Nike Ardilla


Raden Rara Nike Ratnadilla, better known as Nike Ardilla, was an Indonesian singer, actress and model.
Ardilla was instrumental in the return of teen pop rock in the country's music scene, and a dominant presence during the first half of the 1990s. Ardilla died in a car accident at the age of 19 in 1995 during the height of her career and fame. She is generally regarded as one of the most successful figures in Indonesia's entertainment industry, and media regularly refers to the fact that she is the only musician in the country whose death continues to be mourned even after more than 20 years. She has sold 30 million albums to date, and her 1995 album Sandiwara Cinta remains the best-selling Indonesian album of all time.

Early life

Ardilla was born Raden Rara Nike Ratnadilla on 27 December 1975 in Bandung, to parents of Ciamis and Bandung descent. Her father worked for the Indonesian Railway Company, which caused the family to move periodically throughout her childhood. They eventually settled in Bandung where she began performing in talent shows at the age of five, winning a local singing competition in 1980.

Career

Denny Sabri, a talent scout, helped Ardilla sign a record deal with Arista Records. In 1987, she contributed to a compilation album titled Bandung Rock Power, which featured Nicky Astria, Mel Shandy among others. She released her debut album Seberkas Sinar in 1989 when she was only 14. It reached number one on the charts, and has sold over 500,000 copies in Indonesia. The title track stayed at the top of the charts for ten weeks, and the album had further hits with the top-ten ballad "Cinta Pertama", and the top-five song "Tembang Asmara." In the spring of 1990, Ardilla released her second album, Bintang Kehidupan, with a chart-topping title track. The album itself also topped the charts on its debut, selling over 500,000 copies in its first week and setting a new record for single-week sales by a female artist. By 1991, Bintang Kehidupan had sold over two million copies and won two BASF Awards, for Best New Artist and Best Selling Album. She performed the title track at the 1991 Asia Song Festival in Shanghai where she won the "Gold Prize of New Singer."
Her next album Nyalakan Api was released in the autumn of 1990, which earned her a third BASF Award, again for Best Selling Album. Her fourth album Matahariku was released in summer of 1991 and was followed in the autumn of 1992 by Biarlah Aku Mengalah, which was featured on Musik Plus. After winning Best Selling Album consecutively at the 1993 BASF Awards, Ardilla released a greatest hits album, Tinggallah Ku Sendiri . It spawned the hit single "Tinggallah Ku Sendiri". She moved from Billboard Records to Musica Studios for her record Biarkan Cintamu Berlalu, which debuted at number one and earned her the 1994 HDX Best Selling Album award. Her final album, Sandiwara Cinta, was released on 1 March 1995. The single first began airing on the radio in late February. The first version of the Sandiwara Cinta video debuted on TV in late February 1995. A second version of the video was released posthumously in April 1995, featuring Ardilla in the style of her idol Marilyn Monroe. Sandiwara Cinta won HDX Awards for Best Selling Album, Best Single, and Best Video Klip MTV Indonesia.
In addition to singing, Ardilla was also active as an actress and model. In 1986, she joined the cast of the film Kasmaran, starring Ida Iasha and Slamet Rahardjo in which she played the daughter of Iasha's character. In 1988, she recorded a single for the soundtrack of the film Kabayan Saba Kota, in which she made a cameo appearance. Since 1989, she had starred in seven films and eleven soap operas. In 1990, Ardilla won a modelling competition Gadis Sampul and a "Best Model Catwalk" award in the "LA Model Contest" in Bandung two years prior.

Death and legacy

On the night of 18 March 1995, Ardilla met with friends from Aneka-Yess!, a popular teenage magazine, at Jayakarta Hotel Bandung, to discuss the election of the magazine's cover girl and cover boy. The vote was to be held the following day, with her appearing as a guest star at the event. She spent the early hours of the next day with friends and later left a hotel at 05:15 AM to go home with her female companion and bodyguard, Atun Sofiatun. While attempting to overtake another car, she lost control of her Honda Civic Genio and slammed it into a wall in a suburban Bandung street, killing her instantly. Sofiatun, severely injured, was taken to a hospital where she recovered, though with little recollection of the crash. Under Islamic funeral customs, she was buried on the same day in Ciamis, West Java, in the presence of family, friends, fans, reporters as well as thousands of mourners.
Two months after her death, a commemorative concert was held in Bandung with performances from some of Indonesia's best-known artists, proceeds from which went into the establishment of a charity, the Nike Ardilla Foundation. Every year, thousands of fans commemorate her passing by visiting her grave and the Nike Ardilla Museum, which was constructed in her memory. Fan clubs dedicated to her are still running with active members. Hong Kong magazine Asiaweek noted that "in death, her popularity soared." The Indonesian media usually refers to her as the "Lady Rocker." In 1996, Pos Indonesia published commemorative postcards and envelopes, which were sold out within days. In the same year, daily Bandung newspaper Pikiran Rakyat reported the Nike Ardilla stamps issued in Abkhazia and Tuva, Russia. Her posthumous releases, such as albums Mama Aku Ingin Pulang and Suara Hatiku were met with success. In 2013, JK Record released her early unreleased material Hanya Satu Nama, originally recorded in 1988 under the name "Nike Astrina."

