Early life and career Astria was born on 18 October 1967, in
Bandung to Tatang Kosasih Wirahadimaja, a schoolteacher, and Andrina Heryati, a traditional musician; she was the couple's only daughter and fourth of five children. Astria was known as a
tomboy in her youth. In 1972, her father was sent to head the Indonesian school at the Indonesian embassy in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Astria, although of the age to begin
kindergarten, was enrolled in the first grade. She reportedly had trouble initially, as her family spoke
Sundanese at home, and thus she had difficulty understanding the
Indonesian-language lessons. Astria sang in public for the first time at
Independence Day ceremonies on 17 August 1975. When this was received well, she began singing at different formal occasions, by request of her father. The family returned to Bandung in 1975, and Astria enrolled at Halimun Public Elementary School. She continued to perform and receive vocal coaching, and by the end of elementary school had already competed in the Children's Pop Singing Festival (). While still at State Junior High School 13 – where she was caught several times skipping school and not paying her school fees – Astria competed in the Teenage Pop Singing Festival (). Although she intended to be a singer, her father wanted her to find another occupation. In 1981, Wirahadimaja died. On his deathbed, he gave Astria his blessings for her to become a singer; she had just received her first
honorarium for performing,
Rp. 25,000 for performing
Ahmad Albar's "Balada Sejuta Wajah" ("Ballad of A Million Faces"). Her father's death left her family financially destitute, which led to Astria moving to her grandmother's house. She gave her first rock performance with the Ronners at the Rally Rock Jakarta-Bandung in
Jakarta.
Professional career In 1984, Astria was signed to AMK Records; to be more commercial, she adopted the
stage name Nicky Astria. She soon released
Semua dari Cinta (
Everything from Love), which featured songs by Tarida Hutauruk and Jelly Tobing. The album, which had somewhat
pop sound, was poorly received. She was later introduced to several prominent musical figures, including guitarist-cum-songwriter
Ian Antono, who served as producer and helped her further her career. She was managed by her brother Bucky for the first several years of her career. Astria second album,
Jarum Neraka (
Pin from Hell), was released in 1985. It had more of a rock feel and sold over 350,000 copies, making it the first Indonesian rock album to do so. It was followed by
Tangan-Tangan Setan (
Hands of Satan), also in 1985; this third album brought her mainstream success. Astria's success led to numerous new female rockers entering the industry, after three previous female rockers had left several years earlier. Although her elder brother Dicky insisted she attend university, Astria focused on her musical career. Every year from 1985 to 1987, Astria won the BASF Award for Best Female Rock Singer. In the late 1980s Astria toured with fellow female rockers
Nike Ardilla and
Anggun, often sharing a room despite the press depicting them as rivals. Astria performed in the
Tokyo Music Festival in 1988, singing one of her songs and participating in a rendition of the Japanese-language song "Hana". In 1989, Astria released a
rearranged version of "Jarum Neraka", the titular song of her second album. Towards the end of the 1980s, she acted in
Biarkan Aku Cemburu (
Let Me Be Jealous), after being invited by her neighbour Eddy D. Iskandar. In 1999, Astria recorded a duet with
Chrisye, entitled "Khayalku" ("My Imagination"), for the rearranged version of the 1977 album
Badai Pasti Berlalu. In 2001, she was one of four musicians who established the Bandung School of Higher Musical Learning (), which teaches both music and business aspects of the music industry. Two years later, during a promotional tour for her recent album
Maafkan (
Forgive), a fan was killed in a fight at a concert in
Cirebon. ==Legacy==