Lajos Illés, founder of the legendary band Illés, has died at the age
65. The Kossuth prize-winning keyboard player, composer and singer
founded Illés together with his brother, Károly Illés, in 1960.
Pictured here: Illés at the Magyar Rádió studio on August 27, 1990.
Photo: Szabolcs Hámor (MTI)
65. The Kossuth prize-winning keyboard player, composer and singer
founded Illés together with his brother, Károly Illés, in 1960.
Pictured here: Illés at the Magyar Rádió studio on August 27, 1990.
Photo: Szabolcs Hámor (MTI)
The Ministry of Education and Culture has expressed its condolences.
Lajos Illés founded the predecessor to Illés together with his brother, saxophonist Károly Illés, and guitarist István Zsiga in 1957. Illés was officially formed in 1960. János Bródy joined the group in 1964, after which Illés released its first album, featuring two original songs and covers of several foreign hits. The band's initial repertoire included Dixieland numbers as well as popular Italian songs.
Illés expanded later with the inclusion of Levente Szörényi on guitar and vocals and his brother Szabolcs Szörényi on bass and vocals, along with Zoltán Pásztory on drums.
The band found enormous success until their breakup in 1973.
Following the death of drummer Pásztory in the spring of 2005, Illés played two farewell shows which have been released on DVD.
Lajos Illés was a recipient of the Kossuth prize, Hungary's highest award for artists.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
