Mārtiņš Freimanis (7 February 1977 – 27 January 2011) was a Latvian musician, singer, songwriter, actor, and TV personality. Freimanis was born in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

, but spent his childhood in

Aizpute Aizpute (german: Hasenpoth) is a town in western Latvia's South Kurzeme Municipality in the valley of the Tebra River, northeast of Liepāja. History The territory of modern Aizpute was inhabited by ancient Curonians since the 9th century. St. ...

Career

Music

Mārtiņš Freimanis was the lead singer and songwriter of the popular Latvian rock band "Tumsa". They released 6 albums under the "Microphone Records" label. He also collaborated with other Latvian musicians, writing music, lyrics or both for them. His most popular and successful co-projects were with

Lauris Reiniks Lauris Reiniks (born July 11, 1979 in Dobele, Latvia) is a Latvian pop music singer, songwriter, television host, and actor. Lauris has graduated from Jelgava Music college, studied, although never graduated, communication studies at the Universi ...

(lyrics), "Putnu Balle" (music, lyrics) and "Per" (music, lyrics).

Eurovision

Freimanis represented Latvia in the 2003

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

with the group F.L.Y. He also composed "

The War Is Not Over Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "The War Is Not Over" written by Mārtiņš Freimanis. The song was performed by Walters and Kazha. Songwriter Mārtiņš Freimanis represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Co ...

" for Latvia's

Valters and Kaža Valters and Kaža, known internationally as Walters and Kazha, were a Latvian music duo consisting of Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters. They were best known for representing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "The War ...

, for the 2005

Acting

As an actor, Mārtiņš Freimanis appeared and starred in a musical "Kaupēns Mans Mīļais", TV series "Neprāta Cena" (LTV), "

UgunsGrēks UgunsGrēksThe literal translation of the show name is "The Sin of Fire", which is the normal Latvian term for "Conflagration" is a Latvian daytime soap opera that was broadcast on TV3 Latvia from 2009 until 2017. It was one of the longest-runnin ...

" (TV3) and movies "Man patīk, ka meitene skumst" and "Dancis pa Trim" that came out on big screens after Martin's unexpected and early death.

Death

On 18 January 2011, Freimanis was taken to the Infectology Centre of Latvia in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, with what was first reported to be severe respiratory tract infection. He died nine days later. It was later revealed that Freimanis died of

hepatotoxicity Hepatotoxicity (from ''hepatic toxicity'') implies chemical-driven liver damage. Drug-induced liver injury is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease caused specifically by medications and the most common reason for a drug to be withdrawn fro ...

made worse by

fatty liver Fatty liver disease (FLD), also known as hepatic steatosis, is a condition where excess fat builds up in the liver. Often there are no or few symptoms. Occasionally there may be tiredness or pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. Complicat ...

, and a weak heartbeat, which had caused

chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include leg swelling, feeling tired, vo ...

, and

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

References

1977 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Liepāja 21st-century Latvian male singers Latvian composers Latvian male film actors Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2003 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Latvia Latvian male television actors 21st-century Latvian male actors Actors from Liepāja 20th-century Latvian male singers {{Europe-singer-stub