Biography

Virgiawan Listanto or better known as Iwan Fals (born 3 September 1961) is an Indonesian singer, songwriter and guitarist of Javanese descent. In 2002, Time named him a Great Asian Hero. His musical style has been described as pop , rock , country , and folk pop , and his lyrics often reflect the dark political times of the 1970s and 1980s. Iwan Fals was included in Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine's list of The Immortals: 25 Greatest Indonesian Artists of All Time. Through his songs, he 'portraits' the social atmosphere of Indonesian life from the late 1970s to the present, the world in general, and life itself. Criticism of the behavior of a group of people (such as Surat Untuk Wakil Rakyat , Tante Lisa ), empathy for marginalized groups (e.g. Siang Seberang Istana , Lonteku ), or major disasters that hit Indonesia (or sometimes outside Indonesia, such as Ethiopia ) dominate the themes of the songs he performs. However, Iwan Fals not only sings his own compositions but also a number of other composers. Iwan, who was also active in sports, won second place in the national karate championship and fourth place in the 1989 national karate championship . He also attended national training camps and trained karate at his university, STP (Sekolah Tinggi Pulisistik). Iwan also worked as a columnist for several sports tabloids.