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Legendary children's songwriter Papa T Bob dies at 59

Born Erwanda Lukas, popular children's songwriter Papa T Bob passed away on Friday at age 59 after battling diabetes.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 10, 2020

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Legendary children's songwriter Papa T Bob dies at 59 The prolific songwriter, whose real name is Erwanda Lukas, died on Friday at 10.35 a.m. and will be buried in a cemetary in Bintaro, South Tangerang. (Instagram.com/@papatbob_official/-)

Papa T Bob, the songwriter of many popular children’s songs, passed away on Friday after battling diabetes.

Born Erwanda Lukas, the prolific artist died at 10:35 a.m. and will be buried in a cemetery in Bintaro, South Tangerang. He was 59 years old.

Papa T Bob wrote popular songs that catapulted the career of many child singers in the 90s, such as “Bolo-bolo”, which was sung by Tina Toon; “Jangan Marah” (Don't Be Angry), “Tanteku” (My Aunt) and “Katanya” (They Say) by Trio Kwek-Kwek; “Si Nyamuk Nakal” (Naughty Mosquito) and “Du Di dam” by Eno Lerian; and “Si Lumba-Lumba” (Dolphins) by Brondan Prakoso.

His moniker, Papa T Bob, was based on T Bob, his son’s name.

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Joshua Suherman, whose career skyrocketed after singing Papa T Bob’s “Air” (Water), expressed his condolences by posting on Twitter a picture of a reunion with fellow child singers and children songwriters, including Papa T Bob.

The single “Air” is often mistakenly referred to as “Diobok-obok” (Splashing Water) due to the catchy phrase being used in the lyrics.

Singer Vidi Aldiano also expressed his condolences on Twitter.

“Thank you for providing many melodies at the time when I grew up. Many musicians were born after falling in love with your works as they grew up. I am one of them. Rest in love,” he said. (gis/kes)

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