Vaska Ilieva

Vaska Ilieva was a Macedonian folk singer, often called the queen of Macedonian folk song. She was born on 21 December 1923 in Čair, a part of Skopje, into a family of musicians; her father, Todor Boškov Velkov, was a well-known gajda (bagpipe) player.

She began her career before 1950 as a dancer and singer in the State Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances Tanec. Her style of singing and her voice soon made her very popular, and she sang at countless concerts in Macedonia, across Yugoslavia and the Balkans, and wherever Macedonians lived abroad. She toured Europe, the Americas and Australia and received honours in many countries. Her repertoire ran to more than 800 songs, and in Macedonia and the diaspora she was called a living legend and an ambassador of Macedonian folk music.

She wrote "Zemjo makedonska" in the 1950s and first sang it on television in 1959; the song has since been sung by many others, among them Vlado Janevski. She is also remembered for "Imala majka", "Izlegol Neven Pejo", "Air da ne storiš majko" and "Sestra kani brata na večera", and she recorded duets with Aleksandar Sarievski. Her records include Dojdi, libe, do večer (1971), Zemjo makedonska (1977), Pusta mladost brgu pominuva (1984) and Imala majka (1996).

Vaska Ilieva died on 4 May 2001 in her native Skopje, at the age of 77. Ten years later a concert in her honour was held at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet, with well-known singers and her successor, Suzana Spasovska.