The Star of Life That Never Goes Out: The Inspirational Story of Nike Ardilla

 

From: www.discogs.com

The topic I will present to you is how a singer that is much older than me became my idol. She was born in 1975 and I was born in 2007. She’s Raden Rara Nike Ratnadilla Kusnadi or as we know her Nike Ardilla. Why am I presenting this topic? Because I believe she has a strong social spirit, loves to share and has a beautiful voice.

I knew about Nike Ardilla in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when learning was still online. Like today, Gen-Z can study without listening to music. From there, I researched famous musicians from the 90s and found Nike Ardilla. After that, I searched for her most popular song, “Bintang Kehidupan”, which was very popular in the early 1990s. Nike Ardilla’s album, Bintang Kehidupan sold over 6 million copies in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

I began to delve deeper into Nike Ardilla, a story the general public still doesn't know about, according to the biography book entitled A “Sebuah cerita Nike Ardilla”, written by Arief Hafidz when interviewing Nike Ardilla’s second older brother, Alan Yudi, when reporters asked about Nike Ardilla. He recounted how at the age of 14, during the peak of her album "Bintang Kehidupan," Nike developed empathy for children with disabilities. He eventually discussed this with Nike's father and uncle (who at the time was also a teaching staff member at several special needs schools in Bandung). From there, Nike's father learned of a foundation that was about to be reorganized, called the Wawasan Nusantara Foundation. Nike bought the foundation, and Nike became its secretary. From there, Nike constructed a special building for Nike Ardilla's special needs school upon her arrival in Cipamokolan, Bandung. Furthermore, according to Nike Ardilla's former photographer, Eddy Bogel, "if there were beggars on the street, she would stop her car and get out to give them money."

According to kompas.com written by Diva Lufiana Putri on March 19, 1995 at the age of 19, when Nike was driving a Honda Civic car with a plate number D 27 AK, Nike was involved in a single car incident on R.E Martadinata Street in Bandung City and was buried in Ciamis, West Java. The news of her passing brought sorrow to the Indonesian music entertainment world which was broadcasted on TVRI for 3 consecutive months, until now Nike Ardilla left behind a musical legacy that are remembered by the Indonesian people, especially the song “Bintang Kehidupan”. (Britanny River Red)

Sources: Nike Ardilla Sebuah Cerita by Arief Havidz, Wikipedia, Kompas.com (https://share.google/2tqzSTfiNTQVxwCRM)