Aki Rahimovski, the beloved frontman of Croatian rock giants Parni Valjak, passed away on January 22, 2022, in a hospital in Novo mesto. He was 66 years old.
The band announced the news on their official Facebook profile with a short statement: “Dear friends! With indescribable sadness in our hearts, we let you know that today, January 22, 2022, Aki Rahimovski fell asleep forever.”
They said goodbye to the singer with his own lines: “Za malo nježnosti, na sve ću pristati, za malo nježnosti, da mogu zaspati”
The official cause of death isn’t known yet. The musician suddenly felt unwell in the morning hours today and was rushed to the hospital in Novo mesto.
Aki Rahimovski was born in Niš on June 5, 1955, and his family soon moved to Skopje. Aki’s father was a music professor, so he sent his son to music school, where seven-year-old Aki started learning piano and singing.
In his teens Aki joined quite a few bands, among them Grupa Vakuum, Krvna braća and Grupa Torr. With the latter he played a festival in Zagreb in 1975. That year he met guitarist and composer Husein Hasanefendić – Hus and Jurica Pađen there. Later that same year, together with the band’s then-manager Vladimir Mihaljek Miho, they put together the first lineup of Parni Valjak: Aki Rahimovski (vocals, piano), Husein Hasanefendić Hus (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Srećko Antonioli (drums), Zlatko Miksić – Fuma (bass guitar) and Jurica Pađen (electric and acoustic guitar).
Over a 30-year career, Parni Valjak put out sixteen studio albums, fourteen singles, five live albums, four compilations and two DVDs. Their first studio album, “Dođite na show!”, came out in 1976 on the Belgrade label PGP-RTB. A year later came the second, “Glavom kroz zid”, released by Zagreb’s Jugoton. In 1979 the third album, “Gradske priče”, arrived, and it also got worldwide distribution under the title “City Kids”. That one and the next album, “Vruće igre” from 1980, were recorded at the CBS studio in Milan. In 1981 the album “Vrijeme je na našoj strani” came out on Suzy, two years later “Glavnom ulicom”, and in 1984 the eighth album, “Uhvati ritam”.
All of the albums went gold and platinum, and total sales have long since passed a few million records. The ninth studio album, “Pokreni se!”, came out in 1985, followed in 1987 by the tenth, “Anđeli se dosađuju?”, which gave the band the famous hit single Jesen u meni. “Sjaj u očima” arrived in 1988, and the band were joined by bassist Zoran Preksavec – Preksi, drummer Dražen Scholz and keyboardist Berislav Blažević – Bero, who came aboard in 1989. In 1990 “Lovci snova” was released, and for the band’s 15th anniversary the live album “Svih 15 godina”, with 29 tracks, followed in 1991. The compilation Pusti nek traje came out that same year. In 1992 one of Croatia’s best guitarists, Marijan Brkić – Brk, joined the band. Along with Dražen Scholz and Berislav Blažević – Bero, he stayed until the band’s breakup. In 1993 Parni Valjak recorded their thirteenth album, “Buđenje”, which won no fewer than six Croatian Porin awards. In 1995 came one of the best-selling Croatian albums of all time and surely the best-selling live album in Croatia so far: the live record “Bez struje: Live in ZeKaeM”. “Zastave” followed in 2000, and then in 2004 the sixteenth studio album, “Pretežno sunčano?”
At the band’s 30th anniversary, Hus decided to wrap up his live activities, while Aki Rahimovski and the rest of the crew carried on and released the studio album “U vremenu izgubljenih” in 2007 under the name Aki. That year Aki and his backing band even played in Australia, where they did five shows. In 2008 Aki disbanded the backing band and hit the road around Serbia with keyboardist Emil Saks.
In autumn 2009, Parni Valjak announced their big comeback with this lineup: Aki, Hus, Brk, Preksi, Bero and new member, drummer Dalibor Marinković – Dado. The band set off on the “Karlovačko live” tour, which took in ten cities. The first show was in Dubrovnik, the last in Čakovec.
Even while devoted to touring, Parni Valjak prove that they’re still right at the top of the Croatian rock scene’s popularity. They still fill every venue with ease. Arena Zagreb and the arena in Varaždin saw new attendance records at their shows. The band regularly visits the bigger cities of the former shared country, and they’ve managed to sell out the arena in Belgrade, considered the fifth-largest hall in Europe, twice.
