Born in 1920 to a Hakka family with origins in Dongguan, Guangdong, China, La Hối started writing songs at the age of 14.

In 1939, La Hối returned to his hometown Hội An, where, along with some of his close friends, he founded the Faifoo Philharmonic Society.

[1] From this period until his passing, he authored songs by himself and collaborated with other well-known musicians of the time on others, such as Gấm vàng (Golden Brocade) with Dương Minh Ninh, Nắng chiều (Sun in the Afternoon) with Lê Trọng Nguyễn and Chiều tưởng nhớ (Afternoon of Mourning) with Lan Đài.

1944 was when La Hối composed his last and most popular song, Xuân và tuổi trẻ (Spring and Youth, Chinese: 青年與春天) and a year later, in the wake of the Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, he made the Philharmonic Society an anti-Japanese resistance group.

In his memory, poet Thế Lữ wrote the lyrics to Xuân và tuổi trẻ during a visit to Hội An in 1946.