Anggun: Indonesia’s most precious export

There aren’t many Indonesian singers who have made it big overseas.

But Anggun is one of them.


With her highly seductive voice and stunning good looks, she is absolutely massive in France, and fairly popular in a number of other countries too, even if she is virtually unheard of in the US.

Anggun began performing at the age of seven and recorded her first album two years later. By the time she was 17, she was already a national rock star in Indonesia.

She left Indonesia at 19, and headed for France in the hope of making it big in Europe.

In France her considerable charms won over the music producer Erick Benzi who offered to work with her on her new album.

Benzi steered Anggun away from her original rock influences, encouraging her to adopt a more sensual and jazzy sound.

But it was her huge 1997 hit Neige au Sahara (Snow on the Sahara) that really propelled her to stardom in her adopted country. From then on she never looked back.

Her success culminated in the award of the prestigious "Chevalier des Arts et Lettres" for her worldwide achievements and contributions toward French culture.

And the release of 2005’s Luminescence has won her an even wider following, with the infectious single In my Mind getting a lot of airplay across Europe.

Anggun is now married to Oliver Maury, a Canadian, after divorcing her first husband Michel Georgea.

Long may she rule!

Discography
Dunia Aku Punya, in Indonesian (1986)
Anak Putih Abu-Abu, in Indonesian (1991)
Nocturno, in Indonesian (1992)
Anggun C. Sasmi... Lah!!!, in Indonesian (1993)
Yang Hilang, in Indonesian (1994)
Au Nom De La Lune, in French (1997)
Snow on the Sahara (1998)
Desirs Contraires, in French (2000)
Chrysalis (2000)
Anggun (2000)
Open Heart Original Sountrack (2002)
Luminescence (2005)