Neno Belan

Neno Belan is a Croatian rock singer, guitarist and songwriter, born Nenad Belan on 2 February 1962 in Split. He moved to Zagreb in 1992 and to Rijeka in 1995, where he still lives.

As a teenager he played in a band called Losos, Kavijar i Marsovi Bizoni, and in 1980 he joined the rhythm and blues band Narodno Blago, which covered The Rolling Stones, Ramones and The Clash. When it broke up in 1983, he played mandolin in Aquilla, a band of Dalmatian folk songs. In 1984 he formed Đavoli, who played 1950s-inspired rock and roll until 1991 and released "Ljubav i moda" (1986), "Hallo Lulu 22" (1987) and "Ostani uz mene" (1988).

The EP "Rock galama" (1991), credited to Neno Belan & Đavoli, opened his solo career as the war ended the band. In 1992 he sang "Zaboravi" at the Split festival, and his first solo album, "Vino noći" (1993), recorded with members of Daleka Obala, brought "Zaboravi", "Sunčan dan" and "A gdje si ti?". The EP "Mama" (1994) included the duet "Ne pitaj za nju" with Tony Cetinski. "Dolazi ljubav" (1995) and "Južnjačka utjeha" (1997) followed, the latter with "Lezi, baby", his version of The Vibrators' "Baby Baby". In 1997 "Ponoćna zvona" won the expert jury's first prize at Melodije hrvatskog Jadrana.

After reviving Đavoli for "Space Twist" in 1998, he formed Neno Belan & Fiumens with Olja Dešić, Leo Rumora and Vedran Križan. Their albums include "Luna & Stelle" (2002), "Rijeka snova" (2007), the live "Tvornica snova", "Oceani ljubavi" and "Sanjaj!" (2016). "Rijeka snova" won the Porin for best pop album in 2008, "Zar više nema nas" with Massimo Savić was song of the year in 2009, "Tvornica snova" was album of the year in 2010 and "Ulicama grada" song of the year in 2013, on the way to 16 Porins in all.

Belan is also the most successful author and performer at Šibenik's Večeri dalmatinske šansone, with 27 awards; his songs there have included "Rijeka snova" (2007), "Kiša" (2010) and "Sanjaj" (2016). In 2015 he sang "Misunderstandings" with Alya at Slovenia's EMA, and in 2016 he became artistic director of the Zagreb Festival. In March 2021 he and Fiumens played two concerts at Belgrade's Kombank dvorana devoted to the songs of Đavoli.