Khánh Ly, born Nguyen Le Mai (Mai Nguyen) on March 6, 1945, grew up in the northern regions of Vietnam. As a child, she would fall asleep to her father's soothing voice. His serenades planted inside her a love for music, which grew stronger every day against her family's wishes. In 1954, at the age of 9, she entered a small contest in the city of Hanoi singing Tho Ngay; she did not win. By 1956, she accompanied her mother to the southern regions of Vietnam.