New York 05/30/2009- Czech
pop singer Waldemar Matuška died after a long illness at the
age of 76 in Florida today, Matuška's family told CTK.
The singer died of pneumonia and heart failure after suffering from
asthma for a long time, his son Waldemar said.
Matuska was one of the most popular Czech singer from the 1960s
to the 1980s. He won the Golden Nightingale
for the best Czechoslovak singer twice in the 1960s.
He also played in a number of films and film musicals, including
All My Good Countrymen (1968), Lemonade Joe (1964) and If a Thousand
Clarinets (1964)
He left the country and asked for asylum in the United States in
1986. The Czech public learn about his emigration from an article
in the Communist party's daily Rude pravo, entitled "The moral
fall of a singer." After the fall of the Czechoslovak communist
regime in 1989, Matuska frequently visited his homeland. In 2007,
Matuska sang in Prague for the last time when he celebrated his
75th birthday here.
The last farewell ceremony will be held in Prague.
Autor: CTK
www.ctk.cz
Music: Jo Tresne Zraly sung by Waldemar
Matuska
