Chrisye

Biography

Chrismansyah Rahadi (born Christian Rahadi on September 16, 1949 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia), better known by his stage name Chrisye, was an Indonesian progressive-pop singer, of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent (His mother was Javanese). He died in Jakarta on March 30, 2007 following a long battle with lung cancer. He recorded 21 solo albums in his lifetime. He married in 1982 to G.F. Damayanti Noor, who was also a singer; they had four children. Chrisye started recording in the band Gipsy in 19...

Chrismansyah Rahadi (born Christian Rahadi on September 16, 1949 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia), better known by his stage name Chrisye, was an Indonesian progressive-pop singer, of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent (His mother was Javanese). He died in Jakarta on March 30, 2007 following a long battle with lung cancer. He recorded 21 solo albums in his lifetime. He married in 1982 to G.F. Damayanti Noor, who was also a singer; they had four children.

Chrisye started recording in the band Gipsy in 1969. The band covered music including Procol Harum, King Crimson, ELP, Genesis and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and ventured to the USA to play in New York. The band collaborated in 1976 with Guruh Soekarno Putra, one of the sons of former Indonesian President Soekarno, and brother of Megawati Soekarnoputri, subsequent Indonesian President, on Guruh Gipsy, a progressive rock album that combined prog rock with Balinese gamelan.

His raise to fame came with the release of the movie soundtrack “Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will Surely Pass)” in 1977. The album was done in collaboration with Eros Jarot (currently a member of Indonesian parliament) and Yockie Suryo Prayogo (a keyboard virtuoso). This album is considered as a major musical landmark in Indonesia.

His first, and most popular solo single was in 1977 with Lilin Lilin Kecil (Little Candles), composed by James F. Sundah.

In 1981 he starred in the film "Seindah Rembulan" (As Beautiful As the Moon).
In 2004, Chrisye made an album titled "Senyawa (One Soul)". In this album, Chrisye did collaborations with other Indonesian popstars, such as Project Pop, Ungu, Peterpan, etc. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.