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Boney M frontman checks out at 61

Disco star Bobby Farrell found dead in Russian hotel

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Boney M frontman, Bobby Farrell, has died while on tour in Russia.

The BBC reports that the 70s disco star was found dead in a hotel room in St Petersburg, Russia, where he had been performing.

His agent, John Seine, confirmed that Farrell, 61, had complained of breathing problems before and after a gig on Wednesday. But the cause of his death is yet to be determined.

Farrell, who was the only man in the chart-topping group that had hits which included Brown Girl in the Ring, Rivers of Babylon and Rasputin, was due to travel to Rome, Italy, for a television appearance there tomorrow.

He became Boney M's frontman in 1974, after the band was created by German singer and songwriter Frank Farian.

Farrell, who was a Dutch national born in Aruba in 1949, was more of a dancer and performer for the band than a singer. In fact Farian later claimed to have contributed his own vocals to many of the Boney M songs.

Seine described Farrell as "a fantastic person" who was also "quite bizarre".

"He had a big heart but he was explosive," he said. ®

Vocally-challengednote

Farian also produced Milli Vanilli, and confessed in 1990 to getting session singers to record songs for Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. When the scandal broke Milli Vanilli lost their best new artist Grammy after it was revealed that the men had lip-synched on all of the songs.

Pilatus died of a drugs overdose in 1998. But Morvan was recently spotted making a comeback of sorts.

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Rivers of Babylon

Rivers of Babylon - A song by the Melodians played by Boney M.

It was based on Psalm 137 which finishes with:

"O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. "

The rather cheerful subject of bashing your enemy's children to death on rocks.

Ain't religion sweet...

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Weird

This is beyond weird - he dies on the same date in the same city as someone he famously sang about - hmmm

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Did he fall or was he putsched?

You never really die in Russia, you just don't quite finish your sentenc...

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