Jonathan

Jonathan is an indie rock band from Rijeka, founded in 2011 by a group of close friends. Its members came from earlier bands of the city's scene, among them Let 3, Salion, Mlat, Pasi and Mandrili, and critics often compare their sound with Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes and Queens of the Stone Age. The band describes its music as dark-lens optimism, with punky energy and a sense of hope. Their frontman is Zoran Badurina.

They made their debut on the Croatian scene in 2013 with the single "Maggie", which became a hit and was followed in 2014 by the debut album Bliss. Getting Closer Is Keeping Us Apart, a short release with "Juvenile" and "Try to Get Even", came out on 3 February 2015, and in 2018 the double release To Love / To Hold.

Jonathan have opened for Editors and The Killers, toured in Europe and America and played a showcase at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. In 2022 they won prizes at the Rock & Off awards, and their fourth studio album, everyone else is ok, released in 2024, was nominated for a Porin for best rock album. In January 2026 they headlined Tvornica kulture in Zagreb.

Songs like "Maggie", "Mama I'm Ready", "Monkeys" and "Wake Up Call" are their concert anthems. Among their later singles are "Falling", "Have It All", which pays tribute to The Doors, and "Sometimes". More recently the band has played with the Rijeka Symphony Orchestra, in a sold-out concert at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka that Badurina called his favourite performance ever, and a follow-up open-air concert at the Ljetna pozornica in Opatija was announced for 13 June 2026.

The band's name comes from the character Jonathan; in Hebrew the name means a gift from God. The playlist here is the band's own channel, from the early "Maggie" and the album Bliss to "Heaven" played with the orchestra.