Zarni Myo Nyunt, , (born on 6 February 1978), better known as R Zarni (, is a Burmese singer. He is best known for

Burmese language Burmese (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Myanmar, where it is the official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar people, Bamar, the country's largest ethnic group. Burmese dialects are a ...

covers of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Asian (

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hon ...

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop ...

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

) pop songs. He won the

Yangon City FM Awards The Yangon City FM Music Awards are annual music awards organised by Yangon City FM, a radio station owned by the Yangon City Development Committee, the city's municipal corporation. The awards ceremony is held at the Myanmar Convention Centr ...

for "Most Popular Male Recording Artist Award" from 2004 to 2010.

Early life

R Zar Ni was born Zarni Myo Nyunt, to Myo Lwin and Kaythwe Nyunt in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. He has a younger brother, Thiha Myo Nyunt, who is an aspiring singer with the stage name of M Thiha. Zarni grew up in

Tamwe Township Tamwe Township (also Tarmwe Township; , ) is located in east central Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 20 wards, and shares borders with Yankin Township in the north, Thingangyun Township and Mingala Taungnyunt Township in the east, Bahan ...

Career

After failing the university matriculation exam, he first tried to become a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

. By accident, he was discovered and become a singer. He began his music career by winning local singing competitions, which led him to pursue music full-time. Early on, he gained popularity covering Western rock bands like

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

and

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

, introducing these sounds to a then-isolated Myanmar. R Zarni achieved widespread fame around 2011, culminating in a sold-out one-man show at

Thuwunna Stadium The Thuwunna Youth Training Center Stadium (), simply known as the Thuwunna Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Yangon, Myanmar. It is the venue of choice for most national and international Association football, football and track and ...

in Yangon. He became a symbol of rock in Myanmar, recognized for his consistently strong vocals and polished live performances. His diverse catalog, particularly his romantic love songs, has maintained his appeal across generations. In 2018, he had contracted to become a judge in the second season of '' The Voice Myanmar''. He served as a judge in season 2 and season 3.

Political activities

Following the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

, R Zar Ni was active in the anti-coup movement both in person at rallies and through social media. He joined the "We Want Justice"

three-finger salute Three-finger salute may refer to: *Three-finger salute (Serbian), a salute used by Serbs * Three-finger salute (Sicilian), a salute used by Sicilian nationalists and separatists * Three-finger salute (pro-democracy), a gesture originally from the H ...

movement. The movement was launched on social media, and many celebrities have joined the movement. On 2 April 2021, warrants for his arrest were issued under section 505 (a) of the

Myanmar Penal Code The Penal Code of Myanmar is the official criminal code of Myanmar. The code was enacted on 1 May 1861 during British rule in Burma and is divided into 23 chapters. The Penal Code of Myanmar is nearly identical to the Indian Penal Code, due to th ...

by the

State Administration Council The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, February 2021 c ...

for speaking out against the military coup. Along with several other celebrities, he was charged with calling for participation in the

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

(CDM) and damaging the state's ability to govern, supporting the

Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (; abbreviated CRPH) is a Burmese legislative body in exile, representing a group of National League for Democracy lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. T ...

, and generally inciting the people to disturb the peace and stability of the nation.

Discography

R Zar Ni has released four solo albums. Most of his recordings were released as part of collaborative albums with various artists. Throughout his career, he has sing more than 60 albums.

Solo albums

* ''Nga-Go Chit-Te-Thu'' (2001) * ''Si Ta-Hpet-Cha'' (2004) * ''A-hseit Tet Einmet'' (2010) * ''Eaint-mat Yin Saunt'' (2016)

Accolades

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width: 101%;" , + , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Recipient(s) and nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" , , - ! rowspan= "9", City FM awards , 2004 , rowspan= "10", R Zarni , rowspan= "2", Most Popular Male Vocalist of the Year , , https://www.ycdc.gov.mm/content.php?page=CityFMsongs . , - , rowspan= "2", 2005 , , , - , Best Selling Stereo Music Album Male Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 2006 , rowspan= "5", Most Popular Male Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 2007 , , , - , 2008 , , , - , 2009 , , , - , 2010 , , , - , 2011 , Best Selling Stereo Music Album Male Vocalist of the Year , , , - ! Shwe FM awards , 2011 , Most Requested Single of the year(Male) , , , -

References

{{Authority control 21st-century Burmese male singers Living people 1978 births Singers from Yangon Burmese pop singers City FM Award winners