As the nation bids farewell to popular Kikuyu benga musician John Ng'ang'a alias John De Mathew, many will remember his for churning out sweet songs in his over 30 year tenure.
And while he has been credited among musicians who played an important role in President Uhuru Kenyatta's success, he will also be remembered as a politician.
However, he was not successful in the field as a person, with his bid to capture the Gatanga parliamentary seat in the 2007 poll flopping when he lost to Peter Kenneth.
De'Mathew was seeking the position on the Safina party ticket, which could not match the power or Kenneth who was coming to the race in the Party of National Unity (PNU).
He only scored 389 votes, probably as a result of Kenneth's good development record and the name that was indicated in the ballot paper, which is different from his musical one.
This was not the case on the aide of his fellow musician from the same constituency DK Wa Maria who proceeded to secure a councillor seat.
In 2005, he released "Niguo Kuri" (The Way Things Are) which condemned political assassinations in the country, blaming killers of Tom Mboya for the bad Luo-Kikuyu relationship.
In 2012 he landed in the limelight after being arraigned in court over alarming political music when he attacked some politicians in his "Mwaka Wa Hiti" (The year of the hyena), in the run up to the 2013 polls.
The "My Dear Nduku" died on Sunday, after his Nissan Navara vehicle rammed into a trailer while on his way from Gatanga for a fundraiser of the daughter of fellow musician Mike Rua.