Nike Ardilla

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,[4] and hailed by many as one of the most successful figures in Indonesia's entertainment industry.

Her father worked for the Indonesian Railway Company (PT Kereta Api Indonesia), which caused the family to move periodically throughout her childhood.

[8] When Nike was 13 years old—influenced by Aretha Franklin, Marianne Faithfull, Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Marilyn Monroe and Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA—she released her debut album, Seberkas Sinar in 1989, which she managed to complete in one day.

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."

Sandiwara Cinta won HDX Awards for Best Selling Album, Best Single (Deru Debu), and Best Video Klip MTV Indonesia.

[11] 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.

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.

[3] Nike was buried on the same day (per Islamic funeral customs[3]) in Ciamis, West Java, in the presence of family, friends, fans, reporters as well as tens of thousands of mourners.

[3][‡ 1] 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.

[3] In the same year, daily Bandung newspaper Pikiran Rakyat reported the Nike Ardilla stamps issued in Abkhazia and Tuva, Russia.

[4] Wendi Putranto, a music observer, described Ardilla as a female version of Elvis Presley with a "cult status" in Indonesian pop culture.

[4] George Quinn, the Dean of the Asian Studies Faculty of the Australian National University, Canberra, conducted research in 2007 on the Javanese pilgrimage.