Roberto Alfonso Farrell, known professionally as Bobby Farrell, was a Dutch dancer, performing artist and singer from Aruba, best known as the male member of the successful 1970s pop and disco group Boney M.
In Germany, he worked mostly as a DJ until producer Frank Farian spotted him for his new Boney M. group. He became the sole male singer in the group, although Farian later revealed that Bobby made almost no vocal contributions to the group's records, with Farian himself performing the male parts on the songs in the studio. Liz Mitchell claimed that only she, Marcia Barrett and Farian had sung on the hit recordings. Farrell did, however, perform live in some of the various incarnations of 'Boney M', including the main 1970s incarnation. Farrell left the group in 1981, after clashes with Farian. He was replaced by Reggie Tsiboe. He re-joined in 1984, and continued as a member until it finally split in 1986. Farrell's daughter Zanillya Farrell claims that Farian deprived Farrell of his rights over Boney M.'s hits, which caused her father to lose all his income after the band split.
When Dad asked Farian for 100,000 marks he was told to sign some papers. He signed away everything – image rights, royalties, the lot. My father lost everything. We had to move in with my grandmother in the Netherlands and live on welfare. After that, Dad started getting angry a lot. But Mum was very smart and realised if you own the name you can use it. Farian had not registered Boney M all over the world. So that’s why Dad could perform in certain countries.
He subsequently toured with his own group performing the band's hits under the name "Bobby Farrell's Boney M.". He also appeared as a dancer in late 2005 in the Roger Sanchez video clip of Turn on the Music.
Later years, death, and legacy
Farrell lived for many years in Amsterdam, in the neighbourhood of Gaasperdam in the borough of Amsterdam-Zuidoost. In 1981 he married Macedonian Romani Jasmina Shaban. They had a daughter named Zanillya in 1983, and a son named Zanin. They split in 1995. He died on the morning of30 December 2010, in a hotel in St. Petersburg, of heart failure. His agent John Seine said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after performing with his band the evening before. Farrell's body was reportedly discovered by hotel staff after he failed to respond to an alarm call. Coincidentally, he died on the same date and in the same city as Grigori Rasputin, the subject of one of the group's most iconic songs, and who he had dressed as in some live performances. He was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery in Amsterdam. His daughter Zanillya Farrell is a rapper. In December 2011, she won the national music prizeGrote Prijs van Nederland in the hip hop category.
