Emil Dimitrov

Emil Dimitrov (Bulgarian: Емил Димитров) (23 December 1940 – 30 March 2005) was a Bulgarian singer, musician and composer. He is considered to be a legend of Bulgarian pop music, and one of the greatest Bulgarian singers of all time. He was popular for his songs "Ако си дал" ('If you have given'), "Моя страна, моя България" ('My country, my Bulgaria'), "Нашият сигнал" ('Our signal'), "Само един живот" ('Only one lifetime'), "Джулия" ('Julia'), "Арлекино" ('Arlequine'), "Писмо до мама" ('Letter to my mother') and others. Dimitrov was an extremely prolific artist, with 400 songs in his repertoire, and 280 of them being of his own composition; he released 30 albums in his lifetime.

He was born the son of the Bulgarian illusionist Fakira Miti and his French assistant. He went to study at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia.

His career began in 1962, with the premier of his song Arlekino; it won third place at the Sopot International Song Festival that year, and turned him into a star overnight.

In 1970 he was signed to the French record company EMI Pathé-Marconi, which released his first French-language single "L'amour c'est toi". His song Monica (known in Bulgarian as "Моя страна, моя България" ('My country, my Bulgaria') sold out with a circulation of over 500,000 copies in Germany and 100,000 copies in Belgium, although, it was initially banned by Bulgarian censors for "bourgeois influence". In the modern day, it is considered to be an unofficial national hymn in Bulgaria.

He was married twice, and his son Emil was born from his second marriage in 1970.

According to the American magazine Billboard Emil Dimitrov sold over 40 million copies of his albums in Eastern Europe and the USSR.

He died on 30 March 2005, at 64 years of age.