Malaysian singer Zainalabidin to stage final concert in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Malaysian music veteran Zainalabidin will take the stage at the Esplanade Concert Hall on April 17 for what he says will be his final full-scale concert, bringing down the curtain on a five-decade career that has reshaped the sound and message of Malay pop.

“This Singapore show is my last concert,” the 66-year-old, whose moniker is also spelt Zainal Abidin, tells The Straits Times in a Zoom interview from his home in Kuala Lumpur. “I am not going to do any more big shows.”

The concert, part of the Esplanade’s annual Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts, marks his 50th anniversary in music. It is also his first concert in Singapore since 2019.

While he is stepping away from large solo productions, he is not disappearing entirely. “If I feel like singing, I will sing. If I feel like making a song, I will make one,” he says. “I just need to cool down.”

The singer, who holds the Malaysian honorific Dato’, has had a long and illustrious career that has taken him far beyond his beginnings in Malaysia.

He first rose to fame as lead vocalist of Malaysian rock band Headwind from the late 1970s to the 1980s, then successfully reinvented himself as a solo artiste with a completely different sound that blended Malay folk music with Afro-pop rhythms and global worldbeat influences.

At his peak, his Ikhlas concert in 1992 drew around 45,000 people at Malaysia’s Stadium Merdeka.

He is among a group of Malaysian artistes to achieve meaningful global exposure beyond the region. He toured Japan in the 1990s and collaborated with English music star Phil Collins for Kau Di Hatiku, the Malay edition of You’ll Be In My Heart, the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning song from 1999 Disney animated film Tarzan.

He is also famous for championing environmental awareness and integrating social advocacy into pop songwriting.

Perhaps his biggest achievement is his tendency to build his career by doing things his own way.

“It is not easy to be yourself when creating music,” he says. “Everyone wants you to cater to what he or she likes. But I believe it is not about what people want to hear; it is about the best you can offer.”

That philosophy defined his pivotal decision in the late 1980s to leave Headwind and strike out on his own.

“There was no question of success or failure. For me, it was do or die,” he says. “With Headwind, we were successful, but the music was not my soul. I knew I could offer much more.”

His gamble paid off. In an era where lovelorn rock ballads ruled the airwaves, his 1991 solo debut, featuring the now-iconic track Hijau (Green), broke new ground with its fusion of Malaysian traditional sounds, Afro-Asian influences and socially conscious lyrics.

“People talk about love stories, but my kind of love is for the environment, my parents, my religion and being a good person,” he says. “I don’t believe music should make people sad. Music is a vehicle to uplift people.”

Songs like Hijau, which championed environmental awareness, were initially met with confusion. “Nobody talked about trees, water or the environment,” he says of the early 1990s. “But slowly, the message reached people.”

His career has taken him beyond Malaysia, but one moment stands above the rest.

“The peak of my career was performing in Rome with Andrea Bocelli,” he says of the 2018 Music For Mercy concert in Vatican City with the Italian tenor. “It was broadcast to more than 180 countries. That was something really big for me.”

He has a special affection for Singapore audiences, whom he describes as uniquely appreciative.

“In Malaysia, people see me all the time. But in Singapore, the appreciation for the arts is higher,” he says. “Singaporeans value it more and they treat me like a friend.”

That connection is one reason he chose to stage his farewell concert here.

At the Pesta Raya show, he promises not nostalgia, but reinvention. Backed by a big band led by Malaysian jazz pianist Michael Veerapen, he will perform his hit songs in new arrangements, alongside songs by artistes who inspired him, ranging from British singer Sting to American singer Stevie Wonder.

“We will go towards more progressive music, more jazz,” he says. “Old songs will come with new arrangements. There will be a lot of difference.

“I make sure that from the first minute to the end, you will be entertained.”

Book It/Dato’ Zainalabidin – 50th Anniversary Concert

Where: Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive
When: April 17, 8pm
Admission: From $34 via Sistic (go to www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555)