Brendi

Brendi, born Branko Jovanović Vunjak, was a Slovenian singer, guitarist and songwriter of pop and narodnozabavna (folk-pop) music. He was born on 28 April 1962 in Šentjernej in the Dolenjska region and grew up with the Kromar foster family in Roje. In more than 25 years on the Slovenian scene he became known for lively songs about the lives of ordinary Slovenian people.

He started writing songs at the age of twelve and was known above all as a guitarist, although he also learned the violin. He played at local festivals and schools, and during his army service with the group Artiljerac. In Ljubljana he played in cafés and bars with several bands: Beli med, which he formed with Dragan Trivič, then Rendez-Vous and Amadeus, led by Tone Dimnik "Čoča".

In 1986 he founded his own band, Don Juan, where he made his biggest mark. Their album Mandarina sold about 100,000 copies, and songs such as "Mandarina", "Gasilci smo" and "Po dekle" came from those years. Don Juan split in 1996, came back together in the original line-up in 2007 and played at his 25th-anniversary celebration in February 2010. In the 1980s Brendi also founded the record label Mandarina.

After Don Juan he worked mainly as a solo artist and in a duo with the singer Korado Buzeti, Korado & Brendi. The duo released a long run of albums, from Hej, Slovenija (1995) and Mustafa (1996) to Nocoj je ena luštna noč (1997), Čevapčiči (2001), Kam so šli vsi cigani (2007) and Genij in bedak (2009). His solo albums included Poznajo me, da sem baraba (1993), Ustavi se (2000), Kje si našla tega kretena (2004) and Kaj me briga (2005).

He was also a sought-after songwriter for other artists, among them Vili Resnik, Helena Blagne, Natalija Verboten, Pop Design, Bazar and Miša Molk. For the young singer Hajdi Korošec he wrote many songs, including "Naš kuža", "Nisem važna" and "Oblečem si oblekico". His own best-known songs include "Marjanca", "Povej mi Marina", "Ona sanja Pariz", "Rdeča roža", "Pod oknom sem stal" and "Zelene oči".

Brendi died on 19 June 2011 in Lipica, at the age of 49, when his heart failed a few hours after a performance there. His son Dejan, born in 1993, carries on as a musician.