BAZAAR Women of the Year 2026: Meet Zee Avi

Growing up, Zee Avi spun The Beatles, Bob Marley, and The Carpenters on repeat, harmonising with her mom and discovering that music was her true love language. “I think what drew me to music was the feeling of being able to express something without having to explain it.” Now, she blends those timeless influences with her own contemporary flair, creating melodies that tell her story without words.

​As we settled in for a chat, Zee Avi looked back on dreams that once seemed just beyond her grasp. Her journey was no cinematic fairytale. She was a girl pouring her thoughts into diary pages, recording songs in her bedroom, and uploading them to YouTube with no grand plan—just the thrill of sharing, her identity tucked away. “There were years of learning, failing, starting again, making mistakes, figuring out who I was and what kind of artist I wanted to be.” The path was anything but smooth. “There is so much invisible work behind a life that looks effortless from the outside.” Yet she kept writing, performing, and relishing the adventure. Even as she explored new passions, music always called her back. “Eventually I realised that if I didn’t give it a real chance, I would probably spend the rest of my life wondering what might have happened,” she said. “So I took the leap before I felt ready.” That leap transformed everything. Zee Avi carved out her own corner in the music world and inspired others to chase their dreams with courage.

Zee Avi didn’t have a clear blueprint, but she was lucky to be surrounded by people who recognised her calling. “I think they could see that it wasn’t a phase. I wasn’t chasing fame. I just really loved making music, and I knew I would regret not finding out where that love could take me.” Throughout her journey, Zee Avi explored every corner of the industry, even when the outcome was uncertain. Even when doubts clouded her mind, she stood tall. “There have definitely been moments when I felt I had to work harder to be taken seriously, and being a woman can be a double-edged sword,” she said. “But the beautiful thing about being a woman in the industry is also using your feminine intuition and wisdom to navigate through it all.” She discovered that constantly trying to prove herself was a trap, so she let her music and growth speak for her. “I don’t need everyone to understand me, and I don’t need to make myself smaller or louder to belong.”

So, she thrived on changing direction, discovering new layers and bursts of inspiration each time she reinvents her creative journey.“I think you’re figuring out who you are in your twenties; you’re charging through and making mistakes, but you’re up for the chaos and the ride of it,” she mused. With artists and influences swirling around her, finding her place was often confusing. “Now I’ve landed in my thirties, I feel much more certain about who I want to be, who I am. I think it’s lovely to be always questioning.” In her youth, she tried to add more, eager to prove herself—a hard lesson to learn. Over time, she’s embraced her many versions, delighting in the freedom to explore new directions instead of sticking to one path. Finding her voice was once a struggle, but now she welcomes all her influences and values simplicity and authenticity above all. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised that sometimes one beautiful note, one honest lyric or even a moment of silence can say much more.” She added: “I think we sometimes forget that the self is always a work in progress. We’re constantly changing, learning, unlearning and becoming.”

With a collection of accolades and wisdom beyond her years, we couldn’t resist asking: where does her inspiration come from? “Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes it’s a melody. Sometimes it’s just a sentence of a feeling I can’t quite explain,” she explained. Ever observant, she gathers fragments from the world around her—conversations, memories, silence, photography, nature, people, places, films, and books—tucking them away in her mind. Zee Avi’s songwriting often begins with her own experiences. “I don’t think a song has to be literally autobiographical to be emotionally true, with a little bit of poetic license,” she said. She added: “For me, a song’s truth is in the emotion, not necessarily the facts.” Whether she’s spinning a story from her imagination or drawing from something she’s witnessed, she steps into those shoes, letting empathy spark her creativity. That’s where the magic begins. “Once I release a song, I actually love that it stops belonging entirely to me. It becomes part of someone else’s story too,” she said. For Zee Avi, it’s not about being fully understood; it’s about letting her music weave into someone else’s life.

Beyond music, we asked what Zee Avi dreams of pursuing, and her answer was boundless. “I want to become more myself, whoever that will be minutes, days or years from now. I want to keep learning, unlearning, and understanding myself while building a life and community that feels generous, creative, and supportive,” she said. Her next goal isn’t about songs or accolades. She hopes to create something that endures, even just a little. After years focused on her own journey, her vision now stretches outward: she imagines a space for women in the creative industries, a place where ideas flow freely, knowledge is shared openly, and ambition is celebrated, not hidden. “I think women are incredibly powerful when we stop seeing each other as competition and start seeing each other as community.” Zee Avi knows the value of having the right support, and she wants to offer that to others, especially women still searching for their voices and their place. If she can make the path less lonely, more collaborative, and more open for those who follow, she believes it will mean more than any award. “I don’t have a very rigid five-year picture anymore because I’ve learned that life can change so quickly,” she said.

On the music front, Zee Avi’s journey is brimming with promise. She plans to keep creating with Zee Avi & The Good Things, diving deeper into songwriting and collaboration, and nurturing projects that foster a vibrant creative community. A new chapter awaits with Sony Music Publishing in Indonesia, a step she welcomes with genuine excitement. She is also passionate about championing hearing health, a topic she feels the music industry has overlooked for too long. “We spend our lives surrounded by sound,” she observed, yet people still shy away from talking about the very sense that sustains their work. As a musician who wears hearing aids, she feels a special responsibility to speak openly about protecting something so vital to her art. If her candour helps even one person avoid the shame of getting their hearing checked, or the isolation of wearing hearing aids, she believes it will have been worth it. “If I can have both a meaningful creative life and a meaningful personal life, I’ll be very happy and content.