Anggun: Indonesia’s most precious export

Few Indonesian singers have made it big overseas.

But Anggun is one of them.

With her seductive voice and exotic looks, Anggun has become huge in her adopted country, France, and further a field too, in places like Germany and Italy – even if she remains pretty much anonymous in the US.

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

But Anggun’s calling was global and she left Indonesia at 19 and headed for France in the hope of making it big in Europe.

Her considerable beauty attracted the attention of many admirers in France but it was Michel Georgea who managed to win the heart of this aspiring starlet.

Anggun’s first album in France was produced by Erick Benzi. He steered the singer away from her original rock influences toward a more sensual and jazzy Sade kind of sound.

But it was her huge 1997 hit Neige au Sahara (Snow on the Sahara) that really propelled Anggun into the limelight. From then on she was huge and 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.

Like many singers Anggun has had a rocky love life and she is now married to Oliver Maury, a Canadian, after divorcing Michel Georgea.


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)