About Dewa
After the exit of original frontman Ari Lasso in the late 1990s, Dewa re-emerged in the new millennium with an altered name—dropping the ‘19’ from their previous moniker—and a brand-new line-up, featuring Once Mekel on lead vocals. Mekel’s gruff, raspy voice stood in stark contrast to Lasso’s supple, yearning tenor and marked a progression to Dewa’s sound palette. Their 2000 album Bintang Lima kicked off the band’s second act, and the album remains Dewa’s highest seller to date with close to two million copies sold in Indonesia alone.
