Sơn Tùng M-TP - Wikipedia

1994–2010: Early life and career

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Nguyễn Thanh Tùng was born on 5 July 1994 in Thái Bình, then part of Thái Bình province (which was merged into Hưng Yên province in 2025),[3] to parents Nguyễn Đức Thiện and Phạm Thị Thanh Bình.[4][5] Bình was a traditional dancer in the city's official performing group and a performer in Thái Bình's chèo theatre.[6][5] She met Thiện when he was working as a transport driver.[6] Bình later became pregnant with Tùng and took on multiple jobs to support the family, including running a barbershop and a clothing store, as well as working as a bridal make-up artist.[6][5][7] The singer described his early life as "peaceful."[8] He has a younger brother, Nguyễn Việt Hoàng (b. 2000), who later started his own music career in 2022 under the stage name Mono.[5][9][10][11]

He was two years old when the family discovered his singing abilities.[5] At the age of eight, he joined Thái Bình's Children's Arts and Culture Palace and learned to play the electronic keyboard.[5] Tùng's mother plays guitar, and her husband plays seven instruments.[5] However, they disapproved of their son's pursuit of a singing career and wanted him to focus on education;[5][12] his father wanted him to study business in college.[12] Despite this, Tùng frequently participated in talent shows at school.[13] In 2009, he and his classmates formed a group, Over Band, and began writing and uploading songs on the independent-music website LadyKillah.[7][12] Rap artist Hoàng Kê, one of the site's participants, invited the singer to join his Young Pilots hip hop group in 2010. Young Pilots recorded and performed across Thái Bình, successful in their hometown and online.[12] At this time, Tùng adopted the stage name M-TP, which was an acronym for Mr. Tùng Pình, a nickname bestowed by fellow LadyKillah member Mr. J.[6][14] According to the singer, it now stands for "music," "tài năng" ("talent"), and "phong cách" ("style").[15]

2011–2015: Breakthrough and Dandelion

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Tùng first wrote "Cơn mưa ngang qua" for his groups but ultimately decided to record it himself.[6][12] He published it on the music website Zing MP3 in August 2011, and within two months of release, it had 1.7 million streams.[16] "Cơn mưa ngang qua"'s success exceeded Tùng's expectations.[16] It received the Song of the Month award from the music-chart TV program Favorite Song in October 2012, and a Zing Music Award for R&B Song of the Year.[17][18] Two revised versions of the song were released in February 2012.[19] That year, he was admitted to the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City with one of its highest entrance scores.[4] He took a leave of absence in June 2014, while filming Dandelion, due to scheduling conflicts and a desire to focus on his future career.[20][21][22] In July 2012, he auditioned for Vietnam Idol's fourth season and was eliminated in the first round.[23] He signed a five-year contract with Văn Production in November 2012 and changed his stage name from M-TP to Sơn Tùng M-TP after a suggestion came from the company's music director, Huy Tuấn, and musician Hà Quang Minh.[24][25][26][a]

Tùng released three singles between August and December 2013: "Nắng ấm xa dần",[27] "Đừng về trễ"[28] and "Em của ngày hôm qua".[29] The latter launched Tùng's mainstream career and successfully gained over 100 million streams in three months on Zing MP3.[30][31][32] Favorite Song made it its Song of the Month in February 2014.[17] Tùng wrote "Gió cuốn em đi", which was performed and released by Quốc Thiên in April 2014.[33] The following month, Tùng contributed vocals to a charity cover of Tạ Quang Thắng's "Sống như những đóa hoa" and canceled a number of performances for surgery to remove a tumor from his leg.[34][35]

 

In June of that year, it was announced that the singer would star in Dandelion, a semi-biographical film loosely based on the life of the late singer WanBi Tuấn Anh.[21] The film was directed by Quang Huy, founder of WePro Entertainment.[36][21] Dandelion was released in December 2014 and went on to gross over ₫60 billion (US$2.8 million) at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing Vietnamese films of all time.[37][38][39] Tùng's performance in the film earned him the prestigious Golden Kite Prize for Young Prominent Actor.[40][41] He contributed two hit singles to the soundtrack: "Chắc ai đó sẽ về" and "Không phải dạng vừa đâu".[38] The former won a WeChoice Award for Song of the Year.[42] It was reported in early 2015 that Tùng had signed with WePro while still being managed by his former company.[43]

