Biography
Sinn Sisamouth (probably 1933-1976) was a Cambodian songwriter and singer famous from the late 1950s until 1976 when he disappeared and was probably executed by the Khmer Rouge regime.
He is believed to have been born on August 23, 1933, in the northeastern province of Stung Treng. At the age of 7 or 8, he moved to the western province of Battambang, where his uncle helped him develop an early interest in playing traditional Khmer music. He arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital, when he was 17 and enrolled in a medical school with the goal of becoming a nurse, but music eventually won him over. At the hospital where he trained he performed for the patients and played his mandolin in the yard.
He later began performing live at the headquarters of the newly formed Cambodia National Radio and quickly became famous for his sweet voice and the ballads and upbeat rock songs he wrote. Sisamouth combined elements of traditional Khmer music with the sounds of blues and rock and roll, he was called "King of Khmer Music".
He met Ros Serey Sothea when he was 17 years old at the national radio station and worked with her for more than a decade, they enjoyed great success as a duo singing about love and relationships. Sinn Sisamouth also wrote and directed the 1974 film Unexpected Song, which included some of his original music and a performance by Ros Serey Sothea.
In 1975 the Khmer Rouge seized power, the work of artists and intellectuals was banned and creators were hunted down. Sinn Sisamouth, like Ros Serey Sothea, was among the many Cambodians who disappeared amid the violence and unrest. Even now the circumstances of his death are unknown, according to some accounts he was executed in 1976 in a concentration camp, paying with his life for the fact that his music had western influences.