Boney M lead singer found dead in Russia

BOBBY Farrell, of the 1970s European chart-topping group Boney M, was found dead in his hotel bed yesterday while on tour in Russia, his agent said. He was 61. He failed to respond to a wake-up call by hotel staff.

Farrell appeared as scheduled in St Petersburg on Wednesday night, but complained of breathing problems before and after his show, said the agent, John Seine.

Farrell, who lived in Amsterdam, was more a dancer and showman than singer when he fronted Boney M in the 1970s and ’80s. The group, based in Germany, broke into the charts with Daddy Cool and Sunny in 1976. Two years later their version of By the Rivers of Babylon sold nearly 2 million records in Britain alone, keeping it No 1 for five weeks.

Alphonso “Bobby” Farrell left his home on the Caribbean island of Aruba at 15 to work as a sailor, then drifted to Norway and Germany to pursue a career as a DJ, according to his official biography.

He was chosen in 1974 to front the Caribbean group Boney M, put together by German singer and songwriter Frank Farian, who did much of the recorded singing. Boney M had 38 Top 10 hits, including 15 number ones in Germany. They included Brown Girl in the Ring and Mary’s Boychild.

In 1978 Boney M was the first Western music group invited by a Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, to perform in the Soviet Union. A Soviet military plane flew the performers from London to Moscow, where they sang for an audience of 2,700 Russians in Red Square.