November 13, 2020 – After a short and severe illness, Croatian singer and the happiest "bećar" on the Croatian stage, Krunoslav Kico Slabinac, lost the battle of his life.

As it was confirmed for Večernji list, Croatian musician Krunoslav Kico Slabinac passed away today at the age of 77. He passed away this morning at 6.50 am in the hospital room of the Zagreb KBC, where he had been for three months. He was hospitalized this summer due to coronary heart disease, but despite a successful operation, his recovery was complicated. Everyone hoped he would get better, but Kićo couldn't stand it.

"Unfortunately, it is true, he passed away in the early morning hours. Despite all the best methods of treatment, both surgical and intensive, the biology of his multiple comorbidities, unfortunately, overcame all our efforts," confirmed for Večernji list prof. Dr. Hrvoje Gašparović, a cardiac surgeon from KBC Zagreb who operated on Kićo Slabinac's heart this summer.

Kićo underwent routine heart surgery, but his recovery did not go as expected because his chest wound did not heal well due to its thickness.

The Slavonian musician, famous for the hits "Inati se Slavonijo" and "Zbog jedne divne crne žene" spent his last days on a respirator due to deteriorating respiratory status, all as a result of routine heart surgery that went awry in August. Namely, the musician was first predicted to improve and was in the phase of separation from the respirator, but unfortunately, that did not happen.

Krunoslav Kićo Slabinac was born on March 28, 1944, in Osijek. As 24sata reports, he went to music school in Osijek where his first instrument was a tamburitza, but he also learned to play guitar.

He achieved his first success in his career with the rock band Dinamiti, of which he was the founder. After returning from military service, he decided to continue his music career as a solo performer and moved to Zagreb where he performed songs by Tom Jones and Elvis Presley.

He lived in the USA in the mid-1970s, and upon his return to Croatia, he turned to the original folk music for which he is now known. During his long career, Kićo has collaborated with numerous authors such as Đorđe Novković, Zdenko Runjić, Arsen Dedić, and many others.

Last year marked five decades of his music career. His unique voice was unavoidable at festivals and shows, as well as on records and CDs. Interpretations of Christmas carols are still the most sought after and best-selling today.

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