******
******
______________________________
Russian baritone Eduard Khil, whose song went viral on the internet in 2010, died in a St Petersburg hospital at the age of 77. Khil, a People’s Artist of the RSFSR, became famous in the West after a song recording by him over thirty years ago, I’m Very Happy ‘cause I’m Finally Goin’ Home, which contains no words but only a vocalise consisting of “tro-lo-lo’s”, hit the internet. According to Khil, the Tro-Lo-Lo song originally featured lyrics describing a cowboy riding a horse to his farm; however, the Soviet censor rejected the lyrics because of its supposed association with the American lifestyle. He was also the first singer to perform С чего начинается Родина? (Where does the Motherland Begin?), a song Prime Minister Vladimir Putin performed on the piano in 2010 for the guests at a charity event. Khil was born in Smolensk on 4 September 1934. He died Monday morning after irreversible damage from a stroke at the end of May.
4 June 2012
RIA-Novosti
