Jakarta. Iconic singer Ari Bernardus Lasso recently disclosed that he has been living separately from his wife, Vitta Dessy, for the past eight months, following their 25-year marriage and raising four children together.

Ari insisted that the divorce is a private matter, urging the media to respect their privacy.

"Since February 2024, our silver anniversary, Vitta Dessy and I have officially divorced due to reasons I cannot share here. PERIOD," Ari said in a lengthy Instagram post.

The decision, he said, was made with “the consent of our children” and was handled discreetly with the help of a lawyer friend to keep the matter from public attention, as Ari believes “this family matter isn’t newsworthy.”

However, social media rumors about his personal life began circulating, prompting Ari to address the situation publicly.

“We’re all doing fine, that’s certain. The most important thing is that our children understand and are okay with this,” he wrote.

Ari expressed regret in his post for “failing to maintain the unity of our family according to our Christian wedding vows” and apologized to fans, admitting, “I’m just human, and sometimes I fail.”

Ari first rose to fame as the lead singer of Dewa 19 from 1991 to 1999, helping the band become one of Indonesia’s top music groups, with millions of albums sold during his tenure.

However, early in his career, he faced challenges with drug addiction, which eventually led to his departure from Dewa 19. In 2001, he released his solo album Sendiri Dulu (On My Own), which included hits like Misteri Ilahi (Mystery of God), marking his dedicated return to the music industry. He also became a judge on Indonesian Idol, one of the country’s top-rated TV shows.

Ari and Vitta married in Surabaya in 1999 without much publicity, as he was struggling with addiction and his future with Dewa 19 was uncertain. Their first child, Aura Rivanya Maharani, was born the same year, and they went on to have three more children between 2003 and 2008.

In September 2021, Ari was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a cancer affecting his immune system, which required chemotherapy. After ten months of treatment, he announced his full recovery.

(Teguh Adi Prasetyo contributed to this article.)

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