- Title: Czech government approves state funeral for late singer Karel Gott - PM
- Date: 2nd October 2019
- Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (OCTOBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) 59-YEAR-OLD MOURNER, ALES STRNAD, SAYING: "In 1968 I visited my aunt's flat in Konvikt Street and a tank was aiming at the window. There I heard for the first time 'Lady Carneval' (one of Gott's best-known songs) and I, an 8-year-old boy, started dancing. I relaxed from all this stress from the invasion. I didn't know him before and since that time I have my personal relationship with that song, I always loved it, I was dancing, playing it on violin and I always appreciated him." FAMILY LIGHTING CANDLE / YOUNG GIRL SETTING CANDLE DOWN AT MEMORIAL / PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS AND CANDLES FLOWERS AND CANDLES ON MEMORIAL VARIOUS OF MAN LAYING FLOWERS AND LIGHTING CANDLES CANDLES AND FLOWERS JOURNALISTS STANDING OUTSIDE HOUSE
- Embargoed: 16th October 2019 16:16
- Keywords: Czech singer Karel Gott Czech singer dies aged 80 Czechoslovakia Czech pop music
- Location: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA003AZEOTA1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Czech government approved a state funeral for singer Karel Gott, who died aged 80 on Tuesday (October 1), Prime Minister Andrej Babis told journalists on Wednesday (October 2).
Gott, who shot to stardom under Communism and remained popular after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, was dubbed the "Sinatra of the East" by the local press while on tour in Germany in 1967.
Babis said the government was seeking approval from Gott's family to hold a state funeral, and that it would be a day of national mourning.
Outside Gott's house in Prague, mourners gathered to lay flowers and candles.
Fifty-nine year-old mourner Ales Strnad said he had first heard Gott's 'Lady Carneval' while visiting his aunt's house during the suppression of the 1968 Prague Spring, inspiring a lifelong love of the song and Gott's music.
Gott's wife, Ivana, announced his death on Wednesday on the singer's official website. Gott had announced in September he was battling acute leukaemia.
(Production: Jiri Skacel, Lewis Macdonald) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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