Singing career

​Sudirman was known by peoples and started to become a public figure  after he won the Bintang RTM singing contest in 1976. His unique talents had helped him to win many others local competitions such as Muzik-Muzik TV3 Best Performer and Berita Harian Popularity contest Most Popular Artist. He went on to win numerous awards for his songs such as “Merisik Khabar”, “Milik Siapakah Gadis Ini” and “Salam Terakhir” which were popular and topped the charts not only in Malaysia but also in Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia. He is a skilled singer as he can sing in style, fluency and polish in both Bahasa Malaysia and the English language. He is different with most Malay singers.

On March 19, 1989, Sudirman did Malaysia proud when he put up one of his best singing performances at the 1st Asian Popular Music Awards organized in conjunction with the Salem Music Awards Festival, which held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. He emerged as the Best Asian Entertainer there. As the Malaysian representative, he won against the likes of Leslie Cheung (Hong Kong), Anita Sarawak (Singapore), Kuh Ledesma (Phillippines) and other distinguished performers and top singers from eight other Asian countries, namely, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Phillippines, China and Singapore. For the contest, he sang two English songs that are “A Thousand Million Smiles” and “Send in the Clown”.​

In April 15, 1986, a giant concert of Sudirman was held on Chow Kit Road. There were many peoples came to watch the concert. The audiences composed of various ages and races . It was the first time ever that a street concert drew a 100,000 strong crowd on a Monday night. The giant concer caused the nearest roads such as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Raja Muda to Jalan Raja Awang jammed. The crowded at the concerts had caused several fans fainted and a few of them were suffocated and were rushed to the hospital. The giant concert was widely covered by the press and media and one of Malaysian English tabloid, The Star, wrote that "Kuala Lumpur came to a standstill and it had nothing to do with the recession, but with one man, Malaysia's top entertainer, an electrifying performance and most memorable night".​

In 1989, Sudirman was chosen  to perform for Malaysia's SEA Games closing ceremony . His title as ‘Malaysia’s No.1 Entertainer’ help him to get many invitations to perform at many event such as the opening ceremony of Sepak Takraw competition, National Day, New Year and other national functions. In most cases, he would use his own money to ensure a successful concert. Many Malaysians also remember Sudirman as the singer who likes to wear, during National Day, his specially-made dress draped in the Malaysian flag as he sang his songs, showing his patriotic zeal to the nation for all to see. His patriotic, soul-inspiring song "31 Ogos 1957" is always played in the media every year when Malaysia celebrates National Day.