Marek Grechuta

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Marek Grechuta (December 10, 1945 Zamość, Poland - October 9, 2006 Kraków, Poland) was a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist, famous and beloved in Poland throughout his professional musical career.

Born in the town of Zamość, he studied architecture at the Polytechnic University in Kraków. Here he met the composer Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, with whom he founded the student cabaret Anawa in 1967. In that 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 written by him and music by Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. Beginning in 1968 he would win several awards at the Festival of Polish Music in Opole. In 1971 he left Anawa and founded the band WIEM (W Innej Epoce Muzycznej). Marek Grechuta was married with his wife Danuta since 1967 and has one son.

Grechuta scored a large number of popular hits, with his songs often characterized by his 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 Theater in Kraków (1974), and cowrote the musical adapation of Stanisław Witkiewicz's Szalona Lokomotywa (The Crazy Locomotive) with K. Jasiński and Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz in 1977.