Věra Špinarová (22 December 1951 – 26 March 2017) was a Czech singer with an
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
voice.
She was born in
Pohořelice, near
Brno
Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
, Czechoslovakia, and moved to the Czech city of
Ostrava
Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...
with her parents at the age of seven. She learned to play the violin as a child.
Career
Špinarová performed with the rock band
Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...
in the late 1960s.
She then joined rhythm & blues group .
Her first solo LP entitled ''Andromeda'' came out in 1972 under the
Panton label, the rest were published under the
Supraphon label. Špinarova placed third in the 1976
Bratislavská lýra
Bratislavská lýra was a Czechoslovak festival of popular songs that took place every year from 1966 until 1990 and was held in Bratislava. It was renewed in 1997 but cancelled again in 1998. The festival involved national and international co ...
pop song festival, with her song "Lúčenie", which she sang in
Slovak.
In January 1979, Špinarova recorded the song "Jednoho dne se vrátíš" which, set to music from the film ''
Once Upon a Time in the West'', became the biggest-selling song of her career.
Personal life
In 1972 Špinarova married pianist Ivo Pavlík, with whom she had a son called Adam. They divorced in 1984. Her second husband, Vítězslav Vávra, was a singer and drummer.
Death and legacy
On 26 March 2017, Špinarova died at
Motol University Hospital in Prague, four days after suffering a heart attack at a concert in
Čáslav.
Days prior, she had appeared alongside
Martin Dejdar, who imitated her, on stage in the Czech version of
Your Face Sounds Familiar. Her funeral in Ostrava was attended by over 40,000 people.
After her death, the city of Ostrava had a statue created by the sculptor and installed in the city's .
Discography
Source:
* 1972 ''Andromeda''
* 1976 ''Životopis''
* 1979 ''Věra Špinarová 3''
* 1982 ''Meteor lásky''
* 1984 ''Stíny výsluní''
* 1985 ''Věra Špinarová & Speciál '85''
* 1986 ''Věra Špinarová 7''
* 1989 ''Jednoho dne se vrátiš'' (compilation)
* 1993 ''... a pořád tě mám ráda''
* 1994 ''Já si broukám''
* 1996 ''Když se láskám stýská''
* 1996 ''Andromeda''
* 2000 ''Největší hity'' (compilation)
* 2001 ''Za vše můžu já''
* 2002 ''Největší hity 2'' (compilation)
* 2003 ''Věra Špinarová 1 Jednoho dne se vrátíš'' (compilation)
* 2003 ''Věra Špinarová 2 Letní ukolébavka'' (compilation)
* 2004 ''To nejlepší'' (compilation)
* 2005 ''Čas můj za to stál''
* 2005 ''Když se láskám stýská''
* 2011 ''Jednoho dne se vrátíš/Zlatá kolekce'' (3CD compilation)
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinarova, Vera
Czech pop singers
Czech rock singers
Czech women pop singers
Czech women rock singers
1951 births
2017 deaths
People from Pohořelice
20th-century Czech women singers
Musicians from Ostrava
21st-century Czech women singers
Czechoslovak women singers