Roberto Alfonso Farrell (6 October 1949 – 30 December 2010)[2] was an Aruban dancer, singer and DJ. He was a member of the 1970s pop and disco group Boney M.[3]
Farrell was born and raised on the island of Aruba in the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies (later known as the Netherlands Antilles). He left after finishing school at 15 and was a sailor for two years before moving to Norway. He then went to the Netherlands, where he found occasional work as a DJ before finding better opportunities in Germany.
Years with Boney M.
[edit]Farrell, 3rd from the left, performing with Boney M. in 1981Bobby Farrell in 1991
In Germany, he worked mostly as a DJ until producer Frank Farian spotted him for his new Boney M. group. He became the sole male singer in the group, but Farian revealed in 1978 after already existed rumours that Bobby made no vocal contributions to the group's records, with Farian performing the male parts on the songs in the studio. Liz Mitchell said only she, Marcia Barrett and Farian had sung on the hit recordings, adding that Bobby Farrell limited himself vocally to "growling" when performing live in some of the various incarnations of Boney M., including the main 1970s incarnation.[4] Farrell left the group in 1981, after clashes with Farian just in the time that his voice was recorded for the first time (on the double A-side single We Kill the World/Boonoonoonoos)[5] He was replaced by Reggie Tsiboe. Meanwhile, Farrell tried to build a solo career. He re-joined in 1984 and continued as a member until it finally split in 1986. The end was not caused by the problems but because Frank Farian had planned Boney M. as a 10-year project. The German TV show "10 Jahre Boney M." (10 Years of Boney M.) marked the end of Boney M.
Farrell's daughter Zanillya Farrell says Farian deprived Farrell of his rights over Boney M.'s hits, which caused her father to lose all his income after the band split.
When Dad asked Farian for 100,000 marks he was told to sign some papers. He signed away everything – image rights, royalties, the lot. My father lost everything. We had to move in with my grandmother in the Netherlands and live on welfare. After that, Dad started getting angry a lot. But Mum was very smart and realised if you own the name you can use it. Farian had not registered Boney M. all over the world. So that's why Dad could perform in certain countries.[6]
In 1988, Farrell and the three original women reunited.[7] Two remix albums were released, and they performed in several television shows. In France one of their singles reached number 1. Nevertheless, the reunion did not last more than a year. Soon after, Farrell started to tour with his own group performing the band's hits under the name Bobby Farrell's Boney M.
In 1981, he married Macedonian Romani Jasmina Shaban.[8] They had a daughter named Zanillya in 1983, and a son named Zanin. They split in 1995.
He died on the morning of 30 December 2010, in a hotel room in St. Petersburg, Russia, of heart failure.[9] His agent, John Seine said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after performing with his band the evening before.[10][11] Farrell's body was discovered by hotel staff after he failed to respond to an alarm call.[12] Coincidentally, he died on the same date and in the same city as Grigori Rasputin, the subject of one of his group's most iconic songs, and who he had dressed as in some live performances.[13][14] He was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery in Amsterdam.
In season 6, episode 5 ("Demon 79") of the television series Black Mirror, British actor Paapa Essiedu portrayed Farrell through the character of Gaap, a demon who takes the likeness of Farrell as he appeared on stage in the group Boney M. during a performance of the song "Rasputin".
^"Albums by Bobby Farrell". Rateyourmusic.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
