Puan Sri Datin Amar Salmah binti Ismail or better known as Saloma was born on 22 January 1935 at Pasir Panjang Singapore and was a Singaporean-Malaysian film actress and singer who became famous in late 50's until early 80's.
She was the third wife of the film actor, director, singer, and songwriter, Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Saloma began singing at the age of seven and was a professional singer by the time she was in her teens.
As a singer, she sharpened her talents with Orkes Fajar Murni, led by Yusof Osman, early in her career. She was also involved with another orchestra Panca Sitara in the 1960s.
Apart from her artistry, Saloma was also famous as a screen beauty: her hourglass figure, magnificent hairdos and iconic kebaya dresses were copied by young ladies of the 60's.Saloma's voice is best described by the Malay adage lemak merdu (literally meaning fat-melodious), a term connotating a sensuous honey-thick flow of sound with a lot of overtones.
Although capable of perfectly executed high notes, usually her songs employed her middle voice, which was a creamy mezzo-soprano capable of transcending such genres as jazz, cha-cha, pop, and traditional Malay folk. Saloma died on 25 April 1983 at Assunta Hospital, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. She was buried next to her husband, P. Ramlee at Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur.
