add more CDs to my number, so when I went to print the tape, I was always sneaky and sneaky."

It can be said that at that time, music brought musician Vinh Su everything, from fame to money. The golden age before 1975 with royalties from songs was enough for him to buy a car and a house. The musician confided that God gave him the talent of writing, and that he would become famous or that any song he published would become famous, including songs he bought from senior musicians such as: Do Thanh Son, Hang Chau... And the songs he composed in his early days of practicing as a musician such as: Poor Girl, White Hands, Cau Mo Puller, Grass Ring for You... quickly became loved by many people. Vinh Su suddenly became a famous musician, known as the "king of sentimental music".

However, he believed that if you have money, you have to spend it, and if you eat and drink, you have to be extravagant. With money in hand, the famous musician poured it into partying, becoming a "one-night king" at the most luxurious restaurants in Saigon, spending dozens of taels of gold each night. Besides the rumors of "spending money like water", Vinh Su was also famous for being a playboy because he loved many people and had four wives.

Old age, loneliness, illness, poverty

In 2012, Vinh Su had to have surgery for colon cancer. In the following years, Vinh Su had to live with this disease. In addition, Vinh Su also had many other diseases such as diabetes, stomach pain, pneumonia... About 2 months before his death, Vinh Su had to be hospitalized because his colon cancer was in the final stage. Due to his poor health, the doctors did not dare to operate on him. Everyone just hoped that a miracle would come to the "King of sentimental music" but that did not happen.

However, it seems that Vinh Su knew about his future, so 2 years ago, he bought a grave at Binh Duong Cemetery. In addition, Vinh Su also told his family about organizing his funeral. He wanted to organize a simple ceremony at a funeral home so that everyone who loved him could come to say goodbye.

In particular, the "King of sentimental music" also wished that after his death, his family and relatives would use the royalties from his songs to establish a charity fund in his name. Vinh Su hopes that the fund will be used to support poor musicians and give artistic talents the opportunity to work and contribute to art.

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