Jiří Valenta, a well-known Czech musician and former member of the Olympic band, died at the age of 66. the band announced on their social networks. The group’s management said he died tragically on Tuesday morning, February 24. TASR informs about this according to the Novinky.cz server report.
“The Olympic group announces with deep sadness that the former member of the band, keyboardist Jiří Valenta, who was a part of Olympic in the years 1986-2020 and played hundreds of concerts with the band at home and abroad, has left us forever. Jirka was a prominent personality of the band and a respected musician. His untimely passing hit us hard,” the group said.
Valenta was born on May 4, 1959 and also worked in the bands Capitol, Kentaur, Karamel and Framus 5. He joined Olympic in 1986, when he replaced Miroslav Berka. He left the group for health reasons in March 2020.
“I’m not dying, but I can’t play. I’m totally burnt out, including health problems in the family. I know I’ll definitely get back to music as soon as I get my act together,” wrote Valenta at the time. He was later replaced in the band by Pavel Březina.
“Olympic gave me a great musical experience, I got to know a part of the world with him and had wonderful moments with the boys. He took a piece of my life and some of my youthful ideals, but he definitely gave me a lot more than he took,Valenta declared after leaving Olympic.
