Anggun Cipta Sasmi is an Indonesian-French singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born in Jakarta, she began performing at the age of seven and recorded a children's album two years later. She rose to fame in 1989 as a teenage rock star and by 1993 she had released five Indonesian-language studio albums. Rolling Stone listed her single "Mimpi" as one of the 150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time.

Anggun possesses a three-octave contralto voice, which has been described as "husky", "soulful", and "distinctive" by music critics. Chuck Taylor from Billboard commented: "Vocally, Anggun is a fortress of power, easing from a delicate whisper into a brand of cloud-parting fortitude commonly associated with grade-A divas." John Everson from The SouthtownStar noted that "Anggun is gifted with a warm, full voice that can tackle slight pop songs without overpowering them as well as swoop with depth and ease over heavier emotional numbers." Anggun received her first songwriting credit at the age of twelve on her debut album Dunia Aku Punya (1986). Anggun said, "I was writing songs all the time, but my specialty was classical piano and singing."

At the same time she notes that she is not inclined to have a rigid point of view about religion and tends more and more to Buddhism without, in essence, breaking with religious belief. In recognising her disposition to Buddhism, Anggun stresses that her transition to another religious stance should not be a concern of other people. She makes it a requirement to admit religious toleration and insists on a separation of religious faith from the basic regulative principle for the individual: