OK, this is quite a claim to make but just mention his name anywhere in the Balkans and you'll see what we mean. Proeski was born in Prilep and grew up in Kruševo as the son of an Aromanian family. After his musical talent was discovered at the age of 12, he was chosen to perform at the popular children's song festival Zlatno Slavejče (eng.: Golden Nightingale) in Skopje, performing the song "Јаs i mојоt dеdо" in Aromanian language.[6][7][8] This was his first public music performance; however, his successful career began in 1996 when he participated in the teenage music festival Melfest in Prilep.
Superstardom
After spending his time in recording studios in Athens, Greece, Proeski released his third album "Ako me Pogledneš vo Oči" ("If You Look into My Eyes") on October 2002 in Macedonian and Serbian. After the release, Proeski went on a tour throughout Macedonia doing intense promotion. He also went to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria for further promotion. Proeski won Beovizija in Belgrade on April 2003, with "Čija Si" ("To Whom Do You Belong?"), a song which became a huge hit in Macedonia and the other former republics. This song was due to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 but the EBU stated that too many countries wanted to enter in that year and so some would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro (who participated as one country at the time) were one of them.
During the early morning of 16 October 2007, at approximately 6:20 a.m., Proeski died in a car accident on the Zagreb–Lipovac highway near Nova Gradiška, Croatia. He was a passenger along with his manager Ljiljana Petrović in a Volkswagen Touareg driven by Georgij Georgijevski. The Touareg crashed into the back of a truck and then into the median barrier, killing Proeski instantly, crushing the third vertebrae of his neck, although the truck sustained no damage. Proeski was asleep in the front passenger seat at the time of the crash. Of the other two passengers, only the driver suffered serious injuries (head trauma). His longtime girlfriend Andrijana Budimir is an international handball player.
Proeski's body arrived at midnight in Skopje by helicopter of the Macedonian army, and was transported by car to his home town of Kruševo. Grieving citizens gathered to pay their last respects at the airport and also in Macedonia Square. The Embassy of the United States of America, the USAID and the Diplomatic mission of the European Union published official statements on the death of Toše Proeski.[12][13][14] 17 October was pronounced a national day of mourning in Macedonia.[2] The three days following his death were pronounced days of mourning in the City of Kruševo.[15]
After his death, the government of the Republic of Macedonia, gave him the title "Honorable citizen of Macedonia
State funeral
Toše's grave in Kruševo has become a pilgrimage point
The government organized an official state funeral[16] for Proeski, which was held 17
