Boris Ćiro Gašparac

Boris Ćiro Gašparac was a Croatian singer, born on 13 May 1945 in Požega. When a reporter of Požeški list asked the first-graders what they wanted to be, seven-year-old Ćiro answered: "A singer!" That same year, 1952, he started singing in the school choir, where the teacher at once gave him the solo part. Poor eyesight and thick glasses never held him back.

At heart he loved rock, pop, blues and jazz. He owned every record by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Platters, admired Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Mahalia Jackson, and held black spirituals to be the summit of vocal art. As a young man he played drums in the jazz band Crni šest, and taught himself guitar, bass and harmonica, earning his first pocket money by giving guitar lessons. He also studied solo singing at the Vatroslav Lisinski music school, and with his baritone he often thought about classical music.

What decided his path was "Laže selo, lažu ljudi": in 1991 he sang it with Crni šest at the Požega festival Zlatne žice Slavonije and it became a tamburica hit. Songs such as "Da sam im'o šaku dukata", "Idem, idem ej živote", "U srce te dira", "Leina", "Moj angelek", "I kad nisam s tobom bit ću" and "Pustite me bar da sanjam" followed. He sang for Croatians in America, Canada and Australia and at almost every major festival at home, from Zlatne žice Slavonije to Zagrebfest and the Festival kajkavskih popevki, and in half a century he gave some 700 charity concerts for churches, children without care and children with special needs.

He received the City of Požega's lifetime achievement award and the City of Zagreb medal for a special contribution to culture. Boris Ćiro Gašparac never gave up music; he died in Zagreb on 22 January 2025 from the effects of a stroke. The playlist is his album Godine, with "Idem, idem ej živote" and "Da sam im'o šaku dukata".