Djordje Balašević

Djordje Balašević was a Serbian singer-songwriter, writer and poet, born on 11 May 1953 in Novi Sad to a Serbian father, Jovan, and a mother, Veronika Dolenec, who was half Hungarian and half Croatian, from Rasinja near Koprivnica. He grew up on Jovan Cvijić street in the house where he lived all his life, and he wrote poetry from primary school on.

In 1977 he joined the band Žetva, whose humorous tango "U razdeljak te ljubim" sold more than 180,000 copies. In 1978 he left to form Rani Mraz with Verica Todorović, and Biljana Krstić and Bora Đorđević, both from Suncokret, soon joined. With them he recorded his song "Računajte na nas", which became an anthem of the Yugoslav youth, before Đorđević left to found Riblja Čorba. In 1979 Balašević won the Split festival with "Panonski mornar", and Rani Mraz sold out Belgrade's Dom Sindikata eight times in a row. During his army service he wrote "Zbog tebe" for Zdravko Čolić and lyrics for Srebrna Krila. After a second album, Odlazi cirkus (1980), with "Priča o Vasi Ladačkom", Rani Mraz broke up.

His solo career opened with Pub (1982) and Celovečernji the Kid (1983). The album 003 (1985) brought "Slovenska", "Al' se nekad dobro jelo", "Badnje veče" and "Olivera", and Bezdan (1986) "Ne lomite mi bagrenje" and "Ne volim januar". In 1987 he sang with Parni Valjak, Leb i Sol and Riblja Čorba at the Universiade closing ceremony in Zagreb. Panta Rei (1988), Tri posleratna druga, recorded with Elvis Stanić, formerly of Denis & Denis, and Marim ja... (1991) followed. His New Year concerts at Sava Centar, first sold out in the 1982/83 season, became a tradition.

During the wars of the 1990s he was an outspoken anti-war voice and a critic of Slobodan Milošević's government. In 1996 he became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and gave the first post-war concert in Sarajevo by a Serbian artist. Albums such as Jedan od onih života... (1993), Naposletku... (1996), Devedesete (2000) and Dnevnik starog momka (2001) followed; in all he recorded 14 albums and wrote eight books, and in 2010 he directed the film Kao rani mraz.

Djordje Balašević died of complications of pneumonia caused by COVID-19 on 19 February 2021 in Novi Sad. The book YU 100 ranks his albums Bezdan (No. 25) and Pub (No. 66) and Rani Mraz's first album (No. 44) among the best Yugoslav pop and rock albums. In the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times, a 2000 poll of the magazine's readers, journalists and musicians, "Slovenska" was ranked 69th.