(Photo by Alessandro Cuomo/Getty Images)

MTV.com reports that [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Bobby Farrell[/lastfm] (pictured above from earlier this year), the frontman for disco group [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Boney M[/lastfm], was found dead in his hotel room in St. Petersburg, Russia on Thursday. He was 61 years old.

According to his agent, John Seine:

He did a show last night as part of Bobby Farrell’s Boney M and they found him this morning dead in his hotel room. He did not feel well last night and was having problems with his breathing, but he did the show anyway.

The actual cause of death has not yet been released.

Boney M was established in Germany in the 1970s as the brainchild of German record producer [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Frank Farian[/lastfm]. Farian was also the man responsible for putting together the vocal talent which provided the voices for the scandalous 80s group [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Milli Vanilli[/lastfm].

A former male exotic dancer, Farrell was hired as the on-stage vocal presence of Boney M, although the majority of the recordings did not feature Farrell’s vocals. Farrell did sing live, along with [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Marcia Barrett[/lastfm] and [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Liz Mitchell[/lastfm], during the live stage shows.

We have a special place in our heart for this Boney M cover of the [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Bobby Hebb[/lastfm] tune ”Sunny.” Check out Farrell’s dance moves!