Dato' Ahmad Azhar bin Othman, better known by his stage name Awie, is an awards winning Malaysian singer, actor and host. Having a phenomenal success in the 1990s, He has been dubbed as King Of Rock Malaysia. Born in Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, Awie music career start in 1985 with a rock band called Wings which he became a lead vocal at age 17. Their First Studio Album Released in 1987 called Belenggu Irama that sold around 180,000 units which at the time is pretty impressive for a young newcomer and thus hit an instant fame. After Belenggu Irama, He records another four hit albums with Wings in 5-year span between 1988 and 1993. Awie ventured into Acting and starred in Pemburu Bayang alongside the future Queen Of Rock Ella in 1993. Awie then starred in many movies in the 1990s and became one of the best Malaysian male actors at that time. While Wings is at the very peak of its career, Awie had a disagreement with then Wings manager Ali Bakar and left the group in 1993. As a solo artist, Awie became one of the best selling artist in Malaysia and became a millionaire in 1995. Awie career slow down in early 2000s but still appeared in many movies that is mainly comedy base movies. In that period of time Awie joined back with Wings to record two more albums and became one of few artist in Malaysia to record studio albums in four different decades. Awie is still very active and has been in the Entertainment Industry for 35 year and still counting. In 2017, Awie has been given Knight Companion The Esteemed Order of the Crown of Pahang that carries the title Dato' by Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah. Now, he is called Dato' Ahmad Azhar Bin Othman or Dato' Awie.
Career
Early Involvement
At the early age of 17, Awie worked at Panggung Anniversary, Kuala Lumpur. His work enabled him to accompany several popular rock bands at the time such as Search, Bloodshed, Ella & The Boys, Sweet Charity.
Wings
Awie started his music career in Kuala Lumpur in 1985, fronting the Malaysian rock band Wings, which had an original line-up of Black, Syam, Eddie and Awie. They debuted with the albumBelenggu Irama. Their subsequent album Hukum Karma features successful singles "Misteri Mimpi Syakilla" and "Taman Rashidah Utama". Various albums followed, including Teori Domino, Jerangkung Dalam Almari and Bazooka Penaka. A number of Wings's hits are composed by singer-songwriter M. Nasir. Awie left the band in 1993 after reported disagreements with Ali Bakar, and pursued a career as a solo artist and actor. He re-joined Wings in 2002 after lukewarm fan response to his replacements Mus and Mel. The band is still active. Their recent concert appearances and recordings include Wings Alive 2006 and Wings Live in KL 1991. On top of that, Awie had joined the band Samudera Astana.
Solo career
During his departure from Wings in 1993, Awie recorded his first solo album called Awie which sold around 220,000 units, a record for the highest selling album for male solo artist in Malaysia to date. Followed by couples of successful Albums such as Awie Unplugged, O-Tak and Satu. His compilation albumBest Of Awie sold around 300,000 to 600,000 units.
Film career
Awie began his acting career in 1992 with the film Pemburu Bayang. Other locally-successful films followed, the more prominent ones being Bara and the Sembilu series. Recently Awie has concentrated on comedic roles.
Personal life
Awie was engaged toErra Fazira, his co-star in Sembilu. Due to reported infidelity, the engagement was called off. Months later, he was caught by several Islamic law enforcers in a hotel room with Arni Nazira, his co-star in Nafas Cinta. Their obligated marriage produced two daughters. In October 2006, his ex-wife Arni Nazira filed for divorce after 8 years of marriage. The reason for the divorce is claimed to be due to Awie's marriage to Rozana Misbun in a secret ceremony in southern Thailand. Awie married again in 2016 with Sharifah Ladyana Syed Samsuddin at Songkhla, Thailand.
