Ros Serey Sothea () was a Cambodian singer. She was the most prominent female artist in the Cambodian rock scene during the First Kingdom of Cambodia and into the Khmer Republic period. She sang in a variety of genres; romantic ballads emerged as her most popular works. Despite a relatively brief career she is credited with singing hundreds of songs. She also ventured into acting, starring in a few films. She disappeared during the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s but the circumstances of her fate remain a mystery. Norodom Sihanouk granted Sothea the honorary title "Queen with the Golden Voice."
Biography
Early life Ros Sothea was born in 1948 to Ros Bun () and Nath Samien () in Battambang province, French protectorate of Cambodia. Growing up relatively poor on a farm, Ros Sothea was the second youngest of seven children; two of her younger sisters, Ros Sareth and Ros Saroeun, both passed away in 1955 at very young ages. Her older sisters Ros Saboeut and Ros Saboeun became activists after the Khmer Rouge working with surviving artists to combat piracy.
Ros Saboeun recalls Sothea displaying vocal talent as early as three years old. Sothea grew up listening to early Cambodian pop singers like Mao Sareth and Chhoun Malay on the radio and traditional singers during weddings, imitating their voices by ear. Furthermore, as a child her mother used to lull her and her siblings with Lakhon Bassac songs to sleep, Sothea would record a rendition of her mother's lullaby with the composer Voy Ho titled "បំពេ [Lullaby]" later in her career. In 1954, Sothea’s father divorced her mother after being lured into an affair by a woman named Roeuth, but Sothea’s parents remarried shortly after. During the late 1950s, Sothea and her siblings created a four-piece folk band using homemade and traditional instruments. Sothea, who was on vocals, earned the moniker ‘mey rey’, by the village elders and the band was known enough to perform for a district clerk's housewarming party. In 1960, Sothea joined her school’s singing club. Along with this, she was involved in sports curricular such as running which would carry on as a hobby throughout her life.
Due to a tight financial situation in the family, Sothea joined a popular regional singing contest in 1963. She ended up winning first place amongst around fifty other contestants. After the contest she became widely known throughout Battambang and was occasionally invited to sing at events. During one of these events, an incident occurred involving Sothea, and she dropped out of school. However she was encouraged to continue and joined the ayai troupe Lomhea Yothea. To dismiss bad luck she adopted ‘Serey’ into her alias. Lomhea Yothea regularly performed at the Stung Khiev restaurant in Battambang, a popular performance venue. Artists from Phnom Penh who toured there heard of Sothea’s talents and eventually word spread back in the capital. In 1964, Ma Laopi, after listening to Sothea’s voice, invited her along with Lomhea Yothea for an opportunity to sing for the National Radio in Phnom Penh. It is believed that popular singers Sinn Sisamouth, Im Song Soeum, as well as Saram Pak (a popular ayai singer) were involved with the scouting.
Music career In Phnom Penh, she lived with her mother at Sala Pov Om—a boarding house and private school in Toul Kork—where other new artists such as Huoy Meas lived temporarily before they settled at their own places. She met the composer Peou Sipho who trained her to sing a few songs with the National Radio orchestra as well as Sinn Sisamouth who taught her musical notation. That same year, in 1964, she debuted with her first hit song “ស្ទឹងខៀវ [Blue River]” at the highly acclaimed biannual National Congress festival and quickly became popular across Cambodia, particularly for her high and clear voice. Eventually she became a regular partner with Sinn Sisamouth, the era's leading singer, resulting in many popular duet recordings. She also collaborated with other prominent singers of the era like Pen Ran, Huoy Meas, Im Song Soeum, Chea Savoeun, and others while maintaining an active solo career as well.
Sothea's early recordings were largely traditional Cambodian ballads and chanson-style ramvong songs such as the duet with Im Song Soeum, “ខូចខ្លួនខូចប្រាណ [Forsaken Love]”. She initially sung for record labels such as Chanchhaya and Cambodia. Apart from performing with the National Radio orchestra, she was also apart of the Société Khmer des Distilleries (SKD) band alongside Pen Ran. This band was among many industry mascot bands in Cambodia aimed at promoting the country’s industrial development and their respective sectors.
She was in the SKD band for six months until she adopted a crammed schedule—by her manager known as Mr. Sok—of at least two gigs every night. The venues she frequented were the Magasin d’état (known as the Magetat), Lotus d’Or, Mekong, and the Baler restaurant. In a 1974 interview with Réalités cambodgiennes she said she was able to perform at all the dancehalls in Phnom Penh before the 1970 coup. Throughout her career she mainly recorded at the National Radio's studios, Mekong studio, and Van Chan studio. She moved into a permanent two-story home near the former Phnom Penh International Airport, where she frequently practiced duets with Sinn Sisamouth. She would eventually record with many more record labels such as Apsara (commonly known as Lac-Sea) and adopt a more contemporary style incorporating French and American influences, adding western pop/rock instrumentation, as was common in Cambodian music starting in the late 1960s.
