Oliver Dragojević

Dragojević's father Marko (1908–1991) and mother Kata (1907–1994) had three daughters, all of whom died young during World War II. His family escaped to a refugee camp in El Shatt, Egypt, together with many other women and children from Dalmatia.[3]

Dragojević was born on 7 December 1947 in Split, not long after his family returned to their ancestral town of Vela Luka, on the Dalmatian island of Korčula. He had an older brother, Aljoša (1946–2011). When Oliver was five, his father, Marko, bought each of his sons a harmonica. Dragojević mastered the instrument quickly, and entertained other kids on his street, as well as passengers on board of ships on the busy route of Vela Luka – Split. As Dragojević showed a strong passion for music, his parents decided to enroll him in a music school in his hometown. There he learned to play the piano, clarinet and bass guitar.[3]

Dragojević's first performance was at the "Split Children's Festival" in 1961 with the song "Baloni". In a competition of amateur singers, his cult band from Split, "Batali", won first place for their rendition of "Yesterday", a Beatles classic. In 1972 Dragojević went abroad to further develop his craft. He played in clubs across Germany, Sweden and Mexico. His solo singing career began in 1974 at the Split Festival, where he won with the song "Ča će mi Copacabana".[5]

A year later, composer Zdenko Runjić and Dragojević, released the song "Galeb i ja". It proved to be a big hit across the former Yugoslavia and made Dragojević a household name. This was followed by hits "Romanca", "Oprosti mi, pape", "Stari morski vuk". Runjić would further collaborate with Dragojević on further 200 songs, until Runjić's death. Between 1975 and 1980, the Dragojević/Runjić duo dominated the music scene of the former Yugoslavia. Part of the secret of their success was a third contributor, Jakša Fiamengo, who wrote the lyrics to some of Dragojević's most iconic songs, namely: "Nadalina", "Piva klapa ispo' volta", "Karoca", "Ništa nova", "Infiša san u te", and "Ostavljam te samu".[3] In 1990 Dragojević won the Split Festival with Ti si moj san, and the Jugovizija Jamboree with the song Sreća je tamo gdje si ti, both collaboration with Zorica Kondža.[6][7]

Most of Dragojević's songs are considered evergreen on the Balkans.[8] Dubbed "the Cosmic Dalmatian"[9] Dragojević was widely lauded and remembered for his emotionally intense ballads and equally candide performances.[10][11][12] These include "Vjerujem u anđele",[13] "Kad mi dođeš ti", "La Musica di Notte" (covered also by the Dubrovački Trubaduri), "Bez tebe", "Pred tvojim vratima" (released 24 November 2002 on Trag u beskraju), "Cesarica" (from the album Sve najbolje, released 15 July 1994),[14] "Pismo moja" and "Vjeruj u ljubav" (from the same-named album, released on 1 January 1979 and as a rendition on 15 June 2009).[15][16]

Dragojević participated five times in national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. He made his debut in the Jugovizija 1988 with hopes to represent Yugoslavia performing "Dženi", which finished second.[17] He returned to the contest again in 1990 with Zorica Kondža performing "Sreća je tamo gdje si ti" and finishing third.[18] After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Dragojević participated in the Dora 1994 with hopes to represent Croatia, with "Arja". The song ended up in fourth place.[19] He participated in the Dora 1995 again with "Boginja", finishing second, and in the Dora 1997 with "Lucija", finishing eight.[20]

Dragojević married his wife, Vesna, in 1974, with whom he had three sons: Dino (b. 1975), and twins Damir and Davor (b. 1978).

• Popular music in Croatia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oliver Dragojević.

• Official website
• Discography of Oliver Dragojević