Todor "Toše" Proeski (, ; 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Macedonian and Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular across multiple countries in Southeast Europe. Proeski has been dubbed as the "Balkan Elvis". He was also acclaimed for his commitment to humanitarian causes, including serving as UNICEF ambassador and holding charity concerts. He died in a highway car crash in Croatia in 2007 at the age of 26, and received substantial posthumous recognition.
Biography
Proeski was born in Prilep on 25 January 1981 into an Aromanian family and grew up in Kruševo. His grandfather was an actor in the Kruševo theater. He studied in primary school in Kruševo, and secondary music school in Bitola. Professors of the latter school had Proeski moved from the department of clarinet to singing as he did not have a clarinet because his parents could not afford it. He studied at the Faculty of Musical Arts in Skopje. Proeski was a devout Orthodox Christian and member of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Per music scholar Dave Wilson:
Musician Hristo Hristovski - Mularot made the suggestion to Proeski's parents that he should perform at the popular children's song festival Zlatno Slavejče (English: Golden Nightingale) in Skopje with a song of his. Thus at the age of 12, he performed with the song "Јаs i mојоt dеdо" (Me and my grandfather) in the Aromanian language. He won the 1996 Melfest festival in Prilep at the age of 15, with the performance of the song "Yesterday" by The Beatles.
In 1997, he performed the song "Pušti me" (Let me go) at MakFest. In the same year, he was an extra in the film The Peacemaker. In 1998, he performed at the Skopje Festival with Kristijan Gabroski's song "Stay to the End", while also performing the song "Usni na usni" (Lips on lips) by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski, at the festival "Ohrid Troubadours". For the latter song, Proeski received the second prize from the jury. In November of the same year, Proeski received the "Grand Prix" award at the Eurofest festival in Skopje for the song "Sun in Your Blonde Hair" by Grigor Koprov, Ognen Nedelkovski and Konstantin Ikonomov. In 1999, at the Skopje Festival, Proeski sang his third big hit "Your Kisses on My White Shirts" by the same Koprov-Nedelkovski duo. He signed a contract with Avalon Production, after which his debut album "Somewhere in the Night" was released in 1999. In the summer of the same year, Proeski held his first concert at the Skating Rink in Skopje. In 2000, Proeski participated in the Skopje Fest (where the Macedonian representative for Eurovision was selected) with the song "Tears Make a Golden Ring" by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski. The song, despite winning the television vote, won third place, behind Karolina Gočeva and the winners XXL. After this, he released his second album "Sinot Božji" (The Son of God), which reached the top of the Macedonian charts. His second album was promoted in June 2000. In addition to Koprov and Nedelkovski, Proeski also collaborated with Kire Kostov, Miodrag Vrčakovski, Mirjana Danailoska, etc, for the album. After his performance at the Slavic Bazaar at Belarus with the song "Tajno moja" (My Secret), Proeski became known to the international public. His first two albums each had number one hits in Macedonia, and for both, he received Album of the Year and Best Male Vocalist at the Macedonian show Golden Ladybug of Popularity. After Serbian production house BK Sound purchased the rights to promote "Sinot Božji" around the former Yugoslavia, he received an Oscar of popularity in Belgrade by public vote.
In 2001, Proeski toured Australia, where he was welcomed by the Macedonian community. In the same year, Proeski placed second at the Sunčane Skale festival held on 12, 13 and 14 July in Herceg Novi with the song "Sun in Your Blond Hair". The readers of the newspaper Večer declared him as the television personality of 2001 by vote. Proeski began to gain fame across former Yugoslavia when he began to release songs in Serbian and have promotional tours around the Balkans in 2002. In the summer of 2002, after the expiration of his contract with Avalon, Proeski signed a contract with Final Cut Productions and Ljiljana Petrović became his manager. Apart from the former Yugoslavia, Proeski also toured and performed in Greece and Bulgaria. He recorded his third album "If You Look Me in the Eyes" (released in 2002) in Macedonian and Serbian. This album was made in Athens and was promoted in Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria. Most songs were written and produced by Greek songwriter Phoebus and producer and arranger Manolis Vlachos, with lyrics by Serbian lyricist Marina Tucaković. The songs had been previously composed by Phoebus and Vlachos, previously released by Greek pop singers with Greek lyrics and musical arrangements almost identical to those used by Proeski. For the album, Proeski was awarded with Album of the Year, Best Male Vocalist and Song of the Year at Golden Ladybug of Popularity, and all 5 songs were number one on the Macedonian charts. Macedonian Romani singer Esma Redžepova appeared in the song "Magija" (Magic) and its music video from this album. The album also became the most pirated, which earned him the nickname "King of the Pirates".
