Ioan Gyuri Pascu

Ioan Gyuri Pascu
Pascu jamming with the Nightlosers, June 2008
Background information
Birth name	Ioan Ghiurico (Gyurika) Pascu
Also known as	Gyuri Pascu Ghyuri Pascu
Born	(1961-08-31)August 31, 1961 Agnita, Sibiu County, Romania
Died	September 26, 2016(2016-09-26) (aged 55) Bucharest, Romania
Genres	Rock music, rhythm and blues, jazz, folk revival, folk rock, reggae, reggae fusion, parody music
Occupation(s)	Musician, comedian, stage actor, film actor, television actor, writer, schoolteacher, restaurateur
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, harmonica, mandolin, piano
Years active	1977–2016
Labels	Tempo Music
Associated acts	Trandafirii Negri Fundal The Blue Workers Divertis Distractis Radu Captari Lian Cubleşan

Ioan Gyuri Pascu (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈo̯an ˈɡjuri ˈpasku]; also credited as Ioan Ghiurico Pascu, Gyuri Pascu and Ghyuri Pascu; August 31, 1961 – September 26, 2016) was a Romanian pop music singer, producer, actor and comedian, also known for his participation in the comedy troupe Divertis and for his activity in Romanian cinema and television. Moving between rock music, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz, the multi-instrumentalist Pascu founded a number of bands and registered success particularly during the early 1990s, when he was the lead singer of a group known as The Blue Workers. Pascu was the manager of several alternative music acts with his label Tempo Music, and remains an outspoken critic of Romanian commercial radio.

Noted for his impressions and musical acts within Divertis' political satire shows, Pascu was also a successful actor, appearing in film productions such as Lucian Pintilie's An Unforgettable Summer and Cristian Mungiu's Occident, and portraying known characters in Romanian theater in various stage adaptations. He also wrote sports columns, and was also a writer of Christian literature.

Pascu was a native of Agnita (at the time part of Braşov Region, now in Sibiu County), where he graduated from primary school. He was born to an ethnic Romanian father and a half-Hungarian mother; on his mother's side, he was also the descendant of Poles and Slovaks. His mother was a Roman Catholic and his father, like Gyuri, was a Romanian Orthodox. His name reflects his complex heritage: Ioan was chosen as his Romanian name; his second name was the Hungarian Gyurika, but it was recorded as Ghiurico in his birth certificate and personal documents ever since—as Pascu later indicated, this was because neither his father nor the notary were familiar with Hungarian phonology. Pascu, who was fluent in the Hungarian language, preferred the hypocoristic Gyuri.