Richard Tesařík

Richard Tesařík was born on 25 December 1945 in Ostrava. He grew up in a household shaped by war heroism and music. His father, Major-General Richard Tesařík (1915-1967), fought with the Czechoslovak unit in the Soviet Union, earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union for actions around Kyiv, later clashed with communist military leadership, and for a time the family lived among other officers on Prague Hanspaulka. His paternal grandmother had sung in the Vinohradské divadlo opera chorus. Richard himself was largely self-taught as a musician. As a young man he focused on athletics, finished secondary school (SVVŠ) on today Evropská třída in Prague, tried and failed the entrance exams for the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, completed military service (including tank training), then worked as a stagehand at the National Theatre from about September 1969 into the early 1980s. During normalisation he also washed windows and shopfronts while building a parallel life in music.

With his younger brother Vladimír Tesařík (1947-2003), Ondřej Hejma and Julius Novotný-Kuzma he co-founded Yo Yo Band in Prague in 1975. The group first appeared as a vocal quartet oriented toward Black American gospel, spirituals and soul, and became early Czechoslovak pioneers of that repertoire. They presented themselves more widely at the Slánské jazzové dny in November 1975. Over the late 1970s and 1980s the lineup shifted: Hejma and Novotný-Kuzma left; Miroslav Linhart stayed from the backing band; reggae, Latin, funk and pop colours entered the sound; Iranian-born percussionist Imran Musa Zangi and others joined. Debut LP Velbloud, ten se má... appeared in 1987; Do bačkor ne... followed in 1988. The same year they opened for UB40 in Prague. In 1989-1990 they toured with Danish reggae band Bushbeater and played a festival in Aalborg.

Mass popularity arrived at the turn of the 1990s. The 1990 album Lehkou chůzí carried the Latin-tinged hit Kladno. The 1993 album Karviná, recorded at Sono, became the commercial peak: roughly 130,000-150,000 copies sold (platinum), heavy radio play, and three Czech Grammy / Anděl awards in 1994 for Composition of the Year (Rybitví, music Vladimír / lyric Richard), Album of the Year and Band of the Year. Richard lyrics turned Czech place names into comic, affectionate anthems: Rybitví, Karviná, Kladno, and later Jedem do Afriky on Jenom kouř (1995). Other lasting titles include Jó, já jsem srab, Gejza, Havana and Souboj na kuchyňský nože. In 2007 the Tesařík brothers received honorary citizenship of the village of Rybitví as its best-known musical promoters.

Outside the band Richard released solo and duo projects (including the brothers Plavu si, ani nevím jak, 1999, and Soul with Jindřich Malík, 2000), and moved into musical theatre: with Vladimír he played the gravediggers in Janek Ledecký Hamlet; later Kalich productions included Robin Hood, Johanka z Arku, Touha and Mauglí. On screen he appeared as Boris in Jan Hřebejk Pelíšky (1999) and in Musíme si pomáhat (2000). A 1997 Melantrich book by Kazi Jůzová framed the group as národní umělci s černou muzikou.

On 9 June 2003 Vladimír died at 55 after a bicycle fall in Prague Stromovka and subsequent brain injury. Richard refused to cast a vocal replacement for his brother, took on more leads, and kept Yo Yo Band touring for another two decades. He later said he still dreamed of Vladimír as if they were still playing together. In October 2025 long-time trombonist Jan Šatra died suddenly at 54. In July 2025 the band marked fifty years on stage at the Benátská festival in Liberec; in November 2025 Supraphon reissued Karviná remastered for the anniversary and for Richard eightieth birthday on Christmas Day 2025. In a ČTK interview that day he said he would keep performing as long as audiences still enjoyed Yo Yo Band, joked that Ostrava was hard to sing compared with punchy Kladno and the long a of Karviná, and noted back problems that made him cautious about big birthday shows. The band website later posted that concerts were cancelled until further notice because of illness.

Richard Tesařík died on Sunday 6 September 2026 at the age of 80. His son Štěpán Tesařík informed ČTK that his father had died after illness. The family asked for privacy and said details of a farewell would follow. Yo Yo Band Facebook page posted that Richard had left them forever. He is remembered as the gravel-voiced frontman who helped plant reggae and ska in Czech popular music, and as the lyricist who made small Czech towns sound like world hits.