Trần Xuân Tiến

Trần Xuân Tiến died at 6am on 27 October 2026, aged 76. His daughter, the composer Mai Trâm, told Tuổi Trẻ that the cause was a heart attack. Some Vietnamese reports gave his age as 77 by traditional reckoning.

The news was announced through the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association. According to the death notice, his body was to lie at the Southern National Funeral Home in Ho Chi Minh City, with encoffinment at 5pm and visitation from 6pm on 29 October. The memorial service was set for 7am on 31 October, followed by cremation at the Bình Hưng Hòa crematorium.

Trần Xuân Tiến was born in 1950 in Quảng Ngãi province, in central Vietnam, and grew up there. As a young man he moved to Saigon to study at the Faculty of Letters (Đại học Văn khoa).

From the early 1970s he took a direct part in the student movement of Saigon and Gia Định. He wrote songs, gave speeches, performed and joined demonstrations, and became one of the core figures of the "Hát cho đồng bào tôi nghe" (Singing for My People) movement. He was a core member of the student composers' group of the Saigon General Student Association and served as leader of the Saigon student performing troupe.

After 30 April 1975 Trần Xuân Tiến became, in the words of Tuổi Trẻ, a songwriter of the Youth Union and of the youth movement. He wrote for every age group: community and campfire songs such as Quanh lửa hồng and farewell songs; children's songs for Young Pioneers such as Hái ổi, Học đánh vần, Thành phố Bác Hồ, thành phố của em and 300 năm thành phố của em; and campaign songs for young volunteers, including Bài ca tuổi trẻ for the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Volunteer Force, Tuổi trẻ miền Đông, Niềm vui chiến dịch for the summer literacy campaign, Thành phố màu xanh for Green Sunday activities and Bạn ơi! Hãy ra biển lớn, written for the city's Youth Union congress in 2004. His Hành khúc sinh viên (Student March) remained one of his best known songs.

Alongside composing he worked in culture and media administration. He served as head of the culture and arts office of the Propaganda Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and earlier reports also describe him heading the arts and culture desk at the Voice of the People of Ho Chi Minh City radio station.

In August 2021 Youth Publishing House (NXB Trẻ) published Tổ quốc yêu thương, an anthology of 100 of his favourite songs presented as a record of his life in music. In April 2025 the newspaper Người Lao Động honoured him as a "Musician of a lifetime for Vietnamese music".

Trần Xuân Tiến's daughter, Mai Trâm (Trần Xuân Mai Trâm), followed him into songwriting and is a composer in her own right. In his later years father and daughter wrote together, including the song Ánh sao trong mắt mẹ, dedicated to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. Colleagues remembered him for his good singing voice and cheerful, warm character.

Trần Xuân Tiến belonged to the generation of composers who gave voice to the Saigon student movement of the early 1970s, and he carried that spirit into five decades of songs for young people. Many of his children's, campfire and campaign songs became part of everyday youth activities in Ho Chi Minh City, and the anthology Tổ quốc yêu thương gathers 100 of them. His lifetime honour from Người Lao Động in 2025 recognised that long contribution to Vietnamese music.