In 2009, a 1976 video of Khil singing a non-lexical vocable version of the song I Am Glad, Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home (Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой) was uploaded to YouTube,[4] and quickly became an Internet meme[1] known as "Trololololololololololo" or "Trololo"[5], giving Khil the nickname "Mr. Trololo" or "Trololo Man"[5]. The song itself was written by Arkady Ostrovsky, and was also performed by Valery Obodzinsky[6][7], Hungarian singer János Koós[8] and by Muslim Magomayev on the Little Blue Light program in the Soviet Union.[9] The name "trololo" is an onomatopoeia of the distinctive way Khil vocalises throughout the song.
It first appeared on some sites beginning on February 21, 2010,[10][11] and gained prominence on March 3 during a segment on The Colbert Report and was also parodied by actor Christoph Waltz on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[12][13] The song has also been used as a bait and switch prank amongst YouTube users, with many users considering that the "trololo" meme may become the new Rick Roll, having re-emerged under other names such as "Russian Rickroll", "Trololo'd", or "Communist Roll'd" in March 2010 [14].
The "trololo" meme in turn re-ignited interest in Khil's singing career aside from his vocalised performance; the "trololo" website includes a petition for Khil to come out of retirement to perform on a world tour.