Staniša Stošić

Staniša Stošić was a Serbian folk singer known for the songs of his home region of Vranje in southern Serbia. He was born on 26 July 1945 in the village of Vrbovo near Vladičin Han. His voice earned him the nicknames "the Serbian Pavarotti" and "the father of southern melodies".

He fell in love with the southern melos at the teachers' school in Vranje, where he played the violin, sang solo in the choir and had his first singing lessons. He sang for the first time on Radio Belgrade in 1963 and remained a long-time associate of the station. In 1966 he won the Zlatiborski narcis festival with "Stojanke, bela Vranjanke".

In 1972 he recorded "Lela Vranjanka", his most popular song. Many take it for a traditional song, but the lyrics are by Dragan Toković and the melody is the Greek "Misirlou". Through the 1970s he sang at the Beogradski sabor with "Devojko zvezdanko", "Vrati mi suze sreće", "Stani zoro" and other songs, at Ilidža in 1976 with "Vranjanka", and at the Hit parada in 1978 and 1979. At MESAM in 1995 "Pile moje" won the first prize of the jury and the second prize of the audience.

His best-known songs include "Zbog tebe, mome ubava", "Simbil cveće", "Otvori mi belo Lenče", "Milkano", "Dimitrijo, sine Mitre", "Šano dušo, Šano mori", "Koštana" and "Tebi pevam ove noći". Among his most notable albums were Antologija vranjanskih narodnih pesama, Moje najlepše pesme and Žal za mladost.

In 2007 the Serbian Ministry of Culture gave him a special lifetime award for preserving Serbian musical tradition. Staniša Stošić died in Belgrade in April 2008 after a long illness and was buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the New Cemetery. Since 2009 the square in front of the museum in Vranje has carried his name, and in 2012 his bust was put up there. The playlist plays his album Moje najlepše pesme.