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Lilian's real name is Nguyen Ly Ly. She was born in the ancient capital, Hue to an American-French father and a Vietnamese mother. In the final days before April 1975, her father arranged for Ly Ly and her mother's passage to the United States, but as fate would have it, they were left behind due to the overcrowding and chaotic condition at the time.
Ly Ly and her mother moved to My Tho to stay with an aunt. Here the future star went to school and lived meagerly with her mother and relatives. Meanwhile, her father fought rigorously to have the family reunited. On July 1980, Ly Ly and her mother arrived to the United States and settled in Irvine California.
Although she had looked forward to reuniting with her father, Ly Ly never got to see him as he passed away only five months before Ly Ly arrived to the U.S.. Ly Ly went to high school in Irvine and later took classes in word processing at a vocational school. She found a job at an Indian owned company and worked there for a year before resigning due to a conflict with her boss. Ly Ly subsequently got a job at Luc Huyen Cam cafe (Dong Song Xanh at the time) where she met a member of the band Fantasy. Shortly after that, she joined the band and began performing at various weddings and private gatherings. It was also with the band that she adopted the name Lilian. According to Lilian, Ly Ly is her real name and 'an' is bi`nh an in Vietnamese. Lilian is a combination of both.
In 1985, Lilian's mother passed away. She described this as the lowest point in her life. One of her first experiences singing in front of a large audience was her performance at the Garden Grove High School Prom. Her first gig outside of California was at the wedding of Tommy Ngo's sister in Ohio. Years later when she met Tommy again, he would often remind Lilian of their first meeting and how the then impressionable Tommy Ngo wanted to become a singer himself someday. Beside Lilian, her older sister, the singer Hoa Huong, is also an accomplished artist prior to 1975.
Around 1987, Fantasy was invited to cover for the regular band at Dem Mau Hong night club. Son Ca asked Lilian to record for Son Ca Productions. This also marked Lilian's break-through in the vietnamese entertainment industry. Lilian primarily records easy listening type of pop music with an occasional disco or new wave track. Her first three CDs however were of the high energy disco, new wave genre. After the first three CDs (whose name Lilian has forgotten) at Son Ca Productions, Trung Nghia invited Lilian to collaborate with him to sing at Rex night club. It was also around this time that Lilian was pregnant with her son Kelvin. She continued to perform on stage until late in 1987 where she had to take maternity leave. Lilian collaborated with with Ritz night club from 1989 until May of 1997 when her contract ran out.
In terms of friends in the industry, Lilian is closest to Jimmy Joseph. Professionally, she looks to Huong Lan as a singer whom she admires most in the Vietnamese music industry and Whitney Houston and Celine Dion in contemporary American music.
As a personal choice, Lilian performs strictly American or foreign music. The only Vietnamese song that she knows by heart is Bai Tango Di Vang. She will only resort to singing this song when pressed. Lilian says she chooses to record mostly ballads, but often sings faster dance music on stage and at various shows. It recent years, Lilian has added rapping to her repertoire. Her two favorite songs are Stay with Me, a duet she performed with Henry Chuc and Power of Love.
Lilian has appeared in many videos including those from Thuy Nga Productions, Lang Van, Truong Thanh, Van Son, Thuy Anh, and Nguoi Dep Binh Duong Productions. She has recorded for several companies, but mostly for Sao Dem Studio in recent years. Some of her CDs are: two with Jimmy Joseph, 1 with Johnny Dung (12/96), The Best of Lilian 1,2,3,4,5 released from 10/95 to 10/97.
Copyright (c) 1997-1999 VEN Productions