Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson, perhaps better known to our readers by the stage name Prins Póló, passed away yesterday after a four-years-long battle with cancer. He was 45 years old.
Svavar, a native of the East Reykjavík neighbourhood of Breiðhólt, has entertained listeners for years through a variety of musical acts, such as Múldýrinu, Rúnk and Skakkamanage, achieving his greatest success as Prins Póló.
“My connection with music and what keeps me going are those short times that I have with myself when I can sit down and make something that I think is clever, that I think is something I want to produce and give away to the universe,” he told the Grapevine in 2019 on the occasion of winning Song of the Year for his track “Líf ertu að grínast” (“Life, are you kidding me”).
Svavar was also a trained graphic designer, at times lending his talents in this field to others, such as when he did the photos for our interview with Hipsumhaps in 2021.
While producing music as Prins Póló since 2010, it was his single “París norðursins” (“Paris of the north”) that really caught the nation’s attention, and launched him into being a household name.
Svavar is survived by three children and their mother, Berglind Häsler. The Grapevine gives our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.
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