Singer Dusan Grun Dies Aged 81

Bratislava, April 22 (TASR) - Slovak singer Dusan Grun died early on Monday morning at the age of 81, his wife Maria Grunova has confirmed for TASR via music publicist Anna Olvecka. Grun was born in Zilina in 1942. He started singing in 1963 with Ivo Pavlik's Orchestra, recording his first radio appearances and records with it. He was deciding between pop music and jazz at that time. The most successful period of his music career was from 1968 on, when he recorded most of his hits, such as 'Butterfly', 'Malvina' and a cover version of 'The Green, Green Grass of Home', originally by Tom Jones. Grun recorded his first album in 1973. He maintained his popularity until recently thanks to frequent appearances on television shows. His inspirations were foreign singers such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior, Paul Anka and The Beatles. "I was mainly inspired by singers who were devoted to swing. Another source of inspiration were songs that were played during my teenage years on the Radio Luxembourg charts. These singers were trend-setters. Then came bands like The Beatles - a band whose harmony, rhythms and singing created another bridge and step to what is being produced today," Grun told TASR on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In the nineties, Dusan Grun was one of performers on a popular music TV programme called 'Repete', which featured evergreens in new arrangements. In 2006, a compilation of his greatest hits called 'TOP 20' was released. In 2012, he recorded an album of cover versions of songs by Frank Sinatra. ko/df