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Hungarian rock legend János Kóbor (79) dies in COVID – MUSIC VIDEOS
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Omega reported on their Facebook page that János Kóbor, a well-known Hungarian rock legend has died at the age of 79. He held both a Kossuth Prize and a Liszt Ferenc Prize, the highest order of music awards in Hungary.
András Trunkos, the manager of the Omega band, told MTI that the veteran musician, singer, lyricist and composer died on Monday, a short while after was hospitalised due to coronavirus.
His career
János Kóbor was born in 1943 in Budapest and finished his studies at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. His interest in music started during his high school years. Omega was formed by the way that two school bands, in one of which Kóbor also played as a guitarist, merged together. The band’s first performance was in 1962, in the dormitory of the university which Kóbor attended.
At the beginning, the band only played English hits. However, after the major leap of the university gig, their career took off, and they started recording their own songs. From 1971, János Kóbor, nicknamed Mecky, was the sole singer of Omega.
The “golden” team of Omega formulated around ’67-68. The band consisted of János Kóbor and László Benkő singers, György Molnár guitarist, Tamás Mihály bass guitarist, József Laux drummer and last but not least, Gábor Presser keyboardist.
Omega was invited to the UK in 1968 where they were advertised under the name “Omega Red Star”. The band composed their first album in the UK which they recorded at Hanglemezgyár.
Unfortunately, due to the political regime in Hungary back then, Omega’s international career could not take off, but it quickly became one of the most popular beatbands in Hungary. The apex of the era came when they published their album called 10 000 lépés (10,000 steps) with hits like Petróleumlámpa (Petroleum lamp) and the famous Gyöngyhajú lány (Pearls in her hair).
Gyöngyhajú lány (Pearls in her hair) received a prestigious award at the 1st World Popular Song Festival held in Tokyo organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation (Yamaha Music Festival).