Diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2002, Kaczmarski died two years later in a hospital in the northern Polish city of Gdańsk at the age of 47. He was baptized as a Roman Catholic shortly before he passed away.
Kaczmarski’s output includes some 600 poems, five novels and more than 20 music albums.
He won enormous popularity for his anticommunist protest songs with guitar accompaniment, in which he referred to traditional values and patriotic symbols. His vocal delivery was dynamic and aggressive.
The song Mury (Walls), based on L’Estaca by Catalan poet and singer Lluís Llach, which Kaczmarski performed in a trio with Przemysław Gintrowski (guitar/vocal) and Zbigniew Łapiński (piano/vocal), became something of an unofficial Solidarity anthem.
In many of his poems and lyrics, Kaczmarski turned to the visual arts for inspiration, including paintings by both Polish and foreign artists.
After the imposition of martial law in Poland in December 1981 to crush Solidarity, Kaczmarski left the country and spent almost the whole decade touring Europe and the United States with concerts and working for Radio Free Europe.
After the collapse of the communist system in 1989, he returned to Poland, but in 1995 he emigrated again, this time to Australia.
He spent several years there, coming to Poland every now and again to give song recitals and promote his music.
(mk/gs)