Singer Eduard Khil, aka Mr. Trololo, dies

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Eduard Khil was a beloved Soviet crooner who won sudden international stardom two years ago when a 1976 video of him singing "trololo" instead of the song's censored words became a global Internet hit.

Khil, known as Mr. Trololo, died Monday at age 77.

He had been hospitalized in St. Petersburg since a stroke in early April that left him with severe brain damage. The stroke was the cause of his death, said Tatyana Mamedova of Petersburg-Kontsert, which organized Khil's concerts.

Khil was a top Soviet performer during the 1960s and the 1970s, but his star faded in the 1980s as musical tastes changed and the Soviet Union opened up to the West.

In 2010, a video of him performing "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home" in 1976 was uploaded onto YouTube and quickly got more than 2 million hits.

The music was written by well-known Soviet composer Arkady Ostrovsky, but the lyrics were about a cowboy riding across a prairie while his sweetheart knitted stockings for him, a sentimental view of America that didn't sit well with Soviet censors during the Cold War.

Khil said that he was told to change the words if he wanted to perform the song, so he sang a vocalized version that came out sounding like "trololo."

The crooner said that his grandson first told him about his new international fame. Khil won over YouTube viewers with his rich baritone, eccentric delivery and radiant smile.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Khil's wife and son.