53 Facts About Chrisye

Hajji Chrismansyah Rahadi, better known by his stage name Chrisye, was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter.

Chrisye briefly returned to Indonesia and then went back to New York with another band, the Pro's.

Chrisye died in his Jakarta home on 30 March 2007 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Chrisye received two lifetime achievement awards, one in 1993 from the BASF Awards and another posthumously in 2007 from Indonesian television station SCTV.

Chrisye was born Christian Rahardi in Jakarta on 16 September 1949 to Laurens Rahadi, a Chinese-Betawi entrepreneur, and Hanna Rahadi, a Chinese-Sundanese housewife from Bogor.

Chrisye was the second of three sons born to the couple; his brothers were Joris and Vicky.

Chrisye began listening to his father's record collection, singing along to songs by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Dean Martin.

Beatlemania reached Indonesia while Chrisye was in Senior High School PSKD Menteng, and increased his interest in music.

In 1968 Chrisye registered at the Christian University of Indonesia to fulfill his father's wish that he become an engineer.

When Chrisye had a chance to sing while performing covers, he attempted to sound as much like the original artist as he could.

Chrisye eventually fell ill for several months, during which time the rest of the band left for New York.

In mid-1975, with several weeks left on his contract, Chrisye's parents called from Jakarta to tell him that his brother Vicky had died of a stomach infection.

Unable to return home immediately, Chrisye became distracted by thoughts of his family and began to find playing difficult.

Chrisye stopped playing altogether until the Nasutions invited him to rejoin Gipsy for their new project with Guruh, who offered Chrisye several songs in which he would be lead singer, with lyrics written especially for him.

In late 1976 Chrisye was approached by songwriter Jockie Soerjoprajogo and Imran Amir, head of Prambors Radio, who asked him to provide the vocals for the Prambors Radio Teenage Songwriting Competition; Chrisye refused, as he did not want to sing an Indonesian pop song.

Chrisye agreed on condition that he be allowed creative freedom, to which Widjaja reluctantly agreed.

In May 1978 Chrisye began work on his first album with Musica, Sabda Alam, incorporating several songs by other artists and some written by himself, including the title song.

Chrisye recorded it after locking himself in the studio with the sound engineer and arranger; despite Amin's wanting to monitor their progress, Chrisye refused to allow him access.

Two of the songs, "Galih dan Ratna" and "Gita Cinta", were used in the 1979 film Gita Cinta dari SMA ; Chrisye played a minor part in the film's sequel, Puspa Indah Taman Hati, as a singer.

In 1980 Chrisye appeared in the Indonesian film Seindah Rembulan ; at first reluctant to accept the role, he was convinced by Sys NS that it would be fun.

Chrisye later regretted the decision, considering the film crew unprofessional and often fighting with director Syamsul Fuad.

When she moved to Bali to work at a five-star hotel there for several weeks, Chrisye followed her and told her that he would marry her when she returned to Jakarta; although this was not a formal proposal, Yanti accepted.

In 1982 Chrisye converted to Islam, as Islam does not permit interfaith marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, and changed his name to Chrismansyah Rahadi; Chrisye at the time had been growing increasingly discontent and disillusioned with Christianity.

In November 1983, Chrisye released another hit single titled Seni from the compilation album Cinta Indonesia, in collaboration with Guruh.

Chrisye approached Addie MS, a young composer, and asked him to help with the next album.

In late 1984 Chrisye approached another young composer, Adjie Soetama, to help him prepare his next album.

In 1988 Chrisye recorded Jumpa Pertama, and the following year he released Pergilah Kasih.

Chrisye later recalled that the album, with an arrangement by Younky Suwarno, had a "beautiful touch".

In 1992 Chrisye recorded a cover single of Koes Plus' song "Cintamu T'lah Berlalu" with arrangement by Younky; the music video was again broadcast on MTV Southeast Asia and became the first Indonesian music video to be broadcast on the American version of MTV.

Chrisye again began considering leaving the music industry, feeling as if he had already "reached the finish line".

Gauri tried for several weeks to persuade Chrisye to commit to the concert, and following Chrisye's introduction to Erwin Gutawa, who was scheduled to handle the arrangements, Jay Subyakto succeeded in convincing him that it might be the last chance to revive his career.

Chrisye performed a set that included his greatest hits and several duets, among them "Malam Pertama" with Ruth Sahanaya, in front of a full orchestra conducted by Gutawa.

Chrisye found himself unable to record one of the songs, "Ketika Tangan dan Kaki Berkata", written by poet Taufiq Ismail and based on verse 65 of the Qu'ranic sura Ya Sin; he would break into tears after singing only a couple of verses.

On 11 October Chrisye performed "Indonesia Perkasa" at the opening ceremony of the 1997 Southeast Asian Games; the song was written for the event.

The music video for the titular song, directed by Dimas Djayadiningrat, won the MTV Video Music Award for South-East Asia on 10 September 1998; Chrisye went to Los Angeles to accept the award at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Chrisye later told Kompas that he felt as if he had reached a dead end, having tried all genres available.

Chrisye continued performing, singing "Indonesia Perkasa" at the opening ceremony of the 15th National Games on 19 June 2000 in Sidoarjo, East Java.

In 2001 Chrisye released the studio album Konser Tur 2001, which included two new songs and several old ones.

On 12 July 2004 Chrisye held a third concert, Dekade, at Plenary Hall.

Chrisye then began work on his last studio album, Senyawa.

In July 2005 Chrisye was admitted to Pondok Indah Hospital, complaining of breathing difficulties.

Chrisye's health improved in 2006 and in May and November he undertook long interview sessions with his biographer Alberthiene Endah.

Chrisye died on 30 March 2007 in his home in Cipete, South Jakarta, at the age of 57.

Chrisye was buried in Jeruk Purut Public Cemetery, South Jakarta.

Chrisye's funeral was attended by hundreds, including Indonesian celebrities such as his collaborator Erwin Gutawa and singers Titiek Puspa, Ahmad Albar, Sophia Latjuba, and Ikang Fawzi.

Sys NS wrote in 2007 that he had been looking for "someone with the voice of an angel" to sing "Lilin-Lilin Kecil", and in his opinion Chrisye fitted the role perfectly.

Alex Hasyim, who did the choreography for Aku Cinta Dia and Hip Hip Hura, recalled that Chrisye was in a cold sweat on their first day of practise and eventually created his own dancing style as he could not follow Hasyim's instructions.

Chrisye chose his own costumes and at times experimented with different colours and designs.

The second, The Last Words of Chrisye, was released in 2010 and covers the final years of his life.

In 2022, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer went viral during the release of a Chrisye cover song "Anak Sekolah" before the band performing at Soundrenaline in Indonesia.

Chrisye received three BASF Awards, sponsored by the BASF cassette production company, for best-selling albums; his first was in 1984 for Sendiri, followed by one in 1988 for Jumpa Pertama and one in 1989 for Pergilah Kasih.

Chrisye received the BASF Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994 for his contributions to Indonesian music; the same year he received the BASF Award for Best Recording Artist.

Chrisye released 31 albums during his lifetime, 1 with Guruh Gipsy, 21 studio albums, and 9 compilation albums.