Emily Woodbury

Phương Tâm performs at the Miss Vietnam Beauty Pageant with the Khanh Bang band at the Hung Dao Theatre in Saigon in 1965.

A St. Louis woman discovered her mom’s secret past — as a Vietnamese rock star

Far from simply entertaining troops, Dr. Hannah Ha learned, her mom had been a recording artist who worked with South Vietnam’s top composers in the scene’s 1960s heyday. She performed under the stage name Phương Tâm.