Gabi Luncă (16 October 1938 – 2 April 2021), often regarded as "Queen of

lăutărească music Lăutărească music (, ) is a musical tradition widespread in the historical regions of Romania (Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania. Its performers, known as lăutari, are professional musicians, typically of Romani origin, who play at wedding ...

", was a Romanian-

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

lăutar musician. Born in

Vărbilău Vărbilău is a commune in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Coțofenești, Livadea, Podu Ursului, Poiana Vărbilău, and Vărbilău. Geography The commune is located in the central part of the county, north ...

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

, Romania, she was also a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer.

Life

Her father was also part of the ''lăutari'', a very respected

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist because he was a "notist" (he knew how to read music). Her mother died when she was very young and this left a major impression on her life; many of her songs deal with the "mother" theme. She was a favorite of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

's communist ruler

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

and his wife Elena. In the later part of her life, Gabi Luncă converted to

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

and started singing exclusively religious music. She was married to the great

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

ist Ion Stan-Onoriu. Gabi Luncă died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, at the age of 82.

References

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...

- Gabi Luncă collection edition - April 16, 2007 * Jurnalul Național - Gabi Luncă collection edition - June 23, 2008
Biography

External links

Video recording from the archives of the television - Gabi Lunca singing "My mother is a florist"
1938 births 2021 deaths People from Prahova County Romanian folk singers Romanian women folk singers Lăutari and lăutărească music Romanian Pentecostals 20th-century Romanian women singers 20th-century Romanian singers 21st-century Romanian women singers 21st-century Romanian singers Romanian Romani people Romani singers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania {{Romania-singer-stub