Music
10 Malaysian Artistes On The International Stage
This Merdeka, we salute local talents who’ve flown the Jalur Gemilang high and proud.
There’s nothing like the surge of pride we feel when the name of our beloved country makes international headlines for any distinguished achievement. And in music, we’ve been blessed to have a steady stream of talented homegrown artistes making us proud, here and overseas, throughout the decades.
Here’s a list of just 10 of those who’ve made us proud to be Malaysians, from the 70’s till now…
Dato’ Shake
It wasn’t the norm for any Malaysian to leave the country to build a career then, but Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad of Johor Bahru did just that when he made Paris his new home in 1976. The charismatic performer landed a record deal and became a sensation in Europe with a long list of successful albums in French and English. He was even conferred the medal of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France for promoting French language and culture. Back home, he was conferred the Datoship when he returned in the early 80’s. He has maintained his superstar status till today.
Datuk Sheila Majid
Even after a successful debut album in 1985, her jazzy sound and sensibilities were still struggling to find a mass audience here. But her sophomore effort a year later, “Emosi”, not only earned her success locally, but in neighbouring Indonesia where she bagged the Best R&B Female Artiste award, the first non-Indonesian to win it. By 1990, Sheila had also broken into Japan, with “Sinaran” becoming a top hit and a slot at the Tokyo Music Festival opening up just for her. Sheila still maintains a healthy fan base in both countries today.
Sudirman Hj Arshad
The “Singing Lawyer” was already an icon and prolific artiste here in Malaysia when he competed in the 1989 Asian Popular Music Awards at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London. Up against the region’s most talented and best-loved artistes including Anita Sarawak and Kuh Ledesma, Sudirman mesmerized the judges and audience alike with his explosive performances, including the original song “One Thousand Million Smiles”. By the end of the night, he was crowned “Asia’s No. 1 Performer”.
Fish Leong
A native of Bahau, Negri Sembilan, Leong is known as “The Queen Of Love Songs” and has made us proud in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. After a lukewarm beginning, her second album “Yong Qi” in 2000 propelled her to the top of the charts in the Chinese diaspora. With 12 studio albums to date, Leong has a cupboard full of awards too, and was once crowned Top Female Vocalist at the Global Chinese Music Awards. Even more exciting, Leong will be bringing her current Tu T’appelle L’Amour World Tour, to the Wembley Arena on the 25th of October this year.
Datuk Siti Nurhaliza
Apart from dominating our industry, Datuk Siti has also been the perfect “ambassador” for Malaysian pop and traditional music. She’s won competitions in Kazakhstan, China and Australia over the years, and is extremely popular in Indonesia, where neighbouring artistes aren’t always welcomed with open arms.
In 2011, she was recognized as the decade’s Most Popular Artiste at the regional Anugerah Planet Muzik. There is simply no bigger name in the Nusantara other than Siti Nurhaliza.
Haze
DJ, producer, musician, performer, Haze has been spinning and innovating in the international dance world for close to two decades. As a legend, especially in the underground scene, he’s collaborated with various much-celebrated artistes including Sandy Rivera, Danism, Nic Fanciulli, Audiowhores, and MJ Cole. In 2013, he made Malaysia proud when his 2011 collaboration with Denmark’s Noir, “Around”, was named as one of the Top 50 Greatest Dance Tracks by British electronic dance and clubbing magazine Mixmag.
Shila Amzah
When she first burst on to the scene via a singing reality show, no one could have predicted that Shila would one day create substantial ripples in the Chinese market. But that’s exactly what this powerful vocalist has done. She won the Asian Wave singing competition at Shanghai in 2012, and that earned her a multi-million dollar recording contract and placed her on the fast track to Mandopop success. For this, Shila was awarded the Anugerah Kembara (International Breakthrough Award) at the 2013 AIM, becoming the youngest artiste to be given such accolade. Last year, she released her first single in Hong Kong, which recorded over a million downloads in just a couple of days. This girl is on fire!
Dasha Logan
A rising international star, 28-year-old Dasha is the daughter of the late Alleycats vocalist, Loganathan Arumugam. Blessed with a golden voice and exposed to the craft early on in her life, Dasha made headlines in local media when her single “Cleverly”, a collaboration with Paul Johnson, peaked at No 1 on the UK Soul charts in 2014, the first-ever Malaysian to do so. While maintaining her base in her hometown of Penang, Dasha is working on more self-penned singles, and so we can definitely expect more international success from her in the near future.
Au Yeong Khai Meng & Alvin Wee
The duo scored one of the most coveted jobs in the multi-billion dollar video game industry when they were selected to work on “Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII” in 2014. Collaborating with the likes of Video Game Orchestra (VGO) producer Shota Nakama and composer Masashi Hamauzu, Au Yeong and Wee recorded and mixed the soundtrack to the long-awaited finale of the series, which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
Yuna
Without a doubt the darling of our music industry today, Yuna has certainly come a long way since her singer/songwriter days on MySpace. After being signed by the Fader label, this Kedah-born performer has notched milestone after milestone off her journey and in no time at all. It was surreal when we first saw her performing on American talk shows in 2012, and to date, she has released three international albums, the latest, “Chapters” featuring an incredible duet with R&B superstar, Usher. And next month, Yuna will be going on her “Crush” US Tour, with at least 14 states already named. No doubt, we will only be seeing more awesome achievements by her in the coming years.
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