Grzegorz Ciechowski died 23 years ago. “He aroused emotions that are hard to imagine today.”

Grzegorz Ciechowski was a respected musician, composer, instrumentalist and vocalist. In the early 1980s, he became the leader of the Republika band. The group quickly gained popularity thanks to songs such as “Kombinat”, “Biała flaga”, “Sexy Doll”, and “Telefony”.

After releasing two albums in 1986, the band broke up and Grzegorz Ciechowski pursued a solo career under the pseudonym Obywatel GC Then he recorded, among others: “Don't ask about Poland” or “Yes… yes…, it's me.” In the 1990s, Republika's musicians joined forces again, releasing three more albums, including the album “Masakra” in 1998 with “Mamona” and “Departing”.

Ciechowski, as Grzegorz from Ciechów, also released an album of folk music in 1996. He also co-wrote songs by other artists, including: “Zostawcie Titanica” by Lady Pank and Justyna Steczkowska (under the pseudonym Ewa Omernik). He also collaborated with Kasia Kowalska, Kayah and Katarzyna Groniec.

On December 20, 2001, the artist was admitted to the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense in Warsaw after he suddenly fainted. “Examinations revealed a large aortic aneurysm, a very serious condition. If it ruptures, the chances of survival are close to zero,” wrote Leszek Gnoiński in the book “Republika. Nieustanne tango”.

Grzegorz Ciechowski died on December 22, 2001 at the age of 44. The artist's death interrupted the recording of Republika's next album. The urn with the artist's ashes was placed at the Powązki Military Cemetery. President Aleksander Kwaśniewski he posthumously awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

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Speaking about Ciechowski's work, Leszek Gnoiński said a few years ago that each album in his discography is different. – These are books of poems with completely different music. The First Republic is ascetic and new wave. On the second disc, these poems are slightly different. He (Ciechowski – ed.) entered a style similar to the one before “New Situations” (the first album of Republika – ed.). This is a response to martial law; what it was for him and for Poland – assessed Gnoiński.

Music journalist Piotr Miecznikowski emphasized that “Republika was a phenomenon in the 1980s that was ahead of its time.” – Grzegorz Ciechowski and his band aroused emotions that are hard to imagine today – he said, adding that Ciechowski “was an artist who created a new quality in the then somewhat unleavened Polish rock.” – He came up with the concept of the band, not only the music, but also the entire atmosphere, image and image – said the journalist.

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Journalist Piotr Stelmach also paid attention to the artist's image. – Very characteristic on stage, black and white, with a very specific image. Off stage, I think he was a great guy, simply – he said in 2021, emphasizing that Ciechowski “was an artist of flesh and blood.”

When asked on TVN24 what the phenomenon of Republika and Grzegorz Ciechowski's texts was, he replied that “among other things, Grzegorz did not write about one specific year, day or event.” – Let's pay attention: whether these are “Biała flaga”, “Telefony”, or whether these are lyrics from Republika's first album “New situations” or from the second album “Nieustanne tango”. No matter what decade we assign these texts to, everything is correct and universal – Stelmach pointed out.

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