Marek Grechuta

Marek Grechuta (December 10, 1945 Zamość, Poland - October 9, 2006 Kraków, Poland) was a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist. Born in Zamość, he studied architecture at Cracow University of Technology. There he met the composer Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, with whom he founded the student cabaret Anawa in 1967. In the same year he was awarded second place in the VI National Contest of Student Musicians (VI Ogólnopolski Konkurs Piosenkarzy Studenckich) and also received an award for Tango Anawa, with lyrics by him and music by Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. In 1968 he won several awards at the Festival of Polish Music in Opole. In 1969 he played a minor role in Andrzej Wajda's film Polowanie na muchy (Hunting Flies). In 1971 he left Anawa and founded the band WIEM (W Innej Epoce Muzycznej, In a Different Musical Epoch). Grechuta scored a large number of popular hits, with his songs often characterized by use of poetic and literary elements. He co-authored, along with P. Birula and K. Szwajgier, the music for Exodus (written by L. A. Moczulski) at the STU Theatre in Kraków (1974), and co-wrote the musical adaptation of Stanisław Witkiewicz's Szalona lokomotywa (The Crazy Locomotive) with K. Jasiński and J. K. Pawluśkiewicz in 1977. In 2003 he collaborated with the group Myslovitz and re-recorded their older song Kraków. His song Dni, których nie znamy (The Days We Don't Know Yet) is the anthem of the football club Korona Kielce. Marek Grechuta died in 2006. He is survived by his wife Danuta (whom he married in 1970) and son Łukasz. He is buried in the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.