Nike Ardilla

Raden Rara Nike Ratnadilla (27 December 1975 – 19 March 1995), better known as Nike Ardilla, was an Indonesian singer, actress, model, and philanthropist of Sundanese descent.

Raden Rara Nike Ratnadilla was born on 27 December, 1975 in Bandung, West Java, the youngest child of three siblings of Raden Edi Kusnadi and Nining Ningsihrat.

She had Dutch and German ancestry from her maternal grandmother, who was descended from the Geesdorf family.

Her father worked for the Indonesian Railway Company (PT Kereta Api Indonesia), 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.

Denny Sabri, a talent scout, helped Ardilla sign a record deal with Arista Records.

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 1987, she contributed to a compilation album titled Bandung Rock Power, which featured Nicky Astria, Mel Shandy, and among others.

In 1988, she starred in one of the best-selling regional film series, Si Kabayan for which she recorded a single for the soundtrack of the film.

When Ardilla was 13, she released her debut album, Seberkas Sinar in 1989, which she managed to finish recording within a day.

It reached number one in the charts, and sold over 1 million copies within a year.

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."

Usually referred to as the Lady Rocker and the Queen of Rock by the Indonesian media, Ardilla was instrumental in the return of teen pop rock to the country's music scene and had a dominant presence during the first half of the 1990s.

Ardilla has sold more than 30 million albums to date, making her the best-selling Indonesian artist in history and her 1990 album Bintang Kehidupan which has sold over 6 million copies in Southeast Asia, holds the title of being the best-selling Indonesian album of all time.

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.

Her next album Nyalakan Api was released in the autumn of 1990, which earned her a third BASF Award, again for Best Selling Album.

In 1990, Nike starred as the main character in the movie Ricky Nakalnya Anak Muda with actor Ryan Hidayat which became a box office hit.

Nike continued to produce successful films throughout the period of the late 80s to early 90s.

She was also successful in several soap operas, including NONE, one of the highly rated soap operas directed by Putu Wijaya.

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.

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 fourth album, Matahariku was released in the summer of 1991 and was followed in the spring 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 the greatest hits album, Tinggallah Ku Sendiri (The Best Of).

It spawned the hit single "Tinggallah Kusendiri".

She moved from Billboard Records (now EMI) to Musica Studios for her record Biarkan Cintamu Berlalu, which debuted at number one and earned her the 1994 HDX Best Selling Album award.

At the height of her career and fame in 1995, she was involved in a traffic incident that took her life at the age of 19.

Her death prompted an outpouring of nationwide grief.

The 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 25 years, and hailed by many as one of the most successful figures in Indonesia's entertainment industry.

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 (Deru Debu), and Best Video Klip MTV Indonesia.

In addition to singing, Ardilla was also active as an actress and model.

On the night of 18 March 1995, Ardilla met with friends from Aneka-Yess!, a popular teenage magazine, at the 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.