music.wikisort.org - Singer

Vesna Zmijanac (Serbian Cyrillic: Весна Змијанац, pronounced [ʋêsna zmijǎːnats]; born 4 January 1957) is a Serbian folk singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Queen of Sadness", she has been known for her emotional vocal delivery and melancholic ballads. Also noted for her provocative appearance and western-influenced image, Zmijanac gained most of her success during the 80s and 90s in SFR Yugoslavia.[1] Since her debut in 1979, she has released fourteen studio albums. Having sold around 6.7 million records, Zmijanac is recognized as one of the most successful Serbian artists of all time.[2][3] Throughout her career, Zmijanac had several national tours in Yugoslavia. She has also performed in Bulgaria, including concerts in the Armeets Arena in Sofia.[4][5]

Vesna Zmijanac Весна Змијанац
Zmijanac performing in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Vesna Zmijanac
Born	(1957-01-04) 4 January 1957 (age 65) Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia
Genres	Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer actress
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1979–present
Labels	PGP-RTB Komuna Diskos Grand

Additionally, Zmijanac starred in the movie Sok od šljiva (1981) and TV series Kamiondžije ponovo voze (1984). She also competed on the reality shows Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines (2010) and Farma (2016).[6][7]

Early life

Vesna Zmijanac was born on 4 January 1957 in Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia to mother Kovina from Kraljevo, SR Serbia and father Dušan from Sisak, SR Croatia. Her parents divorced when she was just a year old, as they believed that they were too young to be married. Subsequently, Zmijanac was raised by her maternal grandmother in the village of Kovače near Kraljevo because her parents went abroad to work.[8] Zmijanac also briefly lived in Vienna with her mother, where she attended high school, from which she eventually dropped out. She did, however, finish a typing course.[9]

According to Zmijanac, she showed interest in music from an early age, citing Šaban Šaulić, Esma Redžepova and Safet Isović as the biggest influences on her vocal performance.[10]

Career

While living in Vienna, Zmijanac was discovered by singer Šaban Šaulić, who offered her to join him on his European tour.[11][10] Šaulić also helped her get a recording contract with PGP-RTB, under which she released her first single "Hvala ti za sve" in 1979. Three years later, she starred in the movie Sok od šljiva directed by Branko Baletić. Her first album, Ljubi me, ljubi, lepoto moja, was released in 1982. Zmijanac also made a cameo in the television series Kamiondžije ponovo voze in 1984.

During the early eighties, she started collaborating with Miroljub Aranđelović Kemiš, who wrote her first bigger hit - "Nevera moja" (1975). Her fifth album, titled Dođi što pre, was released the following year, selling 400,000 copies.[8] Same year, she won the grand prix at the MESAM music festival in Belgrade with the song "Kraj nogu ti mrem". The album was also followed with her first national tour. With this success Zmijanac was propelled into the first rank of Yugoslavian singers, only competing with Lepa Brena. The follow-up album, Jedini si ti, was sold in half a million copies.[8] Her 1987 album, titled Istina, was sold in 850,000 copies, making it of one the best-selling albums in the former Yugoslavia.[12] The album featured popular duet with Dino Merlin "Kad zamirišu jorgovani". Zmijanac embarked on her second tour, performing at the Hala Pionir in Belgrade and Zetra Olympic Hall, Sarajevo to over 10,000 people.[8] Other big hits of hers from this period include "Ne kunite crne oči" (1986), "Kunem ti se životom" (1987) and "Kazni me, kazni" (1988).[1]

In 1990, Zmijanac released her eighth studio album Svatovi, under new label Komuna, which was promoted with a tour and ten consecutive concerts at the Belgrade's Sava Centar. During the nineties, four more bodies of work were released, on which she collaborated with the likes of Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga and Rambo Amadeus.[13] These albums include popular songs such as "Svatovi" (1990), "Idem preko zemlje Srbije" (1994), "Ja imam nekog, a ti si sam" (1994) featuring Slavko Banjac, "Malo po malo" (1995) and "Da budemo noćas zajedno" (1997).

In the year 2000, Zmijanac published a book called Kad zamirišu jorgovani, which was described by her as "an attempt at an autobiography".[14] Her final album to date, titled Sokol, was released in 2011 through PGP-RTS. In December 2019, Vesna Zmijanac among other artists received the Life Achievement Award for her work from the Union of Serbia's Music Artists.[15] In October 2020, she was proclaimed the National Music Artist of Serbia by the Folk Music Assembly of Serbia.[16]

Private life

During the 1980s, Zmijanac was for three years married to composer and instrumentalist Miroljub Aranđelović Kemiš, who later remarried singer Zorica Brunclik.[17][18]

From her second marriage with former chief of marketing at PGP-RTS, Vlado Jovanović, she has a daughter Nikolija (born 19 October 1989), who is also a well-known singer.[19]

Discography

Studio albums

• Ljubi me, ljubi, lepoto moja (1982)
• Ti mali (1983)
• Šta će meni šminka? (1984)
• Zar bi me lako drugome dao (1985)
• Dođi što pre (1986)
• Jedan si ti (1987)
• Istina (1988)
• Svatovi (1990)
• Ako me umiriš sad (1992)
• Idem preko zemlje Srbije (1994)
• Malo po malo (1995)
• Posle svega, dobro sam (1997)
• Šta ostane kad padnu haljine (2003)
• Sokole (2011)

Filmography

Filmography of Vesna Zmijanac

Year	Title	Genre	Role	Notes
1981	Sok od šljiva	Film	Kadivka
1984	Kamiondžije opet voze	Television	Herself	1 episode
1994	Novogodišnja priča			TV movie
2010	Survivor Srbija			Season 3, 2nd eliminated
2016	Farma			Season 7, walked on day 95

See also

• Music of Serbia
• List of singers from Serbia
• Turbo-folk

References

External links

• Vesna Zmijanac discography at Discogs
• Vesna Zmijanac at IMDb

На других языках

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[de] Vesna Zmijanac

Vesna Zmijanac (serbisch-kyrillisch Весна Змијанац, geboren am 4. Januar 1957 in Nikšić, Jugoslawien, heute Montenegro) ist eine serbische Folk-Sängerin.

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- [en] Vesna Zmijanac

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