Haji Chrismansyah Rahadi (16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), born Christian Rahadi ) but better known by his stage name of Chrisye ), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. Born in Jakarta of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent, Chrisye became interested in music at an early age. In the late 1960s he joined Sabda Nada, a band led by his neighbours, the Nasutions. In 1977 he recorded two of his most critically acclaimed works: Lilin-Lilin Kecil by James F. Sundah, which eventually became his signature song.
About Chrisye in brief
Haji Chrismansyah Rahadi (16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), born Christian Rahadi ) but better known by his stage name of Chrisye ), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. Born in Jakarta of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent, Chrisye became interested in music at an early age. In the late 1960s he joined Sabda Nada, a band led by his neighbours, the Nasutions. After a short hiatus, he rejoined the band to play in New York for a year. He briefly returned to Indonesia and then went back to New York with another band, the Pro’s. In 1977 he recorded two of his most critically acclaimed works: Lilin-Lilin Kecil by James F. Sundah, which eventually became his signature song, and the soundtrack album Badai Pasti Berlalu. Chrisye was critically acclaimed in Indonesia. Five albums to which he contributed were included in Rolling Stone Indonesia’s list of the 150 Best Indonesian Albums of All Time; another four of his songs were classified as some of the best Indonesian songs of all time in a later issue of the same magazine. He received two lifetime achievement awards, one in 1993 from the BASF Awards and another posthumously in 2007 from Indonesian television station SCTV. Chrisye died in his Jakarta home on 30 March2007 after a long battle with lung cancer. He was the second of three sons born to Laurens Rahadi, a Chinese-Betawi entrepreneur, and Hanna Rahadi ; his brothers were Joris and Vicky.
In 1968 Chrisye registered at the Christian University of Indonesia to fulfill his father’s wish that he become an engineer, but he became a bassist instead. His father bought him a guitar; Chrisye chose the bass guitar, as he considered it the easiest to master. In time they began playing at school events, with vocals by Chrisye. Over his almost 25-year career with Musica he recorded a further eighteen albums, and in 1980 acted in a film, Seindah Rembulan. Several of his albums received certification of silver or gold. He also appeared in the film, Sindah Rembulan, which was released in 1980. He had a regular gig at Mini Disko on Juanda Street and Juanda Disko Disko in Jakarta, Indonesia, which they considered more macho and Western-sounding than the original group, which he considered to sound as much like the original artist as he could sing. The group was renamed Gipsy in 1969, and Chrisye had a chance to sing while performing with the band, which led him to change the name to Gipsy. In 1969 he joined the band as a replacement for the bassist Eddi Odeko, who was ill with his performance, and was asked to stay as a permanent member of the band. In 1970 Chrisye and Joris watched them play songs by Uriah Heep, Sweat & Tears, and Sweat and Sweat Tears.
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This page is based on the article Chrisye published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
