Dewa 19: The Life Story Behind Indonesia's Rock Legends

If Indonesian rock music has a royal family, Dewa 19 are its kings. For nearly forty years, their songs have been the loud, proud soundtrack of Indonesian life: “Kangen”, “Pupus”, “Arjuna”, “Separuh Nafas”, “Risalah Hati”, “Roman Picisan”. These are songs that fill stadiums, that are sung at the top of people’s voices in karaoke rooms, and that have been passed from one generation of rock fans to the next. They are big songs, with big melodies and big emotions, and they could only have come from a band with big ambitions.

The band began in Surabaya in 1986, when a group of teenagers led by a talented keyboard player named Ahmad Dhani decided to make music together. Dhani, born on 26 May 1972, was the driving force of the band from the start: its main songwriter, its leader and its most famous member. Around him were Andra Ramadhan on guitar, Erwin Prasetya on bass and Wawan Juniarso on drums, young musicians who shared his dream of making rock music that Indonesia had never heard before. They called themselves Dewa, and later Dewa 19, and they set out to become the biggest band in the country.

Their story is a long one, full of brilliant albums, famous singers, bitter arguments, long silences and, in the end, a reunion that brought tens of thousands of fans back together. It is the story of Indonesian rock itself, told through one band that never really went away.

Teenagers in Surabaya With Big Ambitions

Surabaya is Indonesia’s second city, a busy port on the coast of East Java, and in the 1980s it was a place where young people listened to rock music from around the world and dreamed of making their own. Ahmad Dhani grew up in that city, and he was a serious musician from an early age. He played keyboards, he wrote songs, and he had strong ideas about what Indonesian rock should sound like. He did not want to copy foreign bands. He wanted to make music that was modern and Indonesian at the same time, with melodies that local audiences would love and arrangements that showed real skill.

The young band practised constantly, played at school events and local shows, and built a reputation in Surabaya as a group to watch. They were ambitious in a way that set them apart. Many young bands were happy to play covers of famous songs. Dewa wanted to write their own, and Dhani was already writing songs that were more complex and more emotional than the usual pop of the time. The other members trusted his vision, and they worked hard to bring it to life, learning their instruments and learning how to play together as a tight, professional unit.

Moving from Surabaya to Jakarta was the next step, and it was a difficult one. Jakarta was the centre of the music business, and a band from Surabaya had to prove itself all over again. Dewa did that by playing, by recording demos and by refusing to give up when doors closed. The music business in the late 1980s was not easy for a rock band, and it was especially hard for a band with big ideas and a strong-willed leader. But Dhani’s determination kept the band going, and eventually they found a singer who would complete their sound and a label that would take a chance on them.

That singer was Ari Lasso, who joined the band in the early 1990s. Ari, born in 1973, had a powerful, emotional voice that suited Dhani’s songs perfectly. He could sing a rock anthem and a tender ballad with equal feeling, and his voice became the sound of Dewa 19 for the next decade. With Ari in place, the band was ready to record their first album, and Indonesian rock was about to change.

Kangen and the First Album

Dewa 19 released their self-titled debut album in 1992, and it made them famous almost overnight. The album’s best-known song, “Kangen”, which means “Missing You” or “Longing”, became one of the most popular songs in Indonesia. It is a song about missing someone you love, sung by Ari Lasso with a raw, honest emotion that listeners recognised immediately. The melody was strong, the chorus was unforgettable, and the song was played everywhere: on the radio, on television, at parties and in homes across the country.

“Kangen” was not the only hit on the album. Songs like “Cinta Kan Membawamu Kembali” also became popular, and the album as a whole showed a band that could write both rock songs and ballads, both with the same confidence. Dhani’s songwriting was the heart of the record. He wrote melodies that were ambitious and emotional, and he arranged them with keyboards, guitars and drums in a way that sounded modern and full. The band’s playing was tight and professional, and Ari’s voice gave the songs their soul.

The success of the debut album changed the band’s life. They toured across Indonesia, performed on television and became one of the most talked-about bands in the country. Dhani, who had dreamed of this since he was a teenager in Surabaya, was now the leader of a famous band, and his name was known to every rock fan in Indonesia. But fame also brought pressure, and the band soon discovered that making a second album is harder than making a first. The public expected more, the label expected more, and the band expected more of themselves.

