Holograf

It was founded in 1978^[5] by Mihai Pocorschi (guitar, voice),^[1] Eugen Sonia (bass guitar), Cristian Lesciuc (solo guitar) and Boris Petroff (drums).^[6] In 1979 Edi Petroșel (drums) and Tino Furtună (keyboards) joined and are still part of the band.^[6] The band received awards at Club A Festival and at other festivals, which helped the band getting signed with Electrecord, the biggest Romanian label at that time, and released Holograf 1 in 1983.^[7] In 1988 Holograf released Holograf III, which was sold over 200,000 copies.^[6] Holograf continued making music through the 1980s and 1990s, when it toured abroad in countries such as Bulgaria, USSR, East Germany, Poland, North Korea, and the Netherlands.^[6][8] In April 1990 Holograf performed at the Printemps de Bourges Festival.^[6][7] It released a few new works into the new millennium, including the album Pur si simplu (2003). Since 1985, the lead singer of the band is Dan Bittman.^[9]

The band is known for hits including "Banii vorbesc", "Dincolo de nori" (which Dan Bittman also sang at Eurovision Song Contest 1994),^[10] "Ți-am dat un inel", "Undeva departe", "Să nu-mi iei niciodată dragostea", "Viața are gust" and "Cât de departe".^[11] In November 2000, Holograf launched Holografica, which sold over 100,000 copies in the first two weeks of release.^[6][12][13] In 2003 the band launched Pur și simplu, an album which sold over 250.000 copies,^[6][12][13] and received gold and platinum certification.^[14] In order to promote Pur și simplu, Holograf started toured in Romania for 50 days.^[6] On October 10, 2006, Holograf released a new album called Taina. The disc contained 10 new songs,^[15] and the first single to be promoted from the album was "Ești atât de frumoasă" ("You are so beautiful"). On July 10, 2009, Holograf received a Gold certification from UPFR for record sales of the Primăvara începe cu tine album.^[6][16] Holograf performed at five editions of the Golden Stag Festival, in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009,^[17] and multiple times at the Mamaia Festival since 1987^[18] and Callatis Festival.^[19]

The Holograf song "Cât de departe" (English: How far), was broadcast most often on Romanian radio stations, between 2010 and 2015.^[20]

Their bassist, Iulian "Mugurel" Vrabete, died from cancer on 12 March 2026, at the age of 70.^[21]

• Mihai Pocorschi – guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals (1977–1986)
• Ștefan Rădescu – lead vocals (1977–1982)
• Eugen Sonia – bass (1977–1981)
• Cristian Lesciuc – guitar (1977–1978)
• Dan Ionescu – guitar (1977–1978)
• Lucian Rusu – drums (1977)
• Ionel 'Boris' Petrov – drums (1977–1978)
• Emilian 'Edi' Petroșel – drums, backing vocals (1978–present)
• Cornel Stănescu – guitar, backing vocals (1978–1982)
• Antoniu 'Tino' Furtună – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1978–present)
• George 'Gică' Petrineanu – bass (1981–1982, 1984)
• Nikos Temistocle – bass (1983–1984)
• Sorin Ciobanu – guitar (1983–1984)
• Gabriel Cotabiță – lead vocals (1983–1985)
• Mihai 'Marty' Popescu – bass (1984–1987)
• Dan Bittman – lead vocals (1985–present)
• Ion 'Nuțu' Olteanu – guitar, backing vocals (1986–1990)
• Iulian 'Mugurel' Vrabete – bass, backing vocals (1987–2026, his death)
• Florin Ochescu – guitar (1990–1993)
• Romeo Dediu – guitar, backing vocals (1993–present)
• Marius Bațu – acoustic guitar, backing vocals (collaborator 1996–present)
• Emil Soumah – percussion, harmonica (collaborator 2000–present)
• Mihai Coman – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, sound (collaborator 2001–2017)

• Excellence Prize at Romanian Media Music Awards in 2013.^[2]
• Best pop-rock artist and best pop-rock song at Radio Romania Music Awards Gala in 2014 for "Morning dew"^[4]
• Nomination for Romanian Music Award for Best Rock and Best Group 2014 for Holograf ft Antonia – Intoarce-te acasa ^[24]