Nicky Astria

Who is Nicky Astria?

Nastiti Karja Dewi, better known by her stage name Nicky Astria, is an Indonesian musician.

Born in Bandung, West Java, to a schoolteacher and his musician wife, Astria began singing in 1975 while the family was stationed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After several years of participating in festivals and taking vocal training, in 1984 Astria was signed to AMK Records. Although her first album flopped, she found success with her second and third albums, Jarum Neraka and Tangan-Tangan Setan.

Bruce Emond of The Jakarta Post described her as "one of the biggest [Indonesian] music stars of the late 1980s", while guitarist-cum-songwriter Ian Antono called her "the best female pop rock singer Indonesia has ever seen". Two of her songs, "Jarum Neraka" and "Tangan-Tangan Setan", were listed as among the best Indonesian songs of all time by Rolling Stone Indonesia in 2009