Guruh is known as an artist and also a politician. He is the youngest son of Indonesia's first president, Ir. Soekarno with his third wife, Fatmawati, and a full brother to the Indonesia's fifth president, Megawati. He loved art and literature since childhood. At the age of five, he had learned to dance Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese and performed his dance on stage. Also at the same age, he formed a boy band and played the piano. Towards adolescence, Guruh formed the band The Beat-G (in 1965) and released the first album in 1975 titled Guruh Gipsy, which contained Balinese gamelan music. Two years later, he founded a youth organization, Swara Mahardika (changed to the Swara Mahardika Foundation in 1987) and PT Gencar Semarak Perkasa (GSP) in 1989. Guruh held performances to show his artistic expression, among others, were the performances of the Pagelaran Karya Cipta Guruh Soekarno Putra I (1979), Pagelaran Karya Cipta Guruh Soekarno Putra II: Untukmu Indonesiaku and produced the semi-documentary film Untukmu Indonesiaku (1980), Pagelaran Karya Cipta Guruh Soekarno Putra III: Cinta Indonesia Pagelaran Jakarta in Singapore (1984), and Pagelaran Karya Cipta Guruh Soekarno IV: Gilang Indonesia Gemilang (1986). In addition, Guruh also held a colossal show 'JakJakJakJak Jakarta' for Jakarta's 462nd year anniversary (1989), Pagelaran Kolosal: Gempita Swara Mahardhika dalam rangka 10 tahun Swara Mahardika (1987).
