Musician Nguyen Vu - passed away in the legendary rainy afternoon

At 5:20 p.m. on September 24, 2025, in the persistent afternoon rain caused by the storm, musician Nguyen Vu passed away like the name of his debut song 'Legend of a Rainy Afternoon'...

About 25 years ago, when the canteen "Quan Nghe Si" in "Tam Mot" (81 Tran Quoc Thao, District 3, old Ho Chi Minh City) was always crowded with customers - all artists, there, I met and became close friends with musician Nguyen Vu until now...

Musician Nguyen Vu - the one who created songs that touched the souls of many generations of music lovers

PHOTO: TL

I must say that at the first meeting, I felt very lucky to sit with a musician whose name "haunted" our generation of young people (before 1975), especially every Christmas season, wherever I went I heard "Do you remember that hymn? That Christmas we had a couple..." ( Sad hymn ). Nguyen Vu's Christmas music also has the song Anniversary Night , singing and thinking about it, I realized that at that time, the young man Nguyen Tuan Khanh (the musician's real name) was just over 20 years old but his soul was wandering and soaring very romantically: "The church in the highlands, the night God came down to earth: I gathered clouds, stars, flowers and leaves into a white shirt to marry you. The lanterns suddenly lit up, celebrating the return of Christmas Eve...".

Nguyen Vu's Christmas music also includes the song Anniversary Night.

PHOTO: TL

At that time, the country was still in the midst of war, which was also the heyday of bolero music with its melodies and sentimental lyrics... Nguyen Vu's bolero music broke out of that mold with optimistic major-key songs. His lyrics, though not flowery, were enough to move people's souls, such as: A sea bird, Legend of a rainy afternoon, Falling stars on the sea, Small street afternoon station, Story of the night grass... (also because of his preference for composing bolero music in major-key, many people mistook his music for Tran Thien Thanh's music).

But Nguyen Vu's music was not just bolero, in the early 1970s, when the youth music movement was rushing into the South, there was a trend of "Vietnamizing youth music" initiated by musicians Le Huu Ha and Nguyen Trung Cang. The main singer of this group was Elvis Phuong. Although Nguyen Vu did not compose youth music, he was close friends with Elvis Phuong. When a relative of this singer unfortunately passed away in a traffic accident, Nguyen Vu shared with his friend a series of 3 songs all bearing the word "cuoi": Last song for lover, Last words for you, Last look at each other . So through the singing of Elvis Phuong, young music lovers had 2 more "hot" songs: Last words for you, Last look at each other (the first song was not very popular). These 2 songs are still loved by many people today.

Musician Nguyen Vu's coffin will lie in state at his home (36 Nghia Hung, Tan Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City). The funeral procession and procession will take place at 5am on September 26, followed by cremation at Binh Hung Hoa. Those who love the musician can visit him at the above address. The family requests that condolences be exempted (including wreaths, fruits, incense, etc.).

"Yellow leaves" fall over time

Since meeting at "Tam Mot" and becoming close friends with musician Nguyen Vu, I found him to be very gentle, calm, and soft-spoken. We often had chats and confided over a glass of beer... On Christmas 2022, I wrote the article Musician Nguyen Vu - Memories of the Sad Hymn published in Thanh Nien Newspaper on Christmas Day, December 24. Perhaps this is the first article to bring the song Sad Hymn back into the nostalgia of the public who love old music...

Sad carol - a song that resounds every Christmas season

PHOTO: TL

After 1975, Nguyen Vu stopped composing. He opened a music class at his home in Ho Chi Minh City (Nghia Hung Street, Ong Ta Area, old Tan Binh District). Occasionally, he went to interact at music events, and sometimes I was the bridge to represent the program to invite old musicians (Nguyen Vu, Han Chau, Bao Thu, Nguyen Vu, Dai Phuong Trang, Manh Quynh...) to interact with artists and audiences. The presence of these famous musicians made the audience very excited, almost everyone took the opportunity to take a souvenir photo with each musician.

Nguyen Vu was very close to musician Bao Thu. The author of Let me once opened a tea room, Let's Sing Together, on Nguyen Trai Street (old District 5). Every night, Nguyen Vu, Dai Phuong Trang, and Manh Quynh came to interact with the audience. When Bao Thu moved the tea room to Vo Van Tan Street (old District 3), this group of friends gradually came to support... Then every time famous singer Che Linh returned to the country, he saw old musicians and artists gathered around. In addition to the above musicians, there were also Y Vu, Tung Lam, Truong Hoang Xuan, Mac The Nhan, Han Chau, Mong Tuyen, Trang My Dung... And then those "yellow leaves" gradually fell over time: Y Vu, Tung Lam, Truong Hoang Xuan, Mac The Nhan, and now Nguyen Vu.

A stick of incense would like to respectfully bid farewell to the soul of musician Nguyen Vu - the man who created songs that touched the souls of many generations of music lovers and was my close brother. May he rest in peace!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhac-si-nguyen-vu-ra-di-trong-chieu-mua-huyen-thoai-185250925140923996.htm