Dian Pramana Poetra (kapanlagi.com)

As the year draws to a close, the country was hit by yet another piece of sad news, namely that of the sudden passing of legendary Indonesian musician Dian Pramana Poetra.

The stage 4 leukemia that took Dian’s life on Thursday evening at the age of 57 had come without warning, diagnosed only after he had been taken to the emergency ward of Hermina Hospital in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, on Dec. 21, complaining about back pain.

His bandmate and musical partner Deddy Dhukun of their group 2D told the media that, while his family learned only then that Dian was very sick, it could be that he had already known about it long before but was keeping it to himself.

“He was pretty stubborn when it comes to going to the doctor. He hated that. He had this lingering fear that the moment he was hospitalized he would probably pass away, like Dodo did,” Deddy said as quoted by kompas.com, referring to the similar death of Deddy and Dian’s collaborator, Dodo Zakaria, in 2007.

“I don’t know, it could be because of his reluctance to visit the doctor all this time and him not keeping a healthy body that his disease grew the way it did,” he added.

Dian’s legacy and place in Indonesian music history has been assured by the 13 albums he produced between 1983 and 2013. Six of those albums are solo efforts, three are the result of collaboration with various musicians and the other four were created with Deddy Dhukun for 2D.

In his music career, Dian worked with fellow legendary figures like Ian Antono, Erwin Gutawa, Yockie Surjoprajogo and Fariz RM on his albums. In 2007, now-defunct magazine Rolling Stone Indonesia declared Dian’s sophomore 1984 album Intermezzo as the 80th best Indonesian Album of All Time.

His musical talent was developed during his childhood, as he grew up with parents who were skilled in music as well: his father in jazz, his mother in Indonesian folk music.

In 1977, Dian joined his first band, a vocal group named Bourest, where he would meet a future collaborator, Bagoes A. Arianto.

But his ascent to music stardom came after coming third at Prambors Radio’s legendary songwriting competition Lomba Cipta Lagu Remaja in 1980 with the song “Pengabdian” (Dedication), sung with his Bourest vocal group.

Two years later, he was asked by Erwin Gutawa to join a group with him called Transs. While Dian never recorded with the group, with the help of Erwin as well as Jackson Records head Jackson Arief he cut his first solo album in 1983, titled Indonesia Jazz Vocal.

Dian exhibited a careful display of his smooth and swingy voice from the very beginning of his career, which matched the style of his later pop instrumentations very well. Other hits of his are “Sebelum Aku Pergi” (Before I Go), “Masih Ada” (Still There) and “Peluklah Diriku” (Hold Me).

He achieved wider success in 1987 with the first 2D album with Deddy Dhukun, Keraguan (Doubt), the title track of which became one of Dian’s most successful singles. He would record three more records with 2D, the most recent one being Dua Sisi (Two Sides) in 2013.

Aside from his own work, he has written songs for acclaimed Indonesian musicians, such as Chrisye, Vina Panduwinata, January Christy, Hetty Koes Endang, Utha Likumahuwa and Glenn Fredly, to name a few.

Musicians flooded social media with tributes to the fallen star.

“Today, the most genius musician I have ever come to know has left us. Dian Pramana Poetra. We have lost yet another figure whose music became the foundation of Indonesian pop music today,” wrote GIGI vocalist Armand Maulana on his Instagram account.

“Thank you for your music, your kind heart, and all the inspiration you gave me, my idol, Dian Pramana Poetra,” said singer Rio Febrian on his Instagram account, naming Dian as one of his primary influences in music.  

Dian is survived by his wife Indy and five children. He was laid to rest at the Ibadur Rahman Mosque in Ciracas, East Jakarta.

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