In January 2003, he was accompanied on stage by Redžepova for his United Kingdom debut at the Equinox club in London's Leicester Square. In April 2003, Proeski won in the Belgrade music festival Beovizija with the song "Čija si" (Whose Are You), made by Leontina Vukomanović and Željko Joksimović. Proeski was supposed to represent Serbia and Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song. However, Serbia and Montenegro did not participate that year. The song became a hit in the former Yugoslav countries. In 2003, he received training in New York from the vocal coach of Luciano Pavarotti, William Riley, to improve his singing. After his return to Macedonia, Proeski held charity concerts in cities across Macedonia. In the same year, he became UNICEF's regional goodwill ambassador. Proeski helped equip the hematology department of the Children's Hospital in Skopje. In 2004, Proeski was chosen by broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television to represent Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey. The song "Angel si ti" (You are an angel) was chosen as Proeski's entry for Eurovision. Proeski received the blessing of the archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Stephen of Ohrid, on his departure for the contest. At the Eurovision, Proeski performed the English version of the song, where he placed 14th out of 24 contestants, gaining 47 points. In 2004, Proeski released the album "A Day for Us". In September 2004, he became a national goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and received the Mother Theresa Humanitarian Award. On that occasion, he recorded the song "Za ovoj svet" (For This World) by Mladen Marković and Vesna Malinova. It became the anthem of UNICEF.
At the end of 2004, Proeski signed a contract with Dallas Records to release his next album in Croatia and Slovenia. Proeski recorded the song "Krajnje vreme" together with the Slovene singer Anja Rupel. In 2005, Proeski's fifth album "Po tebe" (After You) was a hit in the Balkans, rising to the top charts in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Most of its songs were authored by Miro Buljan and Antonija Šola, and the Macedonian translations were made by Vlado Janevski. A fictionalized version of him as a superhero appeared in the Macedonian comic "Super Toše" in 2005. In an interview for Serbian newspaper Blic in 2005, he stated: Proeski sang songs in Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian and Aromanian. His album "Božilak" (Rainbow), released in 2006, consists of 14 Macedonian traditional songs sung in arrangements with a symphonic orchestra. Such songs include Zajdi, zajdi, jasno sonce, More sokol pie and Jovano, Jovanke. The arrangers of the songs have been Ilija Pejovski, Saša Nikolovski and Soni Petrovski. The album was released in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia. In the same year, he recorded "Srce nije kamen" (The heart is not a rock) in Croatian as the opening theme for the Croatian soap opera Zabranjena ljubav (Forbidden Love), whose lyrics were written by Antonija Šola. Proeski also had a role in one episode of the show.
In August 2007, Proeski released his final album "Games Without Borders" (Igri bez granici/Igra bez granica) in Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Slovenia. The authors of the songs include Nikša Bratoš, Miro Buljan, Miroslav Rus, Antonija Šola, Vesna Malinova and Zoran Leković. Many of the songs were initially made in Serbo-Croatian, and then translated into Macedonian for the Macedonian-language release. The songs "Cherish", "Games Without Borders", and "Are You Happy" became hits in all Balkan countries. In the same year, Proeski also recorded the fan anthem "Macedonia Cheers for You", by Aleksandar Mitevski, a song that has been performed before Macedonian sport matches. His final concert in the City Stadium in Skopje was held on 5 October, a charity co-organized by USAID and the Ministry of Education, for the reconstruction of schools, and was attended by over 25,000 people. During his life, he was referred to as the "Balkan Elvis" and was admired for his charisma and vocal abilities across multiple genres such as pop music and traditional music. When he was not performing, Proeski continued to study classical music in Skopje.
Death During the early morning of 16 October 2007, at approximately 6:30 am, Proeski died in a car accident on the Zagreb–Lipovac highway near Nova Gradiška, Croatia. He was a passenger along with his manager Ljiljana Petrović in a Volkswagen Touareg. The Touareg crashed into the back of a truck trailer, killing Proeski instantly. The Touareg then crashed into the median barrier, after the trailer threw the car aside. None of the airbags were activated. The truck sustained no damage. The car was driven by his driver and friend Gjorgji Gjorgievski. Proeski was asleep in the front passenger seat at the time of the crash. He was 26 years old. Of the other two passengers, only the driver suffered serious injuries (head trauma). According to Croatian authorities and experts, the Touareg crashed at , while the speed limit on that road has been . Per Macedonian experts, the speed was slightly lower, between . According to them, none of the functions on the vehicle failed, and that the airbags did not open because the vehicle's deceleration was in a level where they could not be activated.
Immediately after Proeski's death was announced, the citizens of Macedonia, gathered in major squares across the country, bringing candles, flowers and messages of condolence in his memory. Similar gatherings took place around the Balkans, especially in the former Yugoslav countries and the diaspora. People visited the Macedonian embassies and signed the commemorative books, lit candles at squares, TVs played his music and discussed his life. Members of Macedonia’s parliament observed a minute of silence. Television and radio stations across Macedonia were showing his concerts, music videos, tributes, and songs.