Filed under: News, Obituaries
Bobby Farrell, the only male member of the chart topping seventies group Boney M, was found dead in his hotel room in Russia after failing to respond to a wake up call.
Farrell, whose real name was Roberto Alfonso Farrell, was on tour and had performed the previous evening. Sources say he had complained of breathing difficulties before and after his performance.
The disco group Boney M was formed in 1975 by Frank Farian, a German record producer and Farrell was one of the original lineup members. The Aruba-born performer, who before joining the group had been a sailor and even an exotic male dancer, was working as a DJ in Germany before being spotted by Farian.
Liz Mitchell, Marcia Barrett and Maizie Williams soon came on board to make up the group Boney M. Together the members achieved popularity with such European chart-breaking hits as "Daddy Cool" and "Sunny." The group's popularity spread like wildfire throughout the UK, Sweden, Norway and Austria.
In 1978, Boney M's music hit the United States big time and "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring" became their most successful single in the U.S. peaking at number 30 on the singles pop charts. This was also the year that Boney M became the first Western music group invited by a Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, to perform in the Soviet Union.
Unlike the Milli Vanilli bogus lip-synching fiasco of the late eighties, it was pretty well known that Farrell and Williams were never in the studio providing their actual voices for the recordings. Farian actually provided the male vocals for Farrell and another female singer was brought in for Williams but during live performances both group members were able to make do rather seamlessly. The group also had backup singers which enhanced their singing during live concert performances.
Farrell was fired from the group in 1981 for being unreliable. Boney M officially disbanded in 1986 but offshoots from the group featuring the different members have been touring the live circuit ever since.
A flamboyant showman, Farrell continued to burn up performing venue stages under the name "Bobby Farrell's Boney M" where he mixed disco with calypso music.
Farrell's cause of death is not known but according to the Associated Press, he had been sick on and off throughout a period of ten years.