Danny Tuan - A Sight for Sore Eyes

Danny Tuan

When I first started out singing, there was this one particular singer, another fellow Amerasian by the name of Danny Tuan, that everyone was raving about just how gorgeous he was.  I remember the first time I was introduced to him was through a mutual friend, Perry Zeild, who had been the make-up artist to singers on Paris by Night.  The first thing that came to my mind was how everybody was right.  He is gorgeous.  He just looked like one of those guys on the cover of GQ Magazine.

For those of you who might not remember who Danny Tuan is, perhaps the following details will help remind you about this Chinese-Vietnamese Amerasian performer.  When Danny Tuan was first introduced onto the overseas Vietnamese entertainment scene, he had started out as a model on several of singer Nhat Ha's videos.  He was this dashing young fellow with striking European and Asian mixed features.  Shortly after, he had caught the eye of producer Le Ba Chu and signed with the Giang Ngoc label that would release three of Danny Tuan's solo studio albums.  Due to his popularity as a model in her videos, Nhat Ha had decided to include him on several other music video showcases as a singer.  Danny Tuan's most popular music video for Nhat Ha Productions was his cover of The Cascades' Rhythm of the Rain.  

I had met and spoken with Danny Tuan only a few times.  We weren't friends, but not enemies, either.  There was one thing that sort of bothered me when I first started singing.  And that was how I had been told that I look a lot like him and had even be mistaken for him several times.  As a singer, nobody ever likes to be mistaken for someone else.  Imagine how it feels after you've sung your heart out on stage just to be greeted by an audience member who calls you by another singer's name.  That has happened more than a few times.  It isn't the most gratifying experience.  I've even had that happen since I've set up my Facebook account.  One Facebook friend had sent me a private message once saying how she really loved watching me on video with the song, Rhythm of the Rain, for Nhat Ha Productions back in the day and had also enjoyed the songs I had recorded in Chinese, but was now really surprised that I could also sing in French.  It was obvious she had mistaken me for Danny Tuan, as well.  That really puzzles me, because frankly, I don't think Danny and I sound anything alike.  But now that I think about it, I'm rather flattered that people think I look like him.  He is afterall one very handsome guy.  Even if people said I looked like a less attractive version of Danny Tuan, I still take that as a compliment.  I remember on one occasion meeting Danny that I had told him how I've been mistaken for him.  He just laughed.  

It's been years since I've seen Danny Tuan or even heard of his whereabouts.  Sometime in the mid 1990s, all of the sudden he just disappeared from the Vietnamese music scene.  I guess with a lot of singers, he probably felt after a while in the spotlight that it had just gotten old and therefor decided to move on with his life.  The last I heard about Danny Tuan was from singer Thanh Ha about six years ago.  At the time when we spoke, she had said that a few years back she had run into Danny in Atlanta, Georgia at one of her shows.  Apparently, Danny had relocated to Atlanta and now lives somewhat of a quiet life there.  Even though I didn't know him that well, given how he is also Amerasian, I feel as if there is a certain kinship between us as I do with all other Amerasians, especially Amerasian performers such as myself.  I certainly wish him the best.


                                                                                                                 
Thien Phu