Ros Serey Sothea

Cry Loving Me (Proud Mary)

Born in relative poverty on a rural farm in Cambodia, few would have expected Ros Serey Sothea to become a rockstar. She always did have a bewitching voice though and when her friends convinced her to enter a local singing contest in 1963 she won and within 4 years she was famous.

She initially sang traditional Cambodian ballads but in the city, she discovered people were singing Western music, influenced by their former colonisers, the French, as well as Latin American sounds and increasingly British rock. The biggest shock to the Cambodian music scene came from across the Vietnamese border in the form of radio waves. Young Cambodians listened enraptured to the US troops’ radios as they fought their bitter war. Country, blues and rock ’n’ roll burst into the country and like most of the world, the Cambodian youth were hooked. 

Sothea’s crystal-clear voice made her a sensation and she became the prominent female singer of the Cambodian rock movement. She never gave up singing more traditional songs though and was bestowed the title, ‘Queen with the Golden Voice’ by the Cambodian head of state. Loved by all, she was one of the most influential musicians in Cambodian history. 

Tragically, the civil war in the 70s changed everything. Sothea joined the Khmer Republic military and had an affair with an officer. She trained as a paratrooper and some of the only surviving footage of her shows her throwing herself out of a plane. Towards the end of the war, she sang patriotic songs to her comrades as the enemy closed in.

The republic was defeated and in 1975 the communist Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Phen. Sothea disappeared and was never seen again. 

What happened to her next has led to much speculation. Some think she was simply killed in the takeover - as a prominent, western-influenced entertainer, she would have been an instant target for the communists - but others believe she survived longer. These people claim she was part of the forced marches that saw millions of city dwellers sent to the countryside to work the land. According to them, she was discovered and forced to marry a leading officer in the regime and Pol Pot himself would make her perform for his friends. Eventually, her presence was deemed too controversial and she was executed in 1977.

Others believe she survived until as late as 1979. Pol Pot’s evil regime collapsed when the South Vietnamese invaded earlier that year and reportedly, having survived the invasion, she died in hospital of malnutrition. 

Nobody knows for sure but whatever the truth is, along with some 25% of the Cambodian population, she was a victim of the horrendous Khmer Rouge.

The song I’ve chosen is a familiar one. Originally sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival and covered by Tina Turner, Proud Mary, would have been brought to Cambodia by American GIs. Sothea’s cover is unique and harks to an era of excitement and wonder that was so brutally crushed by Pol Pot’s horrific regime.

Apple Music: Cry Loving Me (Proud Mary)