They answered that pressure with more music, and their second album, “Format Masa Depan”, released in 1994, continued their success. The band’s sound was developing, becoming more polished and more confident, and their audience was growing. They were no longer a new band from Surabaya. They were one of the leading rock bands in Indonesia, and they were still very young. The best was yet to come, and it would arrive with an album that many fans still consider their greatest.

Terbaik Terbaik, Pandawa Lima and the Rise to the Top

In the mid-1990s, Dewa 19 released a series of albums that made them the biggest rock band in Indonesia. “Terbaik Terbaik”, released in 1995, included some of their most loved songs, and “Pandawa Lima”, released in 1997, continued their run of success. These albums showed Dhani at his most creative, writing songs that mixed rock, pop and ballads, with lyrics about love, longing and the search for meaning. Ari Lasso’s voice carried the songs, and the band’s playing, led by Andra’s guitar and Dhani’s keyboards, gave them a rich, full sound.

The band’s concerts in these years were major events. They played to large crowds, and their fans, who called themselves Baladewa, were among the most loyal in Indonesian music. A Dewa 19 concert was a loud, emotional experience, with the audience singing every word and the band playing with an energy that filled the whole venue. Dhani was a commanding presence on stage, not only as a musician but as a leader, and the band’s shows became known for their scale and their passion.

But success also brought tension inside the band. Dhani was a strong-willed leader with clear ideas about the music, and not everyone in the band always agreed with him. Arguments about songs, about money and about the direction of the band began to grow, and the friendships that had started in Surabaya were tested. In 1999, Ari Lasso left the band, a departure that shocked fans and left the future of Dewa 19 uncertain. Ari went on to a successful solo career, but for Dewa 19, losing their singer was a serious blow. They needed a new voice, and they needed it quickly, because the public was waiting to see if the band could survive.

The answer came in the form of a new singer, Elfonda Mekel, known as Once, who joined the band in 2000. Once had a different voice from Ari, smoother and more soulful, and he brought a new feeling to the band’s music. With Once in place, Dewa 19 were ready for the next chapter, and it would be the most successful chapter of all.

Once, Bintang Lima and the Greatest Peak

In 2000, Dewa 19 released “Bintang Lima”, an album that became one of the biggest successes in Indonesian music history. The album included “Roman Picisan”, “Dua Sejoli”, “Risalah Hati” and “Separuh Nafas”, songs that are still among the most loved in the country. Once’s voice suited Dhani’s new songs perfectly, and the album’s sound was polished, powerful and emotional. It sold in enormous numbers, and it made Dewa 19 bigger than they had ever been.

The years that followed were the band’s greatest peak. In 2002 they released “Cintailah Cinta”, which included “Pupus” and “Arjuna”, two more songs that became classics. “Pupus” is a song about a love that has faded, sung with a tenderness that makes it heartbreaking, and “Arjuna” is a grand, dramatic song named after the hero of the Mahabharata, full of pride and longing. These songs showed Dhani’s ambition at its fullest: he was writing rock music that was also poetry, and Once was singing it with a voice that made every word matter.

Dewa 19’s concerts in this period were huge, filling stadiums and arenas across Indonesia. The band had become an institution, and their songs were part of the national culture. Young Indonesians learned to play guitar by playing Dewa 19 songs, and their lyrics were quoted in everyday conversation. Dhani, Once, Andra and the other members were stars, and they lived like stars, with all the attention, money and pressure that came with it.

But the peak did not last forever. In the years that followed, the band’s output slowed, and tensions returned. Once left the band in 2011, and Dewa 19 went quiet for a long time. Dhani worked on other projects, including his own bands and his work as a producer, and the members went their separate ways. Fans wondered if Dewa 19 were finished, and for a decade, it seemed that they might be. The songs remained, played on the radio and sung in karaoke rooms, but the band itself was silent.

Silence, Solo Paths and the Long Wait

The years after Once left were quiet ones for Dewa 19. Dhani remained a public figure, working in music and in television, and he also became involved in politics, eventually winning a seat in Indonesia’s parliament in the 2024 elections. Once built a solo career, and Ari Lasso, who had left years earlier, also continued to perform and record. The members of the band were still famous, but they were famous separately, not together, and the fans who loved Dewa 19 had to be content with old songs and old memories.

