The Most Famous
MUSICIANS from Indonesia
This page contains a list of the greatest Indonesian Musicians. The pantheon dataset contains 3,175 Musicians, 3 of which were born in Indonesia. This makes Indonesia the birth place of the 55th most number of Musicians behind Puerto Rico, and Hong Kong.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indonesian Musicians of all time. This list of famous Indonesian Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Wage Rudolf Supratman (1903 - 1938)
With an HPI of 50.10, Wage Rudolf Supratman is the most famous Indonesian Musician. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.
Wage Rudolf Soepratman (Wage Soepratman in the old orthography, commonly known as W. R. Supratman; 9 March 1903 – 17 August 1938) was an Indonesian journalist and songwriter who wrote both the lyrics and melody of the national anthem of Indonesia, "Indonesia Raya". He is an Indonesian national hero.
2. Chrisye (1949 - 2007)
With an HPI of 48.16, Chrisye is the 2nd most famous Indonesian Musician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Hajji Chrismansyah Rahadi ([xrisˈmanʃah raˈhadi]; born Christian Rahadi [xristiˈan raˈhadi]; 16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), better known by his stage name Chrisye ([xəˈriʃə]), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. In 2011, Rolling Stone Indonesia declared him the third-greatest Indonesian musician of all time. Born in Jakarta of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent, Chrisye became interested in music at an early age. At high school he played bass guitar in a band he formed with his brother, Joris. In the late 1960s he joined Sabda Nada (later Gipsy), a band led by his neighbours, the Nasutions. In 1973, 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. After once again returning to Indonesia, he collaborated with Gipsy and Guruh Sukarnoputra to record the 1976 indie album Guruh Gipsy. Following the success of Guruh Gipsy, in 1977 Chrisye 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. Their success landed him a recording contract with Musica Studios, with whom he released his first solo album, Sabda Alam, in 1978. Over his almost 25-year career with Musica he recorded a further eighteen albums, and in 1980 acted in a film, Seindah Rembulan. Chrisye died in his Jakarta home on 30 March 2007 after a long battle with lung cancer. Known for his stiff stage persona and smooth vocals, 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 (and a fifth to which he contributed) were classified as some of the best Indonesian songs of all time in a later issue of the same magazine. Several of his albums received certification of silver or gold. He received two lifetime achievement awards, one in 1993 from the BASF Awards and another posthumously in 2007 from Indonesian television station SCTV.
3. Rhoma Irama (b. 1946)
With an HPI of 47.79, Rhoma Irama is the 3rd most famous Indonesian Musician. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Raden Haji Oma Irama, better known as Rhoma Irama (born 11 December 1946), is an Indonesian dangdut singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sundanese descent. Starting in the late 1960s, he began his musical career as Rhoma Irama as a part of the pop band Orkes Melayu Purnama, pioneering several dangdut music elements. He then formed his band, Soneta Group, achieving multitudes of musical successes with groundbreaking dangdut style that incorporates Western, Malay, and Bollywood influences. From the late 1970s, he began transforming into more Islamic-oriented style, commanding the religiously pious popular music culture. During the height of his stardom in the 1970s, he was dubbed "Raja Dangdut" ("the King of Dangdut") with his Soneta Group. He has also built his career in the film industry. He has been active as well in the political arena, with a history of joining campaigns for the Islamic United Development Party (PPP) during the New Order era. In 2015, Irama founded Peace and Safe Islamic Party and served as the party chairman until 2018, when he decided to merge the party into the National Mandate Party.
4. Niki (b. 1999)
With an HPI of 26.08, Niki is the 4th most famous Indonesian Musician. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Nicole Zefanya (born 24 January 1999), known professionally as Niki (stylized all caps), is an Indonesian singer-songwriter. She is currently based in the United States and signed with the record label 88rising. She released her first full-length studio album, Moonchild, in 2020. It was followed by Nicole (2022) and Buzz (2024). Her debut headlining concert tour, Nicole World Tour (2022–2023), visited over 40 cities across North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Niki has garnered global recognition for her songwriting and musicianship and is among the most popular female artists from Indonesia. In 2020, Niki was listed on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Indonesian musicians born between 1903 and 1999. Of these 4, 2 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Indonesian musicians include Rhoma Irama, and Niki. The most famous deceased Indonesian musicians include Wage Rudolf Supratman, and Chrisye. As of April 2024, 1 new Indonesian musicians have been added to Pantheon including Niki.
