Georgian singer whose performance was launched into space by NASA dies

Singer Rostom Saginashvili, whose performance of a popular Georgian folk song in a duo with Ilia Zakaidze was launched into space by NASA in 1977, has passed away, with institutions and individuals of the folk performance scene sending in tributes on Sunday.

The State Folklore Centre, a body working on preservation and promotion of national singing, marked the legacy of Saginashvili by calling him "an incomparable performer of songs from [the Georgian provinces of] Kartli and Kakheti".

The national institution said the names of Saginashvili and Zakaidze had become "known to the [wider] folklore world" when a recording of their performance of Chakrulo, a celebrated folk song, was sent into space "along with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and the sounds of birdsong [from Earth]".

Attached to Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts launched by NASA as part of the Voyager Golden Records project, the song was recorded on a vinyl with the aim of introducing Earthly sounds and national cultures to potential extra-terrestrial life.

The song found its place on the space-bound gramophone recording along with 27 pieces of music, including works by Johann Sebastian Bach, a track featuring rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry and a piece performed by Chinese guqin artist Guan Pinghu. The iconic Georgian folk song was the only musical piece selected from republics of the Soviet Union.

The event's 40th anniversary was marked in 2017 with an interactive talk in Tbilisi involving NASA Mars Engineering Manager Rob Manning, as well as a meeting between former Voyager program manager John Casani and Saginashvili.

The State Folklore Centre said Anzor Kavsadze, the leader of the State Ensemble of Georgian Song and Dance, had discovered Saginashvili singing in a choir in Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti, and enrolled him in his troupe, paving a way for further exposure of the singer that led to the historic event in 1977.

Saginashvili, who performed in international tours with Georgian folk song ensembles in countries including the United States and France, told an interview with the Georgian edition of the National Geographic magazine in 2015 he missed stage performances and hoped "stars and planets" could listen to the recording of his voice on the Voyager vinyl. The performer's singing career ended in the 1990s due to age and poor health.