For the fans, the Baladewa, the silence was hard. They had grown up with Dewa 19, and they wanted to see the band play together again. They organised, they campaigned on social media, and they kept the band’s music alive by singing it, sharing it and passing it to a new generation. Young Indonesians who had not been born when “Kangen” was released discovered the band through their parents and through the internet, and they became fans too. The audience for Dewa 19 did not shrink during the silence. It grew, because the songs were too good to be forgotten.

The band members, for their part, never said that Dewa 19 was over. They spoke about the band with respect, and they left the door open for a return. But a return is not easy when years have passed, when singers have built solo careers, and when old arguments have not been fully resolved. It takes time, patience and a reason to come back that is bigger than any single person’s ego. For Dewa 19, that reason finally arrived in the early 2020s, when the band decided to celebrate their long history with a series of reunion concerts that would bring together the different eras of the band.

The Reunion Concerts and a New Generation

In 2022 and 2023, Dewa 19 returned to the stage in a spectacular way, with a series of large concerts that featured not one singer but several, including Ari Lasso, Once, and younger singers such as Virzha and Ello. The idea was to celebrate the whole history of the band, with each singer performing the songs from their own era, and the concerts were a huge success. Tens of thousands of fans attended, singing every word of songs that were thirty years old, and the atmosphere was emotional, joyful and unforgettable.

The reunion concerts showed that Dewa 19’s music had not aged. “Kangen”, “Pupus”, “Arjuna” and “Separuh Nafas” sounded as powerful in a stadium in 2023 as they had when they were first released, and the audience included both old fans who had loved the band since the 1990s and young fans who had discovered them recently. The concerts also showed that the band members could work together again, putting the music ahead of old disagreements, and that the public still loved them as a band, not only as individuals.

The success of the reunion gave Dewa 19 a new chapter, and it also gave their fans a gift: the chance to see the band live again, after a long wait. For many fans, it was an emotional experience, a reminder of their youth and of the songs that had accompanied them through their lives. For the band, it was a reminder of what they had built together, and of how much their music still meant to Indonesia.

What Dewa 19 Means to Indonesia Today

Today, Dewa 19 are recognised as one of the greatest bands in Indonesian history, and their songs are part of the country’s cultural heritage. “Kangen” is one of the most famous Indonesian songs ever written. “Pupus” and “Arjuna” are standards that every Indonesian rock fan knows. Their albums, especially “Bintang Lima” and “Cintailah Cinta”, are counted among the best-selling and most loved in the country. They set a standard for songwriting, for performance and for ambition that later bands have tried to match.

Their legacy is also about the people they inspired. Countless young Indonesians learned to play music because of Dewa 19, and many of the country’s current musicians cite them as an influence. Dhani’s songwriting, Andra’s guitar playing, Ari’s and Once’s singing: each of them showed a new generation what was possible in Indonesian music. They proved that a band from Surabaya could become the biggest in the country, that Indonesian rock could be both popular and artistic, and that a song written in Indonesian could move millions of people.

For the fans, the Baladewa, Dewa 19 are more than a band. They are a part of their lives, a soundtrack to their youth, their loves and their losses. When they sing “Kangen” together at a concert, they are not only singing a song. They are remembering who they were when they first heard it, and who they have become since. That is the power of Dewa 19, and it is why, after nearly forty years, their music still matters so much.

The Sound of Dewa 19: Dhani’s Songs and Two Great Voices

The sound of Dewa 19 is the sound of Ahmad Dhani’s songwriting, and it is a sound that is both grand and intimate. Dhani writes melodies that are ambitious, with big choruses and emotional peaks, and he arranges them with keyboards, guitars and drums in a way that fills a stadium. His songs are not small. They are built to be sung by thousands of people at once, and they work because the melodies are strong enough to carry that weight. A song like “Arjuna” is a good example: it is dramatic, proud and full of longing, and it needs a big voice and a big arrangement to work. Dhani gave it both, and the result is a song that has lasted for more than twenty years.

The band had two great singers, and each one gave the songs a different feeling. Ari Lasso, the singer of the 1990s, had a powerful, raw voice, full of emotion and urgency. He sang “Kangen” with a longing that listeners recognised immediately, and his voice became the sound of the band’s early years. Once, who joined in 2000, had a smoother, more soulful voice, and he brought a new warmth to the band’s music. He sang “Pupus” and “Separuh Nafas” with a tenderness that made those songs heartbreaking, and his voice became the sound of the band’s greatest peak.

