Sinn Sisamouth (Khmer: ស៊ីន ស៊ីសាមុត [sɨn siːsaːmut]; 23 August 1932 -- 18 June 1976) was a famous and highly prolificCambodian singer-songwriter in the 1950s to the 1970s.
Widely considered the "King of Khmer music," Sin Sisamouth, along with Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron, and other artists, was part of a thriving pop music scene in Phnom Penh that blended elements of Khmer traditional music with the sounds of rhythm and blues androck and roll to make a Westernized sound akin to psychedelic or garage rock. Sisamouth died during the Khmer Rouge regime under circumstances that are unclear.
Sinn Sisamouth was born in August 23, 1932 in Stung Treng Province, the son of Sinn Leang and mother Seb Bunlei.
He was the youngest of four siblings, with one brother and two sisters. His father was a prison warden in Battambang Province and was then a soldier during the Colonial Cambodia period. His father died of disease and his mother remarried, and the union resulted in two more children.
Sisamouth attended Central Province of Stung Treng Elementary School when he was five. At the age of six or seven, he started to show interest in the guitar, and he would be asked to perform at school functions. He was also interested in Buddhist scripture and other books, as well as playing soccer and flying kites.
Around 1951, he passed elementary school and intended to study medicine in Phnom Penh, but continued working at becoming a singer and writing songs. Just as he had in elementary school, he became well known in his school for his music, and was asked to sing at school ceremonies.
By the time Cambodia was granted independence from France in 1953, Sisamouth's fine singing voice landed him a spot on national radio as a regular singer. He also continued his studies, working at Preah Ketomealea Hospital.
Music career
After completing medical school, Sisamouth became a nurse and married his cousin, Keo Thorng Gnut in an arranged marriage. The couple had four children. But he was also a very famous singing star in Cambodia, and his life as a celebrity eclipsed his family life.
He possessed a clear crooning voice which, combined with his own compositions about the pleasures and pains of romance, made him an idol. He sang many ballads, as well uptempo rock