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Anggun Cipta Sasmi
 Birth
name: Anggun Cipta Sasmi
Date of Birth: April 29, 1974
Place of Birth: Jakarta, Indonesia
Anggun is a popular Indonesian singer. Her name means "Grace born
out of a dream".
At a young age, Anggun decided to become an entertainer like her father,
Darto Singo. During her early years, she was influenced with rock sound
by listening to native Javanese artists and the rock & roll icon,
Elvis Presley. Dancing, singing and piano became her natural means of
expression, and the stage an extension of her playgrounds. She was educated
in Catholic schools because her father wanted Anggun to have high quality
education, and for her to learn to respect other religion. Anggun began
performing at age 7 and recorded her first album two years later. By the
time Anggun was 17, she was a successful national rock star.
Anggun began to feel unsatisfied with her success in Asia and at 19, she
left Indonesia in hopes of breaking through in the European music charts.
Anggun moved first to London, then moved to Paris, France where Anggun
met music producer Erick Benzi. Benzi was quite impressed by Anggun's
talent and immediately offered to work with her on her new album. Benzi
persuaded Anggun to move away from her original rock influences and experiment
with more sensual and romantic sound. Anggun's smooth new style would
prove an immediate success in France. Her first French album, Au Nom de
la Lune not only skyrocketed Anggun to fame in France, the album was also
a major hit in her native country, Indonesia. The first fruit of this
new life was “Au nom de la Lune” (the title of the international
version was “Snow On The Sahara”), released in 1998. Her second
album, “Désirs Contraires” (international version “Chrysalis”)
came in 2000. Both were silken showcases for the singer’s voluptuous
sensitivity. She scored a significant success in France with “La
Neige Au Sahara” (the most widely-played single on the radio in 1998)
and a Double Gold for the album.
The first album was certified Triple Platinum Export (more than 900,000
copies sold), Double Platinum in Italy, Gold in France, Gold in Switzerland,
Gold in Singapore, Gold in Finland, Platinum in Malaysia, Triple Platinum
in Indonesia, etc. The album even entered the Billboard HeatSeekers Charts
Top 20 in the USA! The single “Snow On The Sahara” (the English
version of “La Neige au Sahara”) was certified Gold Export,
reaching No. 1 in Italy, No. 1 in Spain, No. 5 in the UK Club Charts,
etc.
In 1998, Anggun toured in the Lilith Fair with Sarah McLachlan and other
musicians. And in 2000, Anggun received an invitation from the Vatican
asking her to perform at a Christmas concert where she sang her rendition
of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" for the Pope, John
Paul II.
Anggun Cipta Sasmi's second album, Desirs Contraires(in French), was also
a major success, certified Platinum Export. It went Gold in Italy in just
a week! The first single reached the Top 5 in Europe.
In certain Asian countries, her new life as a French citizen encouraged
many young people to learn French, especially in her native Indonesia.
Her success – not purely commercial, but cultural too – naturally
won Anggun recognition at the Midem 2003 in January. In the presence of
Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister of Culture, she received a Diamond Record
for her sales outside France.
In 2005 a new album, titled Luminescence, was released. The difference
of this album compared with the previous ones is that both the French
and English version share the same title. Anggun's first single from the
French album is Être Une Femme.
Anggun is also the ambassador of Switzerland’s watch Audemars Piguet
and the spokesperson of UN’s Microcredit Program.
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