The difference between the two singers is part of what makes Dewa 19’s story so interesting. Fans argue about which singer was better, and that argument has gone on for years, but the truth is that both were great, and both were right for their time. Ari was right for the raw, ambitious band of the 1990s. Once was right for the polished, mature band of the 2000s. Together, they gave the band two golden eras, and the reunion concerts, which featured both singers, showed that the band’s history is richer for having had both of them.

Andra Ramadhan’s guitar playing is another essential part of the sound. His solos are melodic and emotional, never showing off for its own sake, and his riffs give the songs their rock edge. Dhani’s keyboards provide the grandeur, the sweeping chords that make the choruses soar, and the rhythm section holds it all together with a steady, powerful beat. Together, the band created a sound that was both Indonesian and international, both rock and pop, both grand and intimate, and that combination is why their music has lasted.

Their songs are also part of Indonesia’s guitar culture. Young Indonesians learn to play guitar by playing Dewa 19 songs, because the chords are challenging enough to be interesting and the melodies are beautiful enough to be worth learning. “Kangen”, “Pupus” and “Roman Picisan” are among the most played songs by young guitarists in the country, and they have taught a generation how to play, how to sing and how to write. That influence, on the musicians who came after them, is one of the band’s most important legacies, and it will continue long after the band stops performing.

Their concerts in the reunion era also deserve mention, because they showed a band that had learned to celebrate its whole history rather than only its latest songs. The set lists moved from “Kangen” to “Pupus” to “Separuh Nafas”, and the audience sang every word, young and old together. The staging was grand, with lights, screens and a sound that filled stadiums, but the heart of the show was always the songs, and the band’s ability to make a huge venue feel like a gathering of friends. Fans who attended those concerts describe them as emotional, joyful and unforgettable, a reminder of why they had loved the band for so long.

Dewa 19’s influence on Indonesian rock is also visible in the bands that came after them. Young rock bands in Indonesia study their songs, copy their arrangements and dream of writing a chorus as strong as “Roman Picisan” or as moving as “Pupus”. Music schools use their songs as examples of good songwriting, and guitar teachers use them to show students how a solo should serve a song rather than show off. That educational influence, quiet and steady, is one of the band’s most lasting achievements, because it shapes the musicians of tomorrow, long after the band’s own concerts are over.

The band’s story also shows the importance of Surabaya as a musical city. Jakarta may be the capital, but Surabaya has a proud musical tradition, and Dewa 19 are its greatest ambassadors. They proved that a band from East Java could conquer the whole country, and they gave young musicians in Surabaya and beyond the belief that they too could make it. That belief matters, because it keeps music alive in cities far from the capital, and it reminds Indonesia that talent is everywhere, not only in Jakarta.

My Take:

When I think about Dewa 19, the first thing I feel is the sheer scale of their music. Their songs are big. Not big in a loud, empty way, but big in the way that a mountain is big: solid, lasting and impossible to ignore. When I hear “Kangen” or “Pupus”, I do not think of a small band in a small room. I think of a stadium full of people singing together, and of a songwriter, Ahmad Dhani, who believed from the time he was a teenager in Surabaya that Indonesian music could be as grand as anything in the world. That belief, held for forty years, is what I admire most about him. He did not lower his ambitions to fit what was easy. He raised them, and he dragged the whole of Indonesian rock up with him.

I also admire the songwriting itself, because it is genuinely ambitious. Dhani did not write simple three-chord pop songs. He wrote songs with real melodies, real arrangements and real feeling, songs that took risks and that trusted the audience to follow him. “Arjuna” is a good example. It is named after a hero from an ancient story, and it is grand, dramatic and proud, a song that could have sounded ridiculous in the wrong hands. In Dhani’s hands, it works, because the melody is strong and the emotion is real. I think that is a lesson for any songwriter: be ambitious, trust your audience, and do not be afraid to write something big. If the song is true, people will feel it.

But I want to be honest, too, because Dewa 19’s story is not only about music. It is also about ego, about arguments and about a band that could not stay together. Dhani is a strong-willed leader, and that strength made the band great, but it also made it hard to be in the band. Ari Lasso left. Once left. There were long silences and public disagreements, and the band that could have ruled Indonesian music for twenty straight years instead spent a decade apart. I find that sad, because the music was so good, and the waste of those years is real. It is a reminder that talent is not enough, and that a band is not only about songs. It is about people, and people have to learn to live with each other, to compromise and to forgive, or the music stops.