2015–2017: The Remix and independent label

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In January 2015, Tùng teamed up with disc jockey Trang Moon and music producer SlimV for the first season of the television competition series The Remix.[44][45] His team competed against other notable acts, such as Đông Nhi and Tóc Tiên, to create the best remixes on the program.[44] Tùng's performance each week received considerable media coverage but he quit after six episodes, citing health issues.[46][47][48] Tùng debuted two songs on the show, "Thái Bình mồ hôi rơi" and "Khuôn mặt đáng thương", both of which were subsequently released as singles.[47][49][50] In June, he recorded "Tiến lên Việt Nam ơi!" in support of Vietnam's team at the Southeast Asian Games.[51] In that same year, he also unveiled three additional singles: "Ấn nút nhớ... Thả giấc mơ",[52] "Âm thầm bên em"[53] and "Buông đôi tay nhau ra".[54] While these songs saw modest commercial success compared to his earlier hits, "Âm thầm bên em" earned a Green Wave Award for Single of the Year.[55][56]

In July, Tùng headlined his sold-out debut concert, M-TP & Friends, in Ho Chi Minh City, with his Dandelion castmates, including Hari Won and Phạm Quỳnh Anh, as opening acts.[53][57] At the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards, Tùng received the Best Southeast Asian Act award and was nominated for Best Asian Act.[58][59] In December 2015 and January 2016, Tùng's M-TP Ambition concert tour was held in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.[60][61] In his autobiography, Chạm tới giấc mơ, he described the tour as an unforgettable failure.[8] Reports indicated low ticket sales.[62] While some critics praised Tùng's stage presence, others felt the show was lacking.[60][61] During the tour, he introduced two songs, "Remember Me" and "Như ngày hôm qua," which were released as singles in December 2015.[63][64]

In January 2016, he guest judged an episode of The Remix's second season and endorsed Oppo's Tết campaign with the song "Một năm mới bình an".[65][66][67] At the 11th Dedication Music Award in April, Tùng became the youngest recipient of the Singer of the Year award.[4] He also won the Favorite Male Artist category at that year's Zing Music Awards.[68] Tùng released his single "Chúng ta không thuộc về nhau" in August 2016.[69] It was Google Vietnam's most-searched song of 2016, YouTube's 11th-most-disliked video of the year and WebTVAsia Awards' Most Popular Video in Vietnam.[70][71][72] Due to his creative conflicts with WePro since the M-TP Ambition tour, Tùng announced that he had parted ways with the company in December 2016.[73][36]

He established M-TP Entertainment, and released three singles in early 2017: "Lạc trôi",[74] "Nơi này có anh"[75] and "Bình yên những phút giây".[76] The music video for "Lạc trôi" was described as a "play on Asian stereotypes," such as gold thrones and statues of dragons.[77][78] It and "Nơi này có anh" were two of the fastest Asian music videos to receive 100 million views on YouTube, and were two of the year's top streaming tracks in Vietnam.[75][79] Green Wave and WeChoice Awards later gave the former track the Single of the Year and Favorite Music Video awards, respectively.[80][81]

2017–2020: Sky Tour

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In April 2017, Tùng celebrated his fifth year in the music industry by releasing the compilation album M-tp M-TP.[82] The album, which featured revamped versions of his previous tracks, was distributed on a USB flash drive and sold one thousand copies.[83][84][85] In June, Tùng took the stage at the Viral Fest Asia event held in Bangkok, Thailand.[86] The subsequent month, he organized a second M-TP & Friends concert in Hanoi.[87] In August, he joined in on "Gia đình tôi chọn", a single celebrating WePro's fifteen years in the industry.[88][89]

In September 2017, the singer's memoir, titled Chạm tới giấc mơ, was released.[90] The biography covers Tùng's early life, as well as his experiences with Văn Production and WePro Entertainment, while deliberately omitting any mention of the controversies surrounding his career.[6][91][a] Ten thousand copies were sold in the first two days.[90] Tùng was subsequently honored with a variety of awards, including the Mnet Asian Music Award for Vietnamese Breakout Artist,[92][93] the Keeng Young Award for Favorite Male Artist,[94] the V Live Award for Best V Star,[95] and the WeChoice Award for Breakout Artist.[80]

