If you were in Las Vegas anytime during the 80s, 90s, or 2000s, you probably went to see the famous magician duo, Siegfried and Roy. One of the most popular groups to ever perform on the strip of Las Vegas. However, on January 14th, Sigfried passed away at his Nevada home due to pancreatic cancer, he was 81 years old. This tragic news came only months after Roy, had passed away from COVID-19 complications at the age of 75.                                                                                                                

Siegfried Fischbacher was born on June 13th, 1939, in Rosenheim Germany. His father was a painter and his mother a housewife. When Siegfried was just a kid he would buy magic books on how to perform elaborate tricks, which began to make him start taking it very seriously. Siegfried then worked many non-related magician jobs such as hotel management before finally finding himself on the famous TS Bremen ship. He got a relatively okay job doing magici onboard the ship where he finally had one of his small but major breakthroughs. 

Here on the ship is where Siegfried first met his longtime best friend Roy Horn, who was also a magician. The two instantly clicked and started to spend an immense amount of time together, because of this they decided to join forces and become a magician duo. Eventually the owner of the Astoria Theatre in Breman, Germany witnessed their magic show and recruited them to his nightshow. Obviously this launched a major breakthrough in their career, they became so popular that the city of Vegas instantly attracted them which helped lead them to become the most iconic magician duo of all time.

Regardless if we know what they were famous for, we were all aware of Siegfried and Roy. By  1990 they had sold out the MGM with thousands in attendance. Their shows typically consisted of elaborate smoke machines, set designs, magic and of course the tigers. The tigers are hands down what the duo was known the best for. They would do elaborate magic tricks like making the tigers disappear, etc. Until one tragic night on October 3rd, 2003. One of the tigers attacked Roy Horn. The tiger bit and held Roy in his mouth until people were finally able to get the tiger back under control. While Roy did make a full recovery, this was the downfall of Siegfried and Roy. The famous duo officially retired in 2010.

Since then, both Siegfried and Roy have been relaxing and enjoying their retired life away from the stage. As they both increasingly got older, their health started to be a real concern, and with the outbreak of COVID-19, Roy and his aging body was sadly not able to fight off the virus. After losing one of the famous duo it was really sad to lose Siegfried months later. Siegfried and Roy are one of the most talented magicians that this world has ever seen. Despite some controversies that revolve around the two, there is no denying their passion and their respect for magic.