Dalena

Who is Dalena?

Dalena Morton better known as simply Dalena, is an American recording artist known for singing songs in Vietnamese, a language she does not understand.

Dalena grew up in Orlando, Florida and worked as a ticket seller at Disney World. She originally learned Cantonese from rented Chinese martial arts movies. She memorized a song in Cantonese, and, at the suggestion of an acquaintance, then learned a song in Vietnamese. She first picked up Vietnamese music while working at a restaurant in Orlando and learned the songs from the jukebox.

She began performing at Vietnamese weddings and parties. In 1991, she regularly performed at a nightclub in Little Saigon and received her first recording contract from a small Vietnamese studio. Since then, she has released multiple albums and has sung in Vietnamese communities around the world.

During the 1990s, she performed on Paris By Night.

Dalena was featured in Nguyen Tan Hoang's documentary, Cover Girl: A Gift from God.