Romanian guitar player and rock singer Adi Barar who founded the hard rock band Cargo during the communist era has died after he fell sick with Covid-19, the band said Monday. He was 61.
“He lived all his life intensely on stage, alongside the public, surrounded by your good thoughts, and he fought until the end. God rest your soul, Adi Barar,” said a message posted on Facebook.
The popular musician succumbed to the virus early Monday and died at the Timisoara County Hospital where he was admitted on February 25.
With his long hair and round glasses, he had something of the Ozzie Osbourne about him, albeit a more handsome version, and one who didn’t seek the limelight.
The band which toured Romania extensively produced some of the most popular contemporary music in Romania, at times using rock to evoke a stirring and melancholy mood. Cargo’s best-known single is „If only the rain would stop” which was released in 1998 is a prime example of rock meeting melancholy and longing.
“Hard to believe and to bear. A friend has gone. RIP,” wrote respected Romanian musical journalist Andrei Partos, posting an interview of the musician on his Facebook page.
“I’d like him to remain in our memories like this. This was one of his visits to Foc de P.A.E.’ (Andrei Partos’ radio show). He battled with the illness as long as he could. The world of rock will be poorer without Adi Barar.”
„He was a very gracious person! Generous, kind and well-balanced,” Andrei Partos told universul.net.
Timisoara where Adi Barar lived reported an infection rate of 7.48 cases per 1,000 residents over the weekend, the highest rate for any Romanian city.
The city and surrounding area went into lockdown on Monday.
Adi Barar founded Cargo in 1985 during the communist regime in his home city of Timisoara and remained in the band until his death. Over the years, the group had more than a dozen members who joined and then left the band.
The band’s best-selling album was Ziua vrajitoarelor” (Day of the Witches), released in 1998.
There was no word about funeral plans. He leaves a wife, a daughter and a granddaughter.
