Putin, Medvedev bid final farewell to venerated Russian crooner Kobzon

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended the funeral service of famous Russian singer People’s Artist of the Soviet Union Joseph Kobzon, TASS reports. The crooner diedon Thursday at the age of 80.

Kobzon’s funeral is taking place in Moscow on Sunday. The president and the prime minister laid flowers at the singer’s coffin and paid their respects to Kobzon’s widow.

Earlier, Putin expressed his condolences to the singer’s relatives in a telegram published by Kremlin. "Please accept my deep condolences on your family’s enormous loss - the death of Joseph Kobzon. Joseph D. Kobzon was truly a people’s artist, an outstanding Russian cultural personality, a man of immense inner strength, courage and dignity," the Russian president said.