The Icelandic blues legend Halldór Bragason has died

The guitarist and prima motor of blues in Iceland, Halldór Bragason, died in the Amtmannstígur fire in downtown Reykjavík last Tuesday. He was 68 years old. Halldór was the frontman of the blues band Vinir Dóra and performed, among other things, for the Reykjavík Blues Festival for years.

Bragason was born on November 6, 1956, in Reykjavík. His parents were Steinunn Snorradóttir and Bragi Kristjánsson. Halldór has two older siblings, Helgi Bragason and Berta Bragadóttir.

Bragason got to know music at a young age, received a guitar as a gift, and soon started playing with bands. The blues band Vinir Dóra first played publicly in 1989 and performed at many concerts in Iceland and at blues festivals abroad. Bragason had, among other things, good collaboration with the well-known musician Chicago Beau, and lived for a while in Montreal, Canada. Among other bands that he played with were Landsliðið, The Riot, Þrælarnir and Big nós band.

Bragason was one of the founders of the Blues Association of Reykjavík in 2004, which held the Reykjavík Blues Festival for many years. He was named an honorary member of the Blues Society in 2013.

Along with the music, Bragason worked, among other things. in the film department of the National Television for several years, for a while in the computer department of BYKO, and as an alcohol counselor at Vogur Hospital, Rehab Center.

Bragason had two sons, Bragi and Andri Freyr, but Bragi died in 2005, at the age of twenty. Andri Freyr has one daughter, Ásdís Freyja, with Tara Gunnarsdóttir.