Jashar Ahmedovski opens up about the death of his brother Ipche

Jashar Ahmedovski has spoken openly about the grief he still carries more than three decades after his younger brother's death, recounting a missed meeting, a vow he kept on stage and the festival he created in his brother's memory.

Ipche Ahmedovski died in a horrific car crash on the Ibar highway on 30 July 1994, at just 27 years old (in his 28th year of life). Jashar says that, although Ipche was tipped for a brilliant career because of his extraordinary voice and remarkable high notes, fate cut those prospects short.

Remembering the night he will never forget, Jashar described an appointment that never happened. He said he and his brother had agreed to meet at a café, but circumstances kept him away.

"Time does not take away the pain, but it reduces it. If such pain lasted constantly, a person could not live. But the pain is eternal. That night I was supposed to meet him in a café. However, I was late, I was at a composer's place who detained me. Ipche meanwhile left the café and... In the morning at 5 o'clock I heard the news."

Keeping a brother's voice alive on stage

Jashar says the loss changed his life completely. "Since that day my life has been completely different," he told an interview. He also stressed how different their characters were: Jashar as the careful brother, Ipche as the relaxed, temperamental kafana performer who immediately won people over.

Out of devotion to his brother, Jashar made a rare decision in show business: at his appearances he mainly performs Ipche's songs. "I hardly sing other songs, not even my biggest hits. I sing only his songs. When one of his songs starts, the audience goes into a real delirium." He added: "That the young audience still remembers and listens only shows how great a singer Ipche was."

Some of the most painful songs Jashar recorded in the studio soon after the tragedy he says he has never managed to sing live again, because the emotions were simply too strong. Even 32 years after the crash, Ipche Ahmedovski remains remembered across generations in the region as a musical legend whose voice and hits continue to live on.

Jashar also recalled that after his brother's death he organised the "Ipche Fest" in the village of Lazhani, a festival that in its heyday drew crowds of 30 to 40 thousand people. He said that on one such local contest even Tose Proeski came and applied, but was excluded from competition because the event was focused on folk music.

Photo: press material from the event