Sơn Tùng M-TP

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng (born 5 July 1994), known professionally as Sơn Tùng M-TP, is a Vietnamese singer-songwriter and actor.

Born and raised in Thái Bình, Thái Bình province, his family discovered his singing ability when he was two years old.

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng was born on 5 July 1994 in Thái Bình, Thái Bình province, to parents Nguyễn Đức Thiện and Phạm Thị Thanh Bình.

Bình was a traditional dancer in the city's official performing group and a performer in Thái Bình's chèo theatre.

She met Thiện when he was working as a transport driver.

After becoming pregnant with Tùng, Bình opened a barbershop at home which later became a clothing store.

She also used to work as a bridal make-up artist.

The singer described his early life as "peaceful."

He has a younger brother, Nguyễn Việt Hoàng (b. 2000), who later starts his own music career in 2022 under the stage name Mono.

He was two years old when the family discovered his singing abilities.

At the age of eight, he joined Thái Bình's Children's Arts and Culture Palace and learned to play the electronic keyboard.

Tùng's mother plays guitar, and her husband plays seven instruments.

However, they disapproved of their son's pursuit of a singing career and wanted him to focus on education; his father wanted him to study business in college.

Despite this, Tùng frequently participated in talent shows at school.

In 2009, he and his classmates formed a group, Over Band, and began writing and uploading songs on the independent-music website LadyKillah.

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.

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. According to the singer, it now stands for "music," "tài năng" ("talent"), and "phong cách" ("style").

Tùng originally wrote "Cơn mưa ngang qua" for Over Band and Young Pilots before deciding to record the song himself.

He published it on the music website Zing MP3 in August 2011, and within two months of release, it had 1.7 million streams.

His self-written 2012 and 2013 singles, "Cơn mưa ngang qua" and "Em của ngày hôm qua" launched his career.

These were followed by successful singles "Chắc ai đó sẽ về", "Lạc trôi" and "Nơi này có anh".

"Cơn mưa ngang quas success exceeded Tùng's expectations. 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. Two revised versions of the song were released in February 2012. That year, he was admitted to the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City with one of its highest entrance scores. He left the conservatory in June 2014, while filming Dandelion, due to scheduling conflicts and a desire to focus on his future career. In July 2012, he auditioned for Vietnam Idol fourth season and was eliminated in the first round. 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.

Tùng released three singles between August and December 2013: "Nắng ấm xa dần", "Đừng về trễ" and "Em của ngày hôm qua".

The latter launched Tùng's mainstream career and successfully gained over 100 million streams in three months on Zing MP3.

Favorite Song made it its Song of the Month in February 2014.

Tùng wrote "Gió cuốn em đi", which was performed and released by Quốc Thiên in April 2014.

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.

In that June, it was announced that the singer would star in Dandelion, a semi-biographical film based on the life of late singer WanBi Tuấn Anh.

Quang Huy, founder and chief executive officer of WePro Entertainment, directed the film.

Dandelion was released in December 2014.

It grossed ₫60 billion (US$2.8 million) at the box office and became one of the most profitable Vietnamese films of all time.

Tùng's performance earned him a Golden Kite Prize, the Vietnamese equivalent of an Academy Award, for Young Prominent Actor.

Its soundtrack produced two successful singles by Tùng: "Chắc ai đó sẽ về" and "Không phải dạng vừa đâu".

The music video for "Không phải dạng vừa đâu" was criticized.

It featured look-alikes of musicians Phó Đức Phương and Dương Khắc Linh, both whom had lambasted Tùng's copyright controversies.

His other ventures include the M-TP Ambition Tour (2015–2016), the Sky Tour (2019), a starring role in the 2014 film Dandelion (which earned him a Golden Kite Prize for Young Prominent Actor) and an appearance as a contestant on the television series The Remix.

Tùng spent four years as part of Văn Production and WePro Entertainment before founding his own record label, M-TP Entertainment, in 2016.

In 2017, Tùng released the compilation album M-tp M-TP and published his autobiography, Chạm tới giấc mơ.

Called a "Prince of V-pop" for his popularity, Tùng has received many accolades which include a MTV Europe Music Award, a Dedication Music Award, a Mnet Asian Music Award, seven Green Wave Awards and an inclusion on Forbes Vietnam 2018 30 Under 30 list.