I think about Ari Lasso and Once, and about what it must have been like to be the singer of Dewa 19. Both men had extraordinary voices, and both men left the band, and both men built solo careers. I respect both of them for that, because leaving a famous band is a brave decision. It means giving up security and starting again, and it means believing in yourself enough to stand alone. At the same time, I think the band was better with them than without them, and I think they knew that too. The reunion concerts, with both singers on stage, felt like a homecoming, and the joy of the audience showed how much people had missed seeing them together. Sometimes it takes a long separation to understand what you had, and I think Dewa 19 learned that lesson.

The reunion concerts in 2022 and 2023 moved me, even from a distance. I imagine being in that stadium, surrounded by tens of thousands of people, all singing “Kangen” together, some of them old enough to have heard it when it first came out, some of them young enough to have discovered it on the internet. That is a powerful image, and it shows what music can do that almost nothing else can: it can bring strangers together and make them feel like they belong to the same story. I think Dhani understood that when he organised those concerts, and I think he deserves credit for putting the music ahead of old arguments and for giving the fans what they had waited so long for.

There is also a lesson here about second chances. Dewa 19 had many chances: a first singer, a second singer, a long silence, and then a reunion. Each time, they could have said it was over. Each time, they found a way back, because the songs were too good to leave alone. I think that is hopeful. It says that a great band, like a great friendship, can survive a long silence, if the people involved are willing to come back and try again. It also says that the audience is more forgiving than we sometimes think. Indonesian fans waited a decade for Dewa 19, and when the band returned, the fans were still there, singing every word. That loyalty is a gift, and it is not given to every band.

I want to say something about Dhani’s move into politics, because it is an unusual part of the story. A rock star becoming a member of parliament is not something you see every day, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I respect anyone who wants to serve their country, and Dhani has always been a person with strong opinions about Indonesia. On the other hand, I worry when famous people enter politics, because fame is not the same as experience, and a parliament needs people who understand how laws are made. I do not know enough about Dhani’s work in parliament to judge it fairly, and I will not pretend that I do. What I will say is that his music career and his political career should be judged separately. The music is beyond doubt. It is great, and it will last. The politics is a new chapter, and only time will tell how it is remembered.

When I think about the fans, the Baladewa, I feel a kind of admiration for them, too. They stayed loyal through the silences, through the singer changes, through the arguments and through the years when there was no new music. They kept the songs alive, they taught them to their children, and they filled the stadiums when the band finally came back. That is not passive fandom. That is active love, and it is one of the reasons Dewa 19 are still here. A band is nothing without its audience, and Dewa 19’s audience proved that they were not just consumers of music. They were keepers of it, and they kept it safe until the band were ready to return.

If I could ask Dhani one question, I would ask him what he would change about the band’s history, if he could. I imagine he might say that he wishes the band had stayed together, that he wishes the arguments had been smaller and the silences shorter. Or he might say that the silences were necessary, that they made the reunion possible, and that the music is better for having been lost and found again. I do not know his answer, and I do not need to. What I know is that his songs are still here, that they are still sung by millions of people, and that they will be sung long after the arguments are forgotten. That is the real legacy of Dewa 19: not the drama, not the politics, not the headlines, but the songs, big, beautiful and built to last.

I also think about the city of Surabaya, and about what it means to come from Indonesia’s second city. Jakarta gets most of the attention, but Surabaya has produced some of the country’s greatest musicians, and Dewa 19 are the best example. They started in Surabaya, they dreamed in Surabaya, and they proved that a band does not have to come from the capital to become the biggest in the country. That matters, because it gives hope to young musicians in every city in Indonesia, from Medan to Makassar, that they too can make it, if their songs are good enough and if they work hard enough. Dewa 19 proved that talent is not limited to one city, and that is a hopeful message for a whole country.

I think about the fans, the Baladewa, and about what it means to be part of a fan community for thirty years. The Baladewa are not casual fans. They are loyal, organised and passionate, and they have kept the band’s music alive through the silences, through the singer changes and through the years when there was no new music. They sang the songs, they shared them, they taught them to their children, and they filled the stadiums when the band finally returned. That loyalty is a gift, and it is not given to every band. It is earned, through good songs and through respect for the audience, and Dewa 19 earned it, even when they were not always worthy of it.

