Very sad news coming from Latvia today… The country’s 2005 entrant (as part of Walters and Kazha) and one of the most famous Latvian singers, Valters Fridenbergs, has unfortunately passed away, after a long-term fight with cancer. He was only 30 years old.
This vicissitude started two years ago for Valters Fridenbergs, when he was diagnosed with the illness. From the beginning, he tried to cope with his serious health problem calmly and bravely. He underwent three chemotherapy cycles, as well as one operation. Τheir success gave optimistic clues to his progress.
Last year, Valters had asked for the public’s financial help, in order to continue his treatment in Germany, through the “Ziedot.lv” charity portal. The people’s response was very high, with more than 132,000 Euros raised. He finally moved to Germany for his therapies, where he stayed from January to April. Then, he was allowed to return to his homeland and participate in the filming of “Gudrs, vēl gudrāks”, a new production of the Latvian broadcaster LTV.
Despite the fact that there had been a significant improvement in his state of health, things didn’t go for him as expected. During the summer, he was diagnosed with cancer in his lymph nodes, which could hardly be dealt with.
His long-time colleague and close friend, with whom they appeared together on the Eurovision stage in 2005, Kārlis Būmeisters, wrote the following on his Twitter account:
Such a beautiful day, so deep sorrow. My brother, who I have known for as long as myself, is now gone. Let the wind blow you up.
It will be very short.
.
Tik skaistā dienā tik smagas skumjas. Mans brālis, večuks, kuru pazinu tik pat ilgi, cik sevi, nu ir prom. Lai Tev spārnos vējš, bračiņ, un sadziedamies nākamreiz.
Tevis ļoti pietrūks. pic.twitter.com/P05JK3VBJ2
— Kārlis Būmeisters (@KarlisBumeister) October 17, 2018
Valters Fridenberg at Eurovision
Valters Fridenbergs earned the right to represent Latvia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, along with Kārlis Būmeisters, with whom they formed the duo Walters and Kazha. With their ballad The war is not over, they managed to achieve one of Latvia’s best Eurovision results, ending up 5th in the Grand Final with 153 points.
He tried to represent again the Baltic country as a solo artist in 2009, but he was eliminated in the national selection’s Eirodziesma semi-final. Valters was also part of the Latvian commentary for the contest between 2011 and 2017, as well as LTV’s spokesperson at the 2012 Eurovision edition.