In May 2018, his single "Run Now" was released alongside a music video featuring Thai actress Davika Hoorne.[96] The video ignited controversy primarily for depicting William-Adolphe Bouguereau's 1876 painting, Pietà—which portrays the Virgin Mary holding the lifeless body of Jesus after his crucifixion—being engulfed in flames.[97] "Run Now" was awarded two Zing Music Awards for Music Video of the Year and Most Favorite Dance/Electronic Song, and a WeChoice Award for Most Favorite Music Video. In July, the singer portrayed a fictionalized version of himself in Chuyến đi của thanh xuân, a short film directed by Nguyễn Quang Dũng in partnership with the sneaker brand Biti's Hunter.[98][99] Tùng's collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, "Give It to Me", was released in July 2019.[100] The accompanied video features an appearance by singer Madison Beer and set a 24-hour record for Vietnamese music videos with 25.8 million YouTube views on the first day. This record was previously held by "Run Now" (17.6 million views).[101]

The singer embarked on his second nationwide concert tour, Sky Tour, from July to August 2019. The show was divided into two sets. The first half featured performances by guest acts such as Tiên Tiên, Rhymastic and Kimmese, while the other half was Tùng's solo set. Tickets to the Hồ Chí Minh and Hà Nội dates sold out. Tùng's showmanship and engagement with the audience earned widespread acclaim. The tour was chronicled in the documentary film, Sơn Tùng M-TP: Sky Tour Movie, which debuted in June 2020. Dubbed as Vietnam's first musical documentary, it grossed ₫5.5 billion (US$238.700) after the first three days of release even with mixed reviews.[102] Netflix went on to distribute the film globally.[103] An accompanying live album was also released.[104]

2020–2022: Chúng ta and "There's No One at All"

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In 2020, Tùng released two singles, "Có chắc yêu là đây" and "Chúng ta của hiện tại". The latter was the lead single for his upcoming EP, Chúng ta. Its music video starring Hải Tú, an actress recently signed to M-TP Entertainment's talent management division, won a WeChoice Award for Music Video of the Year.

In 2022, the music video for "There's No One at All" faced backlash for its violent nature and depiction of suicide, leading Tùng to issue an apology.[105][106] In May, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism fined M-TP Entertainment ₫70 million (US$2,737), ordered the video footage to be destroyed, and required the company to forfeit its earnings from the video.[107]

2022–present: Sky Decade

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On April 12, 2022, Sơn Tùng M-TP officially posted a poster for the first English song of his career, titled "There's No One at All."[108] Shortly after, he launched an exclusive sale for NOAA T-shirts featuring his own hand-drawn designs on the VinID app; this was the shirt the singer would wear in the upcoming "There's No One at All" music video.[109] On April 28, Sơn Tùng M-TP officially released the music video for "There's No One at All" via YouTube Premiere, attracting nearly 216,000 concurrent viewers. This marked the first time Sơn Tùng M-TP experimented with composing in a hip-hop/rock fusion style, singing entirely in English. Additionally, he collaborated with international producers on this project: Chris Gehringer handled the audio mastering, and Jacob McKee performed the video color grading.[110] On July 5, to celebrate his 28th birthday, Sơn Tùng M-TP released an alternative video version of "There's No One at All."[111] On October 6, Sơn Tùng M-TP officially released the Sky Decade EP consisting of 4 songs—the first product in a series of art projects commemorating his 10th anniversary in the industry.[112] Sơn Tùng M-TP also announced that Sky Tour would return to theaters starting October 14, marking the second project in this series.[113] Sơn Tùng M-TP announced the release of his second English single titled "Making My Way" on April 25, 2023, and the song was released on May 5, 2023.[114]

On March 8, 2024, Sơn Tùng M-TP released "Chúng ta của tương lai" as the second single from the EP Chúng ta, four years after the release of the previous single, "Chúng ta của hiện tại." The song's music video became the longest-running video at the top of YouTube's trending list in Vietnam.[115] He followed up with the single "Đừng làm trái tim anh đau" three months later, with production carried out entirely in Thailand.[116][117]