Skopje, 16 October 2025 (MIA) - The country and the Balkan region are remembering the late pop star Toshe Proeski, who died 18 years ago on this day in a car accident near Nova Gradishka in Croatia en route to Zagreb.

One of the annual events commemorating Toshe’s death is a marathon with runners running from Nova Gradishka to Krushevo. This year, the 18th marathon in honor of Toshe takes place with fourteen participants.

Kicking off in Nova Gradishka outside a memorial dedicated to Toshe, the marathon runners are expected Thursday on his death anniversary to arrive in Krushevo.

Toshe Proeski’s life ended whilst being an established pop singer with a ten-year music career, which was becoming international. His English language album “The Hardest Thing” was released posthumously. 

Born on January 25, 1981, he started singing as a child, making his first appearance as a fifth-grader in 1992 at the famous children’s music festival “Golden Nightingale”. 

In 2004, Proeski represented the Republic of Macedonia at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul. He was also appointed UNICEF ambassador that year.

He released seven albums, including several in Serbian and Croatian. His last album “Igri Bez Granici (Games Without Borders)” was launched two weeks before the deadly car accident.

His last performance, on October 5, 2007 in Skopje, was a charity concert with money from ticket sales intended to improve conditions in the educational system in Macedonia. 

MIA file photo