The cause was complications after emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage, said Sean P. Quirk, a longtime friend.  A region in southern Siberia just north of Mongolia, Tuva was an independent country from 1921 until 1944, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union. The region, which has a population of about 300,000, is now part of the Russian Federation.  Small, round and beatific, Mr. Ondar was a superstar in Tuva â âlike John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Michael Jordan kind of rolled into one,â in the words of âGenghis Bluesâ (1999), an Oscar-nominated documentary about throat singing in which he figures prominently.  His reach extended far beyond the region. Mr. Ondar performed throughout Europe and the United States, including at the Japan Society in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.  He made a memorable appearance, in full traditional regalia, on âLate Show With David Lettermanâ; sang at three Rose Parades in Pasadena, Calif.; and carried the torch through Georgia for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  Known for his captivating stage presence, he was nicknamed âthe Groovinâ Tuvanâ by the Western musicians with whom he played.  Mr. Ondarâs gregarious renown â he was also a former member of the Tuvan parliament â was all the more noteworthy in light of his gritty past. As a boy, he experienced domestic violence firsthand. As a youth, he spent nights alone in the subzero Tuvan winter. As a young man, he languished in Soviet prisons for a crime he did not commit.  âWhen people see him in his beautiful clothing and hear him sing in this incredible refined style, you just assume that this guy has it all together: itâs a performance of confidence and courage and beauty,â Roko Belic, the director of âGenghis Blues,â said in an interview on Thursday. âBut the truth is, his youth was very troubled.â  Mr. Belicâs documentary chronicles the obsession of a blind American blues singer, Paul Pena, with Tuvan throat singing; Mr. Penaâs successful efforts to master the art on his own; his travels in Tuva, where he wins a prestigious musical competition in 1995; and his abiding friendship with Mr. Ondar.  On the filmâs soundtrack album, released in 2000, the two men meld their diverse musical traditions. Over the years, Mr. Ondar also performed or recorded with Frank Zappa, the Kronos Quartet, Willie Nelson, Mickey Hart and the banjo virtuoso BÃ©la Fleck.  At the same time, through his recording, performance and teaching of classic Tuvan throat singing, he helped revitalize a tradition that had been largely extinguished during the Soviet era.  âThe whole Tuvan culture was disappearing because it was outmoded, shall we say, under the Soviet system,â Ralph Leighton, the author of âTuva or Bust! Richard Feynmanâs Last Journey,â said on Thursday. âThey were supposed to build the new Modern Soviet Man, and therefore places like Tuva, which practices shamanism and Buddhism, were seen as backward.â  Published in 1991, Mr. Leightonâs book is a nonfiction account of his attempt, with his friend Mr. Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, to travel to Tuva, whose curious triangular postage stamps had enchanted Mr. Feynman as a boy. Mr. Feynman died in 1988, before they could make the trip; Mr. Leighton later journeyed there on his behalf.  Throat singing, also called overtone singing, is practiced in only a few parts of the world, mostly in Asia. The Tuvan variety, known as khoomei, is the most famous of all.  Whenever someone sings a note, the column of air in the throat vibrates, producing both a fundamental tone (the noteâs basic pitch) and a series of higher pitches â the overtones.  In conventional singing, the overtones are largely inaudible, manifesting themselves as timbre. In throat singing, through careful manipulation of the mouth and throat, a vocalist can render certain overtones audible, resulting in two, three and even four pitches sounding at a time.  Properly sung, khoomei sounds as though the singer has ingested a set of bagpipes, with a low drone and a high melody issuing simultaneously from the same mouth.  Khoomei lyrics, in Tuvan (an Altaic language in the same family as Turkish), range over nature, horses and love.
Kongar-ol Ondar, a renowned master of Tuvan throat singing, was a superstar in his country and well-respected by musicians worldwide.