Eventually Sothea and her contemporaries were strongly influenced by American radio that had been transmitted to U.S. troops in nearby South Vietnam, inspiring experimentation with American and British rock and soul sounds. Sothea combined her high and clear voice with backing provided by young rock musicians, characterized by prominent electric guitars, drums, and Farfisa organs. This resulted in a sound that is often described as psychedelic or garage rock, and Sothea became the leading female singer in the thriving Cambodian rock scene. Sothea was also one of many singers in that scene to cover popular western rock songs with Khmer lyrics, such as "ប្រុសៗយំស្រឡាញ់ [Cry Loving Me]" (based on "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival), "រាំចង្វាក់ [Dance to the Rhythm" (based on "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham), and songs by The Carpenters and many others.
Romantic ballads would remain her most endearing work amongst the more conservative populace such as “ទឹកអូរយ៉ាដាវ [Oyadav Creek]”. She preferred performing slow ballads over rhythmic songs. She was often sought out by film directors to perform songs in their movies. Her first film project was a minor role in Sun Bunly’s 1966 film “អាសូរប្រពន្ធផង [Please Have Sympathy For Your Wife]”. Her first song for a film soundtrack was a duet with Sinn Sisamouth in 1967 titled "ស្នេហាលក្សិណវង្សព្រាហ្មណ៍កេសរ [The Love of Leak Sinavong and Pream Kesor]" for the film "ព្រះលក្ខសិនវង្សនាងព្រាហ្មណ៍កេសរ [Leak Sinavong and Pream Kesor]". Her first major role was in Sinn Sisamouth’s 1973 film “ចម្រៀងឥតព្រាងទុក [The Unplanned Song]” where she played the role of a singer. Additionally, Sothea and Sisamouth had toured various cinemas to perform live before the movie screened. Her song “ឆ្នាំអូន១៦ [I Am 16]”—her biggest hit as of early 1974—had been so popular that a movie by Chea You Than was named and based on it in 1971.
Aside from these projects she recorded numerous other songs for movie soundtracks, including foreign films, and acted in a few other films, although no footage has been recovered as of today. Sothea's collaboration with the Cambodian film industry is invaluable in identifying over 250 films lost during the Khmer Rouge regime. Sothea never sang under any one record label due to being a freelance artist—common for virtually all popular singers in Cambodia during that time—and made a modest living as a musician. She was also known as a fashion icon and occasionally modeled, one of which events taking place Kep in 1964 that has remained as one of the very few footages of her to have survived. In 1969, she was recognized as a national treasure and was honored by Head of State Norodom Sihanouk with the royal title of Preah Reich Theany Somlang Meas, the "Queen with the Golden Voice" (sometimes translated as "Golden Voice of the Royal Capital").
During the Cambodian Civil War after the 1970 Cambodian coup d’état, the government shut down the Magetat and other nightclubs due to imposed curfews. Around this time Sothea joined the Khmer National Armed Forces under the 1st Airborne Division’s orchestra, she never was involved in combat but performed on the frontlines to entertain resting soldiers. Around September 1971 she completed a six week training course to become a paratrooper in Kamboul bordering Kampong Speu along with her brother Ros Sokunthea and her sister Ros Sophean, and received a parachutist badge in 1973. Sothea also continued to record music, including many of her most famous works around this time, as well as patriotic songs supporting the Republic's stance against the Khmer Rouge insurgents. Her last known public performance was in Pailin for a provincial celebration shortly before the Khmer Rouge. Her career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh in April 1975.
Personal life
Ros Sereysothea's personality has been described as modest, gentle, and reserved. A popular belief is that Sothea grew up impoverished, illiterate, and sold boiled snails on the street. However, her sister Saboeun widely refutes these beliefs stating that an author named Seng Dara had popularized these claims in order to paint Sothea's life as a 'rags to riches' story.
Sothea was a quite athletic person stating in an interview that she enjoyed running, badminton, and jump rope. For her interest in the fashion scene, she liked wearing traditional sampot hol and sampot phamuong, modeling with those garments as well. Sothea is also known to have been involved in a few high-profile relationships. As documented in the film Don't Think I've Forgotten, when she arrived in Phnom Penh in 1964, she was courted by fellow singer Sos Math and they eventually married in 1965. As Sothea's career moved forward, Sos Math became jealous of her success and of the men who came to watch her perform, culminating in physical abuse. After an alleged altercation between the two at the Lotus D'or nightclub, Sothea fled the six month long marriage and obtained a divorce. Ros Saboeun, has never gone too far into detail about the situation and has alleged it happened due to various reasons.
Sothea, who believed that her career would be ruined by the stigma of divorce, went back to her family in Battambang to quit singing but was convinced by Sinn Sisamouth to return to Phnom Penh and resume her career. Sothea's popularity rebounded and she met Houy Siphan, the son of a prominent film and music producer Van Chan. This relationship led to marriage and the birth of a son named Sopanara. Throughout her life, Sothea had unfortunately been involved in multiple alleged instances of domestic violence and sexual assault. Ros Saboeun states that Sothea was raped multiple times by the military commander of Sothea's division by the name of Srey Ya during the early 1970s. He reportedly had gone so far as to have his troops kidnap her after she sang at a venue in Pochentong.