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Many Malaysians know Malaysia’s indie queen-turned-international music star Yunalis Mat Zara’ai, better known by her stage name Yuna.

She set a new bar for female artists here when she signed with a US-based record label which catapulted her career to new heights, even clinching collaborations with other big names in music such as Usher and Jhene Aiko. Today, Yuna has earned a multitude of accolades for her talents and success.

But, she wasn’t the first female artist from here to be recognised by the west.

There was another female artist before Yuna who made it big in New Zealand, America, and the world

There’s always an otai to another otai (an older, more experienced person), and to most Malaysians who were teens in the early 2000s, they might see Yuna as the OG female musician from Malaysia breaking out into the western market.

However, those who were going through their puberty in the late 80s and early 90s will remember a singer who dropped toe-tapping pop tunes such as Sensation and Paradise.

Datuk Wan Aishah Wan Ariffin, otherwise known as Aishah, was the lead vocalist of The Fan Club, a band that came out of New Zealand in the late 1980s.

Aishah was studying in New Zealand at the time when she was spotted by some of the band members, who asked her to join them.

In 1988, the band released Sensation, their first album. Three songs from the album became top 20 singles in the New Zealand and Malaysian charts at the time.

The hit songs were Sensation, Paradise, and Call Me.

By 1990, The Fan Club’s songs had received significant airplay on major US Top 40 stations.

In recognition of their success, the band was awarded International Artist of the Year at the 1991 New Zealand Music Awards.

@karishmarahim19 #fanclub #aishah #80s #90s ♬ bunyi asal – K A R I S H M A RAHIM

The Fan Club’s guitarist settled down in Malaysia, and is still here today

The band broke up in 1993 and Aishah continued a solo music career, while the rest of the band returned to New Zealand except for the band’s guitarist, who some of you might be familiar with.

Paul Raymond Moss, or Paul Moss, returned to Malaysia in 1995 and formed a music company called Positive Tone under the EMI record label together with Malaysian film and music producer Datuk Izham Omar (the current CEO of television channel 8TV).

At Positive Tone, he has produced a number of gold and platinum releases as well as Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) winners with local groups such as OAG and Innuendo.

For those of you who followed the popular talent programme Malaysian Idol closely, you’ll remember Moss as one of the judges alongside music producer Roslan Abdul Aziz and veteran singer Fauziah Latiff.

Moss went on to become media network giant Media Prima’s media portals general manager.

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Back In The 80s, This Malaysian Singer Went International With Her NZ Band