Songbird Siti hits right note across the world
DATIN SITI NURHALIZA, renowned as the Malaysian Songbird, is one of the nation’s most recognisable celebrities, with fans all over the world.
Since her debut in 1996, she has released 16 Malaylanguage albums and one English-language album, and performed for audiences in Indonesia, Brunei, the UK and Australia.
The 40-year-old won the Anugerah Industri Muzik award for best vocal performance 13 times, a record no other artiste has ever beaten.
She has also recorded duets and shared the stage with a number of international artistes, including her longtime friend and Indonesian diva Krisdayanti, US singersongwriter Babyface, and fellow Malaysian singers Faizal Tahir, Noraniza Idris, Judika and Joe Flizzow.
Her vocals have also been featured on tracks by other artistes, including British singer-songwriter Sami Yusuf, who featured her on his 2012 track You Came To Me, saying at the time: “Siti not only has a good voice, but also has an interesting personality.”
Filipina singer Lea Salonga, who is recognised for her prolific career in Broadway musical theatre and for providing singing voices to a number of Disney animated film characters, is known to be a fan of Siti, and even performed a track by her during a Kuala Lumpur stop of her world tour in 2010.
Siti’s music has also been covered by a number of international artistes.
Most notably, Chinese singer Chien Bai Hui released a Mandarin-language version of Siti’s song Cindai in 2010, and Australian boyband North performed an English version of Siti’s Aku Cinta Padamu in 2004.
Siti has also built herself a multi-million ringgit cosmetics empire with her brand SimplySiti, which she established in 2010.
The company has a range of cosmetics and skincare products which are wildly popular among beauty enthusiasts around the region.
However, all these accolades pale in comparison to her greatest achievement: becoming a mother in March 2018 to her daughter Siti Aafiyah, whom she has with husband Datuk Khalid Mohd Kiwa.
Today, Siti successfully balances motherhood, her music career and her beauty business with strength and grace, proving herself a superwoman in every sense of the word.