Vaska Ilieva

Vaska Ilieva , Macedonian: Васка Илиева, (born December 21, 1923 in Skopje ; † May 4, 2001 ibid) was a Macedonian singer of folk music style . She began her career in the 1950s with minor appearances as a singer and dancer. Her singing soon brought her great popularity within Macedonia, which soon spread to Yugoslavia . From the 1970s onwards, Ilieva was regarded as the "Queen" of Macedonian folk music. From this time on she also competed in all of Europe and the USA as well as Canada , where she also found supporters among the Macedonian immigrants. From the 1980s and 1990s, she concentrated her singing primarily on the patriotic texts of the independent Macedonia, which at that time mainly reflected the sensitivities in her country. She died in May 2001 at the age of 77.