The Most Famous

SINGERS from Bosnia and Herzegovina

This page contains a list of the greatest Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 22 of which were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This makes Bosnia and Herzegovina the birth place of the 34th most number of Singers behind Jamaica, and Estonia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singers of all time. This list of famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singers.

1. Lepa Brena (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 60.02, Lepa Brena is the most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages on wikipedia.

Fahreta Živojinović (née Jahić; Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Фахрета Живојиновић, née Јахић; born 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Lepa Brena (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Лепа Брена), is a Yugoslav singer, actress, and businesswoman. With around 40 million sold records, she is regarded as the commercially most successful recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Brena is also often credited with creating the turbo-folk genre with her first two albums Čačak, Čačak (1982) and Mile voli disko (1982).Lepa Brena grew up in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but has lived in Belgrade, Serbia since 1980, where she started her career. Lepa Brena is considered to be a symbol of the former Yugoslavia, due to the fact that she was one of the last popular acts to emerge before the breakup of the country. She has described herself as being "Yugo-nostalgic". Along with her husband, Slobodan Živojinović and friend, Saša Popović, Brena co-founded and co-owned Grand Production, the biggest record label and production company in the Balkans. In 2019, they decided to sell Grand Production for €30 million.

2. Zdravko Čolić (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 59.86, Zdravko Čolić is the 2nd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Zdravko Čolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Здравко Чолић, pronounced [zdrǎːv̞.kɔ̝ t͡ʃɔ̝̌ː.lit͡ɕ]; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnian-Serbian pop singer and is widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Dubbed the 'Tom Jones' of the Balkans, he has garnered fame in Southeastern Europe for his emotionally expressive tenor voice, fluent stage presence and numerous critically and commercially acclaimed albums and singles.Among his songs, "Ti si mi u krvi" (from eponymous album) is widely considered one of the most popular ballads of ex-Yugoslav music.

3. Dino Merlin (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 59.79, Dino Merlin is the 3rd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Edin Dervišhalidović (born 12 September 1962), known professionally as Dino Merlin, is a Bosnian singer-songwriter and record producer. Born in Sarajevo, he was the founder and leader of Merlin, which was one of the best-selling rock bands of Southeast Europe.Nicknamed "The Wizard", Dino is considered one of the most prominent and commercially successful artists ever to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. Over the course of his career, he has produced over a dozen chart-topping albums, gone on several record-breaking tours, won awards including the Sixth of April Sarajevo Award, and authored the first national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is widely known for his distinctive voice, stage performances, and poetic lyrics.

4. Željko Bebek (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 58.46, Željko Bebek is the 4th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Želimir "Željko" Bebek (born 16 December 1945) is a Bosnian-Herzegovian and Croatian vocalist and musician most notable for being the lead singer of the Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme from 1974 until 1984. He also maintains a folk-pop solo career.

5. Kemal Monteno (1948 - 2015)

With an HPI of 57.72, Kemal Monteno is the 5th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Kemal Monteno (17 September 1948 – 21 January 2015) was a Bosnian recording artist and singer-songwriter whose career stretched from the 1960s to the 2010s. He is widely considered one of the greatest songwriters of the former Yugoslavia. Monteno wrote songs for other performers as well, most notably Zdravko Čolić, Toše Proeski, and the rock band Indexi.

6. Halid Bešlić (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 55.33, Halid Bešlić is the 6th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Halid Bešlić (Bosnian pronunciation: [xǎːlid bɛ̂ʃlitɕ]; born 20 November 1953) is a Bosnian folk singer and musician who has been performing professionally since 1979. Bešlić's singing career was one of the most successful in Yugoslavia, and continues today throughout the entire Balkan region.

7. Davorin Popović (1946 - 2001)

With an HPI of 54.05, Davorin Popović is the 7th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Davorin Popović (23 September 1946 – 18 June 2001) was a Croatian-Bosnian singer and songwriter. He was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of socialist federal Yugoslavia, which was disestablished in 1992. Popović was well known throughout the former Yugoslavia, and still is considered to be one of the greatest rock singers in his native country. He was the lead singer and frontman of the progressive and pop rock band Indexi throughout most of their career. He and his band Indexi became founders of specific music style in former Yugoslavia known as "Sarajevo pop-rock school" who later influenced other bands and singers in Sarajevo and other parts of Yugoslavia. His close lifelong friendship with another famous Sarajevan, Mirza Delibašić, led to the duo becoming inextricably linked to the bohemian lifestyle of the city. In his youth, he was a successful basketball player. During his career, he earned nicknames including "Pimpek", "Davor", "Dačo" or simply "Pjevač" (literally the Singer) due to his unique voice. In parallel with the group work, he pursued a solo career between 1975 and 1996, albeit in a non-continuous manner. On most of his solo works one or another line-up of Indexi played as backing studio musicians, so his solo career is closely related with that of the band itself. This was also stressed in the album titles when they are usually credited to "Davorin and Indexi" or similar. During the siege of Sarajevo in 1995, he represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with the song "Dvadeset prvi vijek" ("21st Century"), finishing in 19th place of the 23 entries. Some of the most popular songs commonly associated with Indexi were actually issued as