Eduard Khil

Eduard Khil was a Russian singer born in Smolensk in 1934. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory and performed with the Alexandrov Ensemble, a military choir known for patriotic songs. In 1976, he recorded a song called "I Am Very Glad, Because I'm Finally Returning Home," composed by Arkady Ostrovsky. Khil's performance included improvised vocalizations that sounded like "trololo."

Decades later, in 2009, that recording went viral online as a humorous video meme. People around the world started calling him the "Trololo Man." The song became his most recognizable piece, though he had other recordings like "Lesorubyi" and "Zima."

Khil kept performing in Russia and internationally until his death in 2012. The viral attention gave him a late-career spotlight, but he was already known in Russian music circles for his vocal range and work with traditional material.