Miroslav "Miro" Žbirka (21 October 1952 – 10 November 2021) was a Slovak pop and rock singer and songwriter, widely popular in 1980s Czechoslovakia. Born in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

to a Slovak father and an English mother, he sang in Slovak, English, and Czech. He sometimes recorded in

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, but lived in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and since early 1990s in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

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, where he died. In the late 1970s, Žbirka co-founded two Czechoslovak pop music bands, Modus and Limit. In 1982, he rose to fame by winning the annual

Zlatý slavík Zlatý slavík ( en, Golden Nightingale) was a music poll and an award of the same name established by magazine ''Mladý svět'' along with '' Smena na nedeľu'' in 1962, and broadcast on television. While in the first year of the poll 797 votes ...

award for the best male singer in Czechoslovakia. After the 1992 division of Czechoslovakia, he repeated this achievement in the Slovak annual

Slávik Awards Slávik ( en, Nightingale) was a music poll established by the FORZA company, which had been the main promoter of such poll in Slovakia. The annual awards were permitted live through one of the Central European Media Enterprises, CME networks, Mar ...

, coming number one in the annual end of year charts in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Žbirka had some performances with

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

in 2012. Asteroid 5895 Žbirka, discovered by Czech astronomer

Zdeňka Vávrová Zdeňka Vávrová (born 1945) is a Czech astronomer. She co-discovered periodic comet 134P/Kowal-Vávrová. She had observed it as an asteroid, which received the provisional designation 1983 JG, without seeing any cometary coma. However, lat ...

in 1982, was named in his honor (the official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 27 August 2019 ()). He died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 10 November 2021, leaving behind recorded vocals for his 15th studio album, '' Posledné veci'' (''Last Things''), which was completed by his son David Žbirka in

Konk Studios Konk is the name of a recording studio and record label,

by May 2022.

Discography

;Studio albums * 1980: '' Doktor Sen'' * 1982: ''Sezónne lásky'' * 1983: ''Roky a dni'' * 1984: ''Nemoderný chalan'' * 1986: ''Chlapec z ulice'' * 1988: ''Zlomky poznania'' * 1990: ''K.O.'' * 1993: ''Songs for Children'' (designed for children) * 1994: ''Samozrejmý svet'' * 1997: ''Meky'' * 1999: ''Songs for Boys & Girls'' (designed for children) * 2001: ''

Modrý album ''Modrý album'' (''Blue Album'') is the twelfth studio album by Slovak singer Miroslav Žbirka, released on Universal Music in 2001. Track listing Official releases * 2001: ''Modrý album'', CD, Universal Music, No. 013 754 * 2001: ''Modr� ...

'' * 2005: ''

Dúhy ''Dúhy'' (''Rainbows'') is the thirteenth studio album by Slovak singer Miroslav Žbirka, released on Universal Music in 2005. Track listing Official releases * 2005: ''Dúhy'', CD, Universal Music, No. 987 373-5 * 2006: ''Dúhy: The Bes ...

'' * 2009: ''Empatia'' * 2015: ''Miro'' * 2018: ''Double Album'' * 2022: '' Posledné veci'' ;Export albums * 1981: '' Doctor Dream'' (aka ''Miro'' and/or ''Like a Hero'') * 1982: ''Light of My Life'' * 1983: ''A Giant Step'' (aka ''Dear Boy'') * 1990: ''Step by Step''

Awards

Major awards

Music polls

References

;General * ;Specific

Bibliography

External links

* *
Miroslav Žbirka
at ''

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'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zbirka, Miroslav 1952 births 2021 deaths Slovak expatriates in the Czech Republic 20th-century Slovak male singers Slovak people of English descent Modus (band) members Zlatý slavík winners 21st-century Slovak male singers Czechoslovak male singers Musicians from Bratislava Deaths from pneumonia in the Czech Republic Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)