Viral Video Singer ‘Mr. Trololo’ Dies

Soviet singer Eduard Khil, best known as Internet meme Mr. Trololo from the popular 1976 video in which he belts “I Am Glad, ‘Cause I’m Finally Returning Back Home,” died at age 77 on Monday in Russia.

The clip of Khil went viral after it was uploaded to YouTube in November 2009 (see above) and has since attracted 12.2 million views. In it, he avoids singing censored words in the Russian tune, substituting many of them with “trololo.”

Khil had a stroke in April, which lead to severe brain damage and his death, the Associated Press reported.

The video was often parodied, spawned a mobile app and was used as a bait-and-switch prank similar to Rickroll meme. Reddit played a major role in launching the video into mainstream culture in 2010, and on Monday, the website fittingly featured a thread about his death.

“It is truly a weird world where people around the world mourn the passing of a Soviet era singer who faded into obscurity over 40 years ago until one of his songs was rediscovered and shared globally,” wrote Redditor spkr4thedead51. “Ripley wouldn’t believe it and Asimov couldn’t have written it.”

Khil resurfaced on the web in 2010, recreating the sounds that turned him into a viral sensation (see below). Most recently, London-based designer Stefan van Zoggel turned the Trololo meme into a movie poster, which is now on sale.

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