The Cambodian Civil War ended in April 1975 when the communist Khmer Rouge defeated the Khmer Republic and gained control of the country . The Khmer Rouge ordered the two million residents of Phnom Penh to evacuate the city and move to prison farms and labor camps , The city 's musicians were included in this forced exodus . The Khmer Rouge regime , led by Pol Pot , wanted to return the nation of Cambodia to an idyllic notion of the past by implementing a radical form of agrarian socialism while simultaneously shunning outside aid and influence . In order to build and protect their utopian goals , the Khmer Rouge perceived enmity in anyone tied to the previous Cambodian governments , ethnic and religious minorities , intellectuals , and members of certain professions . In the ensuing Cambodian genocide , about 25 percent of the Cambodian population perished . More than half of those who died during the genocide are believed to have been directly executed . The rest died through forced labor , malnutrition , and disease due to the Khmer Rouge 's cruelty and poor management of its utopian project . Musicians posed an apparent threat to the Khmer Rouge regime due to their influence on culture , incompatibility with an agrarian lifestyle , and foreign influences . Many of Cambodia 's rock musicians disappeared during the genocide and their exact fates have never been confirmed . Due to these musicians ' enduring popularity with the Cambodian people , reports differ on how some of them died . Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea are both believed to have been summarily executed by Khmer Rouge soldiers out of fear that their popularity could foment resistance among the population . However , these reports have never been confirmed . Meas Samon is believed to have been executed at a work site after refusing to stop playing music during breaks . Other musicians like Pen Ran , Yol Aularong , and Pou Vannary simply disappeared sometime between 1975 and 1979 with no information available about their fates , as is the case with most of the ordinary Cambodians who perished during the genocide
Cambodian genocide
Cambodian genocide
Cambodian rock (1960s–1970s)