Sheila Majid

Sheila Majid quickly established herself among the leading figures in Malaysian music thanks to her ultra-sensual vocals and uplifting musical approach. Almost immediately upon its 1985 release, her debut album Dimensi Baru (New Dimension) attained gold status. Her fourth album, Lagende (Legend), appeared in 1990 and surpassed triple platinum. In 1995 the duet “Jentayu” with Malaysian vocalist Nora earned awards for Best Vocal Performance in a Group and Best Song of the Year. Majid’s ascent began in 1982 after producer Roslan Aziz heard her sing informally at a birthday party held at the Raintree Club in Kuala Lumpur and invited her to audition. At that session she performed her original composition “You Should Know By Now,” prompting Aziz to offer a recording contract even though he had no label affiliation at the time. The pair subsequently married. Aziz personally covered the costs of recording Dimensi Baru and spent two years searching for a company willing to issue the project, which was repeatedly turned down for being “too much light jazz and R&B.” EMI finally agreed to release it in 1985, and the album became an instant success. Her second album, Emosi (Emotion), followed in 1986 and matched that achievement. With the arrival of her third album, Warna (Colors), in 1987, Majid became the first Malaysian artist to issue a CD. Beyond her superstar status at home, she developed a substantial audience in Japan, where the 1993 album Wanita (Woman) appeared exclusively, presenting tracks that had not previously been available there.