Discography

;Studio albums
;Posthumous albums
;Greatest hits albums
;Singles
;Singles released
  1. Gold Prize of New Singer - Asia Song Festival 1991
  2. Anugerah Musik 1994 — Best Indonesian Selling Album in Malaysia
  3. ABU Golden Kite World Song Festival 1994 — Best Performer
  4. Golden Prize Malaysia Music Awards 2005 — Year's Best Compilation Album
  1. TVRI Jakarta 1980 — First Champion
  2. HAPMI 1985 — First Champion, Pop Singing
  3. TERUNA Festival Indonesia, 1986 — Third Winner
  4. 3 Genre Singing Festival, West Java, 1987 — First Champion
  5. Multi-Platinum Award for "Seberkas Sinar", 1989.
  6. BASF Awards 1990 — Best Selling Album
  7. Indonesian Popular Song Festival 1990 — Best Performer
  8. BASF Awards 1991 — Best Selling Album
  9. Multi-Platinum Award for "Matahariku", 1991.
  10. BASF Awards 1992 — Best Selling Album
  11. Multi-Platinum Award for "Tinggallah Ku Sendiri", 1993.
  12. HDX Awards 1994 — Best Selling Album
  13. HDX Awards 1995 — Best Selling Album
  14. HDX Awards 1995 — Biggest Omzet Album
  15. HDX Awards 1996 — Best Selling Album
  16. Music Mingguan Awards ANTeve 1996 — Best Selling Album
  17. HDX Awards 1996 — Best Album
  18. BASF Awards 1996 — Triple-Platinum Album
  19. Multi-Platinum Award — "Panggung Sandiwara", 1997.
  20. Multi-Platinum Award — "Cinta Diantara Kita", 1997.
  21. Multi-Platinum Award — "Ingin Ku Lupakan", 1998.
  22. Multi-Platinum Award — "Belenggu Cinta", 1999.
  23. Multi-Platinum Award — "The Best of Volume II", 2000.
  24. Multi-Platinum Award — "Best Beat", 2002.
  25. Multi-Platinum Award — "Best of The Best", 2004.
  26. Multi-Platinum Award — "Golden Memories", 2005.
  27. Multi-Platinum Award — "11 tahun Nike Ardilla", 2006.
  28. Multi-Platinum Award — "Lagu Pilihan Fans", 2007.
  29. Multi-Platinum Award — "Tinggallah Ku Sendiri", 2008.
  30. Multi-Platinum Award — Number One RBT, 2009.
  31. Triple-Platinum Award — "Koleksi Lenggkap", 2010.
  1. Video Musik Indonesia 1993 — Video Favorite of The Month
  2. Video Musik Indonesia 1994 — Video Favorite of The Month
  3. Video Musik Indonesia 1994 — Video Favorite of The Year
  4. MTV Viewer Choice Indonesia 1997 — Best Female Video
  1. Dunia Bintang SCTV Awards 1995 — Favorite Viewer Artist
  2. Dunia Bintang SCTV Awards 1995 — Favorite Journalist Artist
  3. Highest Second Rating, 2003 — Silet Infotainment, "Nike Ardilla Episode"
  4. SCTV Programme Eko Patrio Show, 2005 — Best Legend
  1. Sahabat Pena Magazine, 1986 — Cover
  2. LA Clerk Model Contest, 1989 — Third Winner
  3. Gadis Sampul 1990 — Favorite
  4. Monitor Magazine, 1990 — Best Performer on TV
  5. Citra Magazine, 1992 — Best Actress
  6. Nyata, 1993 — Most Wanted Actress
  7. Popular Magazine, 1994 — Most Popular Artist
  8. URTV Magazine, 1994 — Favorite Cover
  9. Citra Magazine, 1994 — Most Dedicated and Creative Singer
  10. Citra Magazine, 1995 — Best Female Singer
  11. PT. POS Indonesia, 1996 — Nike Ardilla Stamp and Post Cards Tribute
  12. Nova, 2007 — Best Selling Tabloid, "Nike Ardilla Cover", 2007