On October 5, 2007, the stadium in Skopje was packed to the rafters. Tose Proeski sang in front of tens of thousands of people, and the concert was dedicated to education and improving conditions in schools. This was his last major meeting with the audience. Eleven days later, he died in a car accident near Nova Gradiška in Croatia.
Tose Proeski was born on January 25, 1981 in Prilep, but grew up in Kruševo. His first serious steps on stage were in 1997, and two years later his debut album “Somewhere in the Night“ was released. Songs like "My Secret", "In Your Hair I'll Sleep", "Stay Until the End" and "Let Me Go" quickly made him one of the most popular names in Macedonian music.
From the Festival Stage to "Eurovision"
Proeski is not only popular in his homeland. He sings in Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian and English, and his songs find an audience in almost all countries of the former Yugoslavia. In 2003, he went to New York, where he studied with vocal pedagogue William Riley, who worked with Luciano Pavarotti.
A year later, he represented Macedonia at the "Eurovision" contest in Istanbul with the song "Life". He ranked 14th, but his participation made him recognizable outside the Balkans. The album “A Day for Us“ solidified his success, and his next projects led him to a broader international career.
Singer with a Cause
For Proeski, music is not just a stage and applause. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the region, recording the song “For This World“ for the organization's causes and receiving the “Mother Teresa“ humanitarian award. Charity concerts hold a special place in his life.
“All concerts are dear to me, but charity ones mean a lot to me because they leave a lasting result“, says Proeski in his last interview for Kanal 5 TV, quoted by “OhridPress“.That is exactly what his last concert in Skopje on October 5, 2007 was like. The funds raised were intended to improve the school environment. On stage, he sang songs from the album “Games Without Borders“, as well as his most popular ballads and duets. The audience responds in unison.
„Ve samak site“
Early in the morning of October 16, 2007, Tose Proeski died in a car accident on the highway between Zagreb and Lipovac, near Nova Gradiška. He was 26 years old. The news caused mourning in Macedonia and a strong reaction throughout the region.
Proeski was buried with state honors in Kruševo and was posthumously declared an honorary citizen of Macedonia. In Skopje, the national arena bears his name, and the memorial house in Kruševo preserves the history of his short but eventful career.
His most recognizable greeting to the audience remains „Ve samak site“ – „I love you all“. These three words sum up both his stage image and the reason his songs continue to resonate: Proeski did not sing just for himself, but for the people in front of him.
Sources: bnr.bg, dariknews.bg, ohridpress.com.mk