One of [her] favorite female singers... because of her throaty voice and the passion with which she sings. She is about forty-three, wears her hair very short, smokes, and always dresses in pants. She was born in Suayan, a village near Payakumbuh, famous for four songs called the Four Suayan... Gadis Suayan has been married twice and is presently divorced from her second husband. She speaks of him withgreat sadness and longing. Much younger than she, he left her to live with his parents in a city in eastern Sumatra. She jokes with me about being sawah liek, that is, an arid rice field-the title of a famous song she will sing later in the evening about a woman who lies fallow, uncultivated and unfertilized because she has no man... (Sanday 2002:153)
Excerpts from her obituary: For fans of saluang klasik the name “Gadih Suayan” is a very familiar name in their ears because the name ... raises the name of the nagari where she was born, which is known with dendang “Ratok Suayan", "Suayan Ampek Lenggek” [likely the tune referenced here as "Suayan Balenggek"] along with “Suayan Anguih” and lots of dendang klasik which were presented by her always get great praise from saluang fans, because indeed we recognize that the sound of this dendang maestro is difficult to find a match even now.
… there is not a young artist or a padendang which has the sound of the same caliber as her, moreover the level of memorization and understanding of these dendang klasik songs which have lots of kalorok, gumam, garinyiak, kadakuak, genggong, japuaik anta and cokoiak where the shrewdness of padendang play with anak suara.”
Eri Tamala, her foster child/ student, is quoted in the obituary as saying Gadih Suayan worked with younger singers to “share her knowledge.” 