Boney M's Bobby Farrell Dies

Bobby Farrell, singer and dancer with 1970's disco group Boney M, died early Thursday in a hotel room in Saint Petersburg, where he had been performing, city officials said. He was 61.

The Saint Petersburg investigative committee of prosecutors said the Aruba-born Dutch singer was found dead in his bed by a staffer at the city's Ambassador hotel.

"There was no sign of violent death," a committee source said. "The investigation continues."

Farrell's agent in the Netherlands, John Seine, earlier broke news of the death in a telephone interview with AFP from the northern Dutch city of Heemstede.

"The cause of death is not known," Seine said.

Farrell had given a performance in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, he added, but "they told me that he was not feeling well".

"This morning, he did not wake up."

Saint Petersburg news site Fontanka.ru reported that Farrell had come to the Russian city on Wednesday take part in a corporate event but reported feeling ill during his performance.

A security source told the news site that Farrell's body was found at 9:00 am (0600 GMT). A post-mortem was being carried out.

Farrell was the sole male member of Boney M, which won global fame with catchy disco numbers like "Daddy Cool", "Belfast", "Ma Baker", "Sunny" and "Rasputin" -- many of which won gold and platinum discs.