On 8 January the Rhodope singer with a “cosmic voice” Valya Balkanska turned 76. On her birthday she extended wishes for a peaceful and prosperous 2018, for sound health and success in dealing with life’s challenges to all Bulgarians. She said she was happy that in the recent years, young people had turned more to traditions. The most famous recording of Valya Balkanska, the song Izlel ye Delyu Haydutin, was made in the 1960s by the American scholar of Bulgarian folklore Martin Koenig and was released in US. A few years later the recording was included in the selection for the Golden Record – a message from the Earth aimed to be flown beyond the Solar System on board two identical spacecraft from the NASA Voyager Program. The song was included in the final 90-minute selection of music works by Carl Sagan and flew in outer space. In 1997 Balkanska received an Olympic prize from the First Olympics of Arts in Los Angeles. She received the Stara Planina order in 2002.