Maia Estianty

Who is Maia Estianty?

Maia Estianty, known as Maia Ahmad during her marriage to Dewa 19 frontman Ahmad Dhani, is an Indonesian songwriter, music producer, singer, dancer and actress.

Estianty was born in Surabaya, East Java, and showed interest in music at an early age, winning a marching band competition while still in elementary school. She began training as a disc jockey while still in junior high school; it was around this time that she first met Dhani. After studying at the University of Indonesia, Estianty joined Dewa 19 as a backing vocalist. In 1999, she and Dhani came up with the idea for the musical duo Ratu. Estianty played the music, while other women – first Pinkan Mambo, then Mulan Jameela – sang. Ratu was highly successful. After the dissolution of the band in 2007 and a bitter divorce in September 2008, Estianty formed Duo Maia with Mey Chan. She is currently focusing on producing music with her label, Le Moesik.