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Top 10 Interesting Facts about Chrisye

Christian Rahadi, Haji Chrismansyah Rahadi is an Indonesian progressive singer and songwriter better known by his stage name Chrisye. He was named the third-greatest Indonesian musician of all time by Rolling Stone Indonesia in 2011. 

Here are 10 interesting facts about Chrisye.

1. Chrisye became interested in music at an early age

Chrisye, who is of mixed Chinese and Indonesian ancestry and was born in Jakarta, developed a love for music at a young age. He founded a band with his brother, Joris, in high school, where he played the bass guitar. He joined the Nasutions, his neighbours, in the band Sabda Nada (later Gipsy) in the late 1960s.

After a brief break, he returned to the group in 1973 to perform in New York for a full year. He briefly went back to Indonesia before joining the Pros, a different band, and returning to New York. He recorded the 1976 independent album Guruh Gipsy with Gipsy and Guruh Sukarnoputra after returning to Indonesia once more.

 2. Chrisye was critically acclaimed in Indonesia

Chrisye by Unknown author from

Another four of his songs (and a fifth to which he contributed) were listed as some of the best Indonesian songs of all time in a later issue of the same magazine. Rolling Stone Indonesia’s list of the 150 Best Indonesian Albums of All Time included five albums to which he contributed.

Numerous of his albums were certified as silver or gold. Two-lifetime achievement awards were given to him: the first in 1993 from the BASF Awards and the second posthumously in 2007 from the SCTV television station in Indonesia.

 3. His father bought him a guitar

The Cast of Beatlemania by The Cast of Beatlemania from

While Chrisye was a senior at PSKD Menteng High School, Beatlemania made its way to Indonesia and piqued his interest in music. Chrisye’s father gave him a guitar in response to his desire to learn how to play one; he decided to learn how to play the bass guitar because he thought it would be the simplest. Chrisye and Joris learned to play by synchronising with their father’s records and radio recordings because they couldn’t read music.

4. He was forced to smoke 8 cigarettes at once as a punishment

Cigarettes by Tomasz Sienicki from

Chrisye and Joris first began to play by accompanying their father’s recordings and songs broadcast on the radio because they could not read music. With Chrisye’s vocals, they eventually started performing at school functions.

During this time, he started smoking in the building. When found, he was forced to smoke eight cigarettes at once in front of the assembled students as a kind of punishment. He finally developed into a chain smoker because this did not work to break his habit.

5. Chrisye registered at the Christian University of Indonesia

Universitas Kristen Indonesia by Akhmad Fauzi from

To satisfy his father’s dream that he become an engineer, Chrisye enrolled at the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) in 1968. However, Gauri sent an invitation for him to perform with the Nasutions’ band, Sabda Nada, in the early to mid-1970s as Eddi Odek’s replacement due to illness.

The Nasutions requested him to join them permanently because they were pleased with his performance. The band performed regularly at Mini Disko on Juanda Street and did freelance work at weddings and birthday celebrations.  Chrisye tried to sound as much like the original artist as possible when he had the opportunity to sing during covers. 

6. Chrisye converted to Islam for love

However, he started dating Guruh Sukarnoputra’s secretary, Gusti Firoza Damayanti Noor, in the early part of 1981. (Yanti)Yanti, who was of mixed Dayak and Minang descent and had been a singer in the past, came from a musically interested family. Chrisye would frequently talk about music with her while he waited for Guruh, and he would also run into her when he went to see her brother Raidy, who was one of his friends.

Chrisye followed her when she went to Bali to work at a five-star hotel there for a few weeks, and although it wasn’t a formal proposal, Yanti accepted, that he would marry her when she went back to Jakarta. Since Islam forbids interfaith unions between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, Chrisye converted to Islam in 1982 and changed his name to Chrismansyah Rahadi.

At the time, Chrisye had grown increasingly disenchanted and dissatisfied with Christianity.  He wed Yanti in a Padang-style ceremony on December 12, 1982. 

7. He was diagnosed with lung cancer

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Chrisye was reportedly having breathing problems when he was hospitalised at Pondok Indah Hospital in July 2005. In Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where he received treatment for 13 days, lung cancer was discovered.

He endured the first of six rounds of chemotherapy on August 2, 2005, despite being worried about losing his hair, which he thought was a crucial component of his appearance.

8. He was described as a simple man

Aciu Widjaja, the current President-Director of Air Asia, described Chrisye as a straightforward man and remarked that when he, Chrisye, and a few others travelled abroad, Chrisye was the only one who chose not to look for designer clothing or fine dining establishments; instead, he dined at a food court and bought what he felt was comfortable. In his biography, Chrisye noted that he continued to enjoy eating at roadside food stalls. 

9. His kids didn’t want to follow in their footsteps 

Grave of Chrisye by Crisco 1492 from

She gave up singing after he wed Yanti to stay home with the kids. Chrisye tried to spend as much time with the couple’s kids even though he frequently had little time for them due to his busy schedule as a performer or recording artist.

In a 1992 interview, he stated that his children did not want to follow in their parent’s footsteps and become singers since they had witnessed the strains it placed on the family. On February 8, 2020, his wife passed away.

10. Chrisye received numerous awards during his career

The Indonesian Armed Forces chose him as their preferred singer in 1979. His albums Sendiri, Hip Hip Hura, Resesi, Metropolitan, and Sabda Alam all received gold certifications, along with Aku Cinta Dia and Aku Cinta Dia receiving silver certifications.

Chrisye won three BASF Awards for best-selling albums, presented by the BASF cassette production firm. His first was given in 1984 for Sendiri, followed by awards in 1988 and 1989 for Jumpa Pertama and Pergilah Kasih.  He got both the BASF Award for Best Recording Artist and the BASF Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994 for his contributions to Indonesian music. For Best Male Pop Singer in 1997, he was awarded an Anugerah Musik Indonesia.

Chrisye passed away on March 30, 2007, at the age of 57, in his house in Cipete, South Jakarta. Hundreds of people attended his burial, including Indonesian celebrities like his colleague Erwin Gutawa and vocalists Titiek Puspa, Ahmad Albar, Sophia Latjuba, and Ikang Fawzi. He was laid to rest in Jeruk Purut Public Cemetery in South Jakarta.