Ani Zonneveld | |
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Born | Zuriani binti Abdul Khalid October 26, 1962 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1990–present |
Website | anizonneveld |
Ani Zonneveld (born 1962) is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, activist, and writer based in Los Angeles. She has released three original albums, produced music for other artists, and participated in the writing of Grammy-winning songs. She is the first Malaysian person to have won a Grammy.
She is the president and founder of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), a nonprofit organization in the United States with affiliates in Canada, Europe, Chile, Australia, and Malaysia creating inclusive communities that welcome and support interfaith marriages, gay marriages, gender & sexual minorities, as well as sectarian minorities. [1]
Zonneveld is also the editor, along with Vanessa Karam and Olivia Samad, of Progressive Muslim Identities: Personal Stories from the U.S. and Canada, a 2011 anthology that features a diverse groups of progressive Muslims, with a foreword by Aasif Mandvi, published in the United States by Oracle Releasing. [2]
Ani Zonneveld was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, along with five other siblings, and was raised in Germany, Egypt, and India as the daughter of a Malaysian ambassador and a stay-at-home mother. In 1981, she moved to the United States, where she studied economics and political science. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a musician instead of following in her father's footsteps.[ citation needed ]
As a musician, songwriter, and producer, Zonneveld has had a bustling career that has included producing several pop songs for singer Ziana Zain, as well as composing pop tracks for Fauziah Latiff, Aishah, and vocal boy band Kool in Malaysia. She has collaborated with singer Siti Nurhaliza, for which she won several awards at the Anugerah Industri Muzik, including Album of the Year twice with Siti's Adiwarna (1998) and E.M.A.S (2003). She is also a three-time finalist of Anugerah Juara Lagu, a local song competition, through her collaboration with Kool (in 1997 for "Cemburu" and 1998 for "Satu Arah) and Siti (2003, "Ku Milikmu").
In Hollywood, Zonneveld's collaborations with Keb Mo' earned her a Grammy award, becoming the first Malaysian ever to be nominated and to win this accolade. After the September 11 attacks in the United States, her religion became a strong part of her identity, leading to writing and producing spiritual-themed music, including an album titled Ummah Wake-Up, in which she sings the praise of Islam while encouraging Muslims to rise up for progressive causes. She also began performing at various interfaith organizational events in an effort to raise awareness of Islam as a religion of peace.
A few years later, Zonneveld joined other concerned Muslims of a progressive background as a board member of Progressive Muslim Union of North America (PMU), launched on November 15, 2004, in New York City. Before disbanding in 2006, the group met with controversy when in 2005 they supported a public woman-led prayer in New York City, raising a global uproar. [3]
In July 2007 at Sarah Lawrence College, New York, Zonneveld spearheaded the founding of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV). Since its founding, Zonneveld has presided over the expansion of MPV into several chapters across the United States, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Australia, and Malaysia, and helped it secure a consultative status at the United Nations. The organization's successes include "Literary Zikr", a project that turns scholarly works into everyday language aimed at youth and the general public; and "Progressive Muslim Identities", an anthology highlighting personal struggles of progressive Muslims in the United States and Canada, including women of interfaith marriages, LGBT Muslims, and other minorities. [1]
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The Progressive Muslim Union of North America (PMU) was a liberal Islamic organization. The group officially launched on November 15, 2004, in Manhattan but was disbanded in December 2006.
The Progressive Muslim Union (PMU) is the result of almost two years of conversation and collaboration between a group of North American Muslims who are committed to representing and renewing our community in all its social, ideological and political diversity. PMU members range from deeply religious to totally secular, sharing in common a commitment to learning, political and social empowerment, a commitment to justice and freedom and a concern and love for the Muslim community.
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Dato' Sri Hajah Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman with more than 300 local and international awards. She made her debut after she won a local singing competition show, Bintang HMI in 1995 when she was 16. Her debut single, Jerat Percintaan, won the 11th Anugerah Juara Lagu and another two awards for Best Performance and Best Ballad. Her debut album as of 2005 has sold more than 800,000 units in Malaysia. She has recorded and sung in multiple languages, including Malaysian, Javanese, English, Arabic, Japanese, and Mandarin.
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Anugerah Juara Lagu, commonly known by the acronym AJL, is a popular annual music competition in Malaysia, organised by TV3 since 1986. It features the best musical and lyrical compositions of each year it is held. Nominees are derived from a list of mostly Malay-language songs which have garnered the most public votes in Muzik Muzik throughout the year, and then progress into the semifinals, from which twelve songs will be nominated by a panel of judges to become the winner of Juara Lagu.
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Ummu Shaikhah Stacy binti Anam, known professionally by the mononym Stacy, is a Malaysian singer, songwriter and producer who rose to fame after winning the sixth season of Akademi Fantasia, receiving 43% of over 3.8 million votes. Her debut album, Aku Stacy, was released on 9 March 2009. She also known as the Dancing Queen of Malaysia. As a composer and lyricist, she is known as Bunga Cantik.
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Shazrina binti Azman, also known as Mizz Nina, is a Malaysian fashion designer, motivational speaker, television personality, humanitarian, and co-founder of Dopstv, an Islamic lifestyle channel. She first earned renown as a musician, singer-songwriter, rapper, and dancer, but has since retired to focus on her fashion career and humanitarian work.
Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) is a grassroots human rights organization founded and incorporated by Zuriana (Ani) Zonneveld and Pamela K. Taylor in 2007. Headquartered in Los Angeles California, MPV has regional offices in Malaysia, the Netherlands as well as various other countries under different names such as Universal Muslim Community. It also has separate networks in Bangladesh, Canada, France, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia & throughout the U.S.
Siti Musdah Mulia is an Indonesian women's rights activist and professor of religion. She was the first woman appointed as a research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and is currently a lecturer of Islamic political thought at the School of Graduate Studies at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University. Since 2007, Musdah has served as chairperson of the NGO Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, which aims to promote interfaith dialogue in Indonesia. She also served as director of the Megawati Institute, a think-tank established by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
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