Marinescu Lucky

About

Lucreția „Lucky” Marinescu, born on July 12, 1934, in Cahul, Republic of Moldova, was one of the most beloved Romanian light music performers, with a brilliant career in Romania. She debuted at the age of 17 with the song „5 minute”, followed by studies at the „Gheorghe Dima” Conservatory in Cluj, vocal section. She collaborated with renowned theaters such as the Operetta Theater, the „Savoy” Theater, the „Constantin Tănase” Theater – where she debuted in 1959 with the show „Călătorie pe note” – and the „Ion Vasilescu” Theater, participating in European tours, including on the Olympia and Bobino stages in Paris. A frequent partner of artists Cornel Constantiniu, Aurelian Andreescu, and Dan Spătaru, she had hits such as „Replici” (duet with Constantiniu), „Așa începe dragostea”, „Ce-ți doresc eu ție, dulce Românie”, and „Cireșii Her professional life was marked by dramatic adventures, including an attempted emigration in 1968 after a tour in Paris, when she was arrested at the Giurgiu border crossing for trying to take her son out of the country, spending six weeks in prison until her release was ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu. She hosted the show "Show Lucky" on DDTV from 2006, alongside Rodica Elena Lupu, and led the "Club of Ageless Pensioners" at the Inter-Macedonia complex, helping seniors. She participated 14 times in the "Stars of Light Music" festival in the USSR and was one of the most broadcast voices on Radio România in the '70s-'80s, enjoying tours in Israel and Africa. Lucky Marinescu had three marriages: the first with composer Petre Mihăescu (1959-1960), the second with Nicolae Goliceanu, a counselor at the Foreign Trade Chamber, with whom she had a son, Laurențiu (b. 1964, later settled in the USA as Lawrence Marinescu), a marriage marked by extreme jealousy and domestic violence, ending in divorce; the third with American Colonel Constantin Barbu, whom she met in 1985 during a tour, and with whom she returned to Romania in 1996, until his death in 2003. Raised in the Transylvanian spirit in Cluj, after her family moved in 1940, she remained an energetic and generous figure, passing away on January 10, 2018, at the age of 83, leaving a living legacy in Romanian light music.