Eduard Anatolyevich Khil † (Russian: Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Хиль, September 4, 1934 - June 4, 2012 [aged 77]), often known by the nickname Mr. Trololo, was a Russian baritone singer best known for his song "Я о́чень рад, ведь я, наконе́ц, возвраща́юсь домо́й" (English: "I Am Very Glad, As I Am Finally Returning Back Home").
Early life[]
Khil was born on September 4, 1934 in Smolensk, Western Oblast, RSFSR. His kindergarten was bombed and he was separated from his mother and evacuated to Bekovo, Penza Oblast. He stayed at a children's home, where food was scarce and other basic needs and facilities were quite lacking. Despite this, Eduard regularly performed infront of wounded soldiers at the nearby hospital.
He was reunited with his mother in 1943 when Smolensk was liberated from Nazi Germany. In 1949, he moved to Leningrad, where he attended and graduated from college. He enrolled in the Leningrad Conservatory in 1955 and graduated in 1960.
Career[]
After graduating, he became interested in pop music after attending a Klavdiya Shulzhenko concert and started to perform popular music. In the next two decades, he won multiple awards, including the "All Russian Competition for Performers" in 1962 and attaining second place in Sopot International Song Festival in 1965. He was so successful that the public called him the "Symbol of Leningrad".[1]
Song style[]
Khil's manner of singing and performance was especially unique and easily recognizable in the USSR, characterized by his lyrical baritone and personal charm.
Internet fame[]
Eduard Khil in his 1976 performance of the song.
On November 26, 2009, YouTuber RealPapaPit uploaded a recording of a 1976 broadcast of Khil singing a non-lexical vocable version of "Я о́чень рад, ведь я, наконе́ц, возвраща́юсь домо́й" (English: "I Am Very Glad, As I Am Finally Returning Back Home"). This video would garner attention worldwide, and would be popular among various internet trolls of that era, with the most known clip being that of him laughing. The song has since been nicknamed "The Trololo Song", and was at the time commonly used for bait and switch pranks, similar to that of Rickrolling.
Eduard Khil was quite thrilled about the worldwide attention he was getting and would even encourage others to write their own lyrics for the song.
Death[]
Eduard Khil's grave.
Khil had a stroke on April 8, 2012[2], and thanks to related complications, died on June 4, aged 77.[3]
References[]
- ↑ Эдуард Хиль: Я не открываю рот под "фанеру" - я пою (Interview with Khil) (ru).
- ↑ Internet sensation Trololo man is critical and in coma. The Deccan Chronicle (31 May 2012).
- ↑ "Eduard Khil dies aged 77", 6 June 2012.