I shudder to remember 15 years of illness.

Sharing with Giao Thong Newspaper, he said he had to sell all his house and belongings to pay for medical treatment. That was a period of time that every time he recalls it, he can't help but shudder.

No surprise to appear early in "The Masked Singer"

Singer Ung Hoang Phuc: I shudder when I remember 15 years of illness 1

Singer Ung Hoang Phuc.

The character Pink Monkey was revealed to be Ung Hoang Phuc in episode 1 of "Masked Singer" season 2. Were you surprised to have to stop early?

During the rehearsal, the crew was very strict and professional in keeping it secret, my face and the faces of those who accompanied me had to be covered. However, as soon as I started singing, many people in the audience started whispering.

I wasn’t too surprised and knew the audience would easily recognize me, even though I had changed the way I sang. I thank the audience for loving and recognizing my voice.

What does the mascot character Pink Monkey in the show “Masked Singer” mean to you?

I have a connection with the year of the Monkey. In my music career, I used to work with Quang Huy, who was also born in the year of the Monkey. At that time, everything was very favorable and developed.

After my contract with the company ended, I started to get sick and had to stop singing for a long time to focus on treating my herniated disc and spinal degeneration.

After coming to my wife Kim Cuong, we did not plan to have a child in the year of the Monkey. After my wife gave birth, I immediately returned to music and have been active until now. Therefore, I decided to choose the character of Pink Monkey when coming to “The Masked Singer”.

From star to penniless due to illness

In the program, Toc Tien and Song Luan both recalled the memories of going to see his show. Tran Thanh affirmed: "Ung Hoang Phuc is the childhood of many people!". Looking back at your youth, how do you feel?

My debut album was released when I was 21 years old. Back then, the internet wasn't as developed as it is now, but my songs still spread from the South to the North via DVD.

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Being there for Phuc during his illness, I did not feel deprived. Seeing him in pain on the hospital bed, I felt more sorry for him. The time he cried to me, his sad eyes made me think that I needed to accompany him to overcome everything.
Before we met, Phuc knew that I had been broken and had a child, but he still loved us unconditionally, and I loved and cherished him even more. Since being with him, I feel more mature. He is not only a husband, but also a teacher, a friend, a confidant.

Former model Kim Cuong

Then the tours went to remote areas, just seeing Phuc would make the audience cheer. In each province, there would be different stage sizes from 5,000, 7,000 or 12,000 audience capacity, but most of the stages were like collapsed because of the number of viewers being too crowded.

People from the provinces were running out of seats and could not buy tickets. Some people climbed trees, put ladders, and put up chairs just to see Ung Hoang Phuc in person. That was a period that I felt most proud of and cherished in my career.

Your salary back then was probably top notch?

In those days, audiences bought tickets with small change, so the show organizers had to bring a few sacks just to hold the money and also mobilized more than ten people to count the money.

I don't know how much everyone else was paid back then, but I only received my own salary, the rest was from the organizer. Compared to now, it's definitely not as good! (Laughs).

At the height of his career, health problems forced him to leave everything behind. Do he regret his golden age?

I used to be Ung Hoang Phuc with a bit of looks, a bit of singing voice and maybe a bit of luck to reach the halo, to the pinnacle of glory that many people desire.

But illness spares no one. When you have a herniated disc, lying still is painful, and after 4 surgeries it still recurs.

The after-effects of the surgeries combined with my increasingly severe illness have left me almost completely exhausted and bedridden due to constant back pain.

For 15 years, whenever someone told me where there was a good doctor, I went there regardless of whether it was North or South.

I had to sell all my house and belongings to pay for medical treatment. From then on, I was back to square one, zero. For Ung Hoang Phuc, that was the abyss, a period of time that every time I recall it, I can’t help but shudder, everything seemed to collapse. But looking back, I have no regrets.

I have been a Buddhist researcher since I was young, so I always consider everything that comes to me as "fate" and "karma". The past memories are all beautiful in one way or another.

When you were lying in bed, unable to sing, what did you think?

Broken and exhausted are the best words to describe that moment. For a healthy person, losing anything can break your spirit, and I lost both my health and my career.

I couldn’t think of anything else but the pain. I just wished for a miracle to make the pain go away so I wouldn’t bother my loved ones.

What keeps me going is music and my family.

During the difficult and deadlocked years, the luckiest thing is probably having someone by your side to share and accompany you.

That is my wife Kim Cuong. When I had nothing left, Kim Cuong was willing to leave everything behind to take care of a man who only had a painful body.

During that time, I never heard my wife complain or ask for anything. It was Kim Cuong's love that gave me more faith and motivation to overcome the rock bottom of my life.

Not only sing "I'd rather be like that"…

Singer Ung Hoang Phuc and his wife Kim Cuong.

After the worst, is now the time for Ung Hoang Phuc to have a prosperous life?!

Every artist has their own stage, so it is impossible to define what the peak is. Therefore, I believe that you should just do your best, and whether you reach the top or not depends on fate and luck at that time.

It is true that "after the worst comes the best", Ung Hoang Phuc was able to sing again, to continue to contribute to art and to his audience.

I also believe that I can get old, but my voice must not get old. I am willing to change and renew myself every day.

I hope my songs will be closer to the audience but still maintain my own style. I think I am gradually finding my place in the audience's hearts.

That’s why I came to “Masked Singer” and sang “Vi Anh La That”, to see that Ung Hoang Phuc does not only sing “Tha rang nhu the”, “Nguoi ta noi”… or his forte ballad songs. I am very happy because after the show, there are more young audiences who love and know me more.

Thank you!

Ung Hoang Phuc's real name is Nguyen Quoc Thanh, born in 1981, from An Giang . He became known to the audience after working for 2 years in the famous music group 1088.

After that, he joined WePro company and quickly became a phenomenon in the entertainment industry, one of the best-selling Vpop artists in the Vietnamese music market with a series of hits such as: "Tha rang nhu the", "Mono nguoi mot noi", "Can rut", "Chang kho thuy chung"...

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