The musician was 73 years old. The news was shared by the band on their Facebook page.

“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Tamás Mihály, the Kossuth Award and Ferenc Liszt Award winning bassist from the Omega Ensemble, has passed away. He was a defining figure in Hungarian rock music and, in addition to Omega, his solo albums and stage works are also enduring. We will preserve his memory forever, ”says the page.

A few days ago, Omega lost his keyboard player, László Benkő.

“Unfortunately some good friends are already playing upstairs.
Behind the Radics, Pásztory Zoli mixes.
Cserháty pushes there with Péter Máté,
S Otto Schöck and Gyuri Jakab,
Lajos Illés and Judy.
The Heavenly Gang Can’t Shut Up!

What party,
What a party there!
What party,
What a party there!
One day once
I can go in for a long time! “
(Tamás Mihály, 2011, Sky Party)

Tamás Mihály was born on September 24, 1947 into a family of musicians, his father was András Mihály, the director of the opera house. He himself studied classical music in the cello department of the music conservatory.

He played in the Scampolo and Non-Stop bands, then in 1967 he joined Istega Varsányi to replace Omega. He invited his acquaintance, Gábor Presser, to one of the rehearsals, who initially composed songs for them as an outside composer, and then a year later became a full member. The two were the band’s first trained musicians, they contributed greatly to make Omega at the forefront of Hungarian rhythm bands.

Mihály’s first composition in the ensemble is The Legend of the Spanish Guitar, which he sang himself. Also, most of the songs on Omega’s first album, the Hungarian English-language Omega Red Star, can be heard in his voice, because singer János Kóbor was unable to travel to England to record.

At concerts he used to sing the Ten Thousand Steps, originally recorded with Gábor Presser, in duet with Kóbor.

After Presser left, most of his Omega songs were written by him (along with György Molnár), including masterpieces such as Suite or I Don’t Know Your Name. A 7-13. albums, the whole band recorded all the songs as authors, on 14-15. on the album, however, he again owns most of the compositions. He was less involved in making album 16 (due to his 56 drops of blood musical work), but he also wrote songs for this album.

In 1983, he made a solo album titled Synthesizer Magic, in which he processed the compositions of Ferenc Liszt and Richard Wagner. In 2006 he composed the musical 56 Drops of Blood on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1956 revolution.

In 2007 he received the Artisjus award. In 2008, the day of the Hungarian song, he performed as the leader of an occasional Omega Tribute Band, starring József Kalapács, Ildikó Keresztes and Roy. Another solo album was made in 2011, with collaborators such as Charlie Horváth, Tamás Somló, Gábor Presser, Feró Nagy, József Meződi.

He last played with Omega in 2014, although his departure was only confirmed by János Kóbor in April 2017. It was not a beautiful divorce, as we write, Tamás Mihály was in litigation with his mother band for years. In 2017, he said he didn’t even know if he was still a member of the band because he hadn’t been invited to the band’s anniversary press conference, to play on Omega’s new album, or to perform at the year-end concert at the sand. Later also for the delivery of the work of the Phonogram.

The conflict dates back to 2015, when Tamás Mihály announced that he would not participate in Omega’s concert with his former colleagues at the Pancho Arena in Felcsút, because he did not agree with him. According to him, it was actually a “sub-project” marketed under the name Omega. We write about the concert here.



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