Khin Maung Toe

Khin Maung Toe (Burmese: ခင်မောင်တိုး [kʰɪ̀ɴ màʊɴ tó]; 2 April 1950 – 15 November 2012) was a Burmese singer songwriter, and was the longtime lead singer of the Mizzima Hlaing (မဇ္ဈိမလှိုင်း) band. He was one of the few successful Burmese singer-songwriters who wrote his own original songs. He released 35 albums in his career. He is best known for his 1984 hit "Maha Hsan Thu" (မဟာဆန်သူ).

Career

Khin Maung Toe was born in Mawlaik, Sagaing Division (now Sagaing Region) in northwestern Myanmar, third son of Daw Khin Hla and U Khin Maung. His father was a regional government official.

Khin Maung Toe became first interested in making music in his second year at the University of Mandalay in the late 1960s, when the Burmese pop music, modeled on Western rock-and-roll and country music, was just taking shape. He said in a 2000 interview that he and his generation of musicians faced both encouragement and criticism for the new kind of music. He released his debut album in 1973 with the E Machines band, and the follow-up album a year later.