There is a lesson here about leadership, and it is a complicated one. Ahmad Dhani is a strong leader, and his strength made the band great, but it also made the band difficult to be in. Strong leaders can inspire people, but they can also drive people away, and Dhani did both. I think about that, and I wonder what the band’s history would have been if Dhani had been a gentler leader, if Ari and Once had stayed, if the band had never gone silent for a decade. We will never know, and perhaps the silences were necessary, perhaps they made the reunion possible, and perhaps the music is better for having been lost and found again. But I cannot help feeling sad about the lost years, and about the music that was never made because the band could not stay together.

I also reflect on the reunion concerts, and on what they meant to the people who attended them. I imagine a fan who had loved Dewa 19 since the 1990s, who had waited a decade for them to return, standing in a stadium in 2023, singing “Kangen” with tens of thousands of other people, and feeling a joy that is hard to describe. That joy is not only about the music. It is about memory, about youth, about the person you were when you first heard the song, and about the person you have become since. A reunion concert is a time machine, and Dewa 19 gave their fans that gift, and their fans will remember it for the rest of their lives.

One more thought, and it is about the songs themselves. “Kangen”, “Pupus”, “Arjuna”, “Separuh Nafas”, “Roman Picisan”: these are not only hit songs. They are part of the Indonesian language, phrases that people use in everyday life, lyrics that are quoted in conversations, in text messages, in wedding speeches. When a song’s words become part of how a whole country speaks, that song has achieved something extraordinary. It has become more than music. It has become culture, and Dewa 19’s songs have become culture, in a way that few bands in any country can claim.

Finally, I want to say something about the future. Dewa 19 are still here, still performing, still loved, and their music will be here long after they stop. Young Indonesians will keep learning their songs on the guitar, will keep singing them in karaoke rooms, will keep playing them at weddings, and will keep passing them to their children. That is the real legacy of the band, not the arguments, not the politics, not the headlines, but the songs, big, beautiful and built to last, and the love of millions of people who have carried those songs in their hearts for nearly forty years.

I also think about the younger singers who joined the reunion concerts, Virzha and Ello, and about what it meant for them to sing Dewa 19’s songs on a huge stage. For a young singer, performing “Kangen” or “Pupus” in front of tens of thousands of people is both an honour and a test, and they passed it, earning the respect of the Baladewa and proving that the band’s music could be carried by a new generation. That passing of the torch, from Ari and Once to younger voices, is a hopeful sign for Indonesian rock, because it shows that the songs are bigger than any single singer, and that they will live on in new voices.

I want to end my reflection on Dewa 19 with a simple thought about the power of a great chorus. A great chorus is a gift, because it gives thousands of strangers something to sing together, and in that moment, they are not strangers anymore. They are a crowd, a community, a country, singing the same words at the same time. Dewa 19 have written more great choruses than almost any band in Indonesian history, and each one is a small miracle of melody and feeling. When I hear a stadium singing “Kangen”, I hear that miracle, and I am grateful for it, because it reminds me that music can do what nothing else can: it can make many people feel like one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Dewa 19?

Dewa 19 were formed in Surabaya in 1986 by keyboard player and songwriter Ahmad Dhani, together with Andra Ramadhan, Erwin Prasetya and Wawan Juniarso.

What is Dewa 19’s most famous song?

Their most famous song is “Kangen”, from their debut album in 1992, along with later classics such as “Pupus”, “Arjuna”, “Separuh Nafas” and “Roman Picisan”.

Who were the singers of Dewa 19?

Ari Lasso was the band’s singer in the 1990s, and Elfonda Mekel, known as Once, sang with the band from 2000 until 2011, and both returned for the reunion concerts.

Why did Dewa 19 change singers?

Ari Lasso left the band in 1999 and Once left in 2011, after disagreements and changes in the band’s direction, and each departure marked a new chapter in the group’s history.

What is Dewa 19’s biggest album?

“Bintang Lima”, released in 2000 with Once as singer, is one of their biggest albums, and “Cintailah Cinta” from 2002 is also counted among their greatest records.

Did Dewa 19 reunite?

Yes, in 2022 and 2023 the band held large reunion concerts featuring several singers, including Ari Lasso and Once, and tens of thousands of fans attended.

What does the name Dewa 19 mean?

The band were first called Dewa, and the number 19 was added as they became known nationally, giving them the name Dewa 19 that fans still use today.