Singer to Celebrate Five Golden Years in the Hereafter

Do you remember what you were doing on January 2nd, 2000? Neither do we, but that's only because we aren't big fans of Jimmy Zámbó. On 01/02/00 the curly-headed crooner shot himself in the head - perhaps by accident, perhaps on purposed, no one really knows for sure - and left a grieving nation wondering how it would get by without the man known to everyone who loved him, and even some who loathed the very ground he walked on, as Király (the "King"). But now, almost five years after Jimmy's demise, it appears that his career has never been better.

According to a hard-hitting, above-the-fold front page story in today's Blikk, Jimmy is still selling tons of records. Over the past few years, he has moved approximately Ft 250 million (slightly more than €1 million) worth of product, which is a royal sum for a Hungarian singing star, not to mention one who is dead. There are 16 different Jimmy records and one DVD on the market, and together they have sold 150,000-200,000 copies since his death.

Jimmy, who was actually born Imre back in 1958, started his long career as a choirboy in the State Radio Children's Choir. He spent several years touring the United States looking for international success, but eventually returned to Hungary and the life of a revered king in a petite and forgiving kingdom.

According to Blikk his posthumous success vastly exceeds that of such departed Hungarian singing sensations as Zsuzsa Cserháti (1948-2003), Péter Máté (1947-1984) and Pál Szécsi (1944-1974). And if the financial afterlife of the "other" King of popular music is anything to go by, Jimmy's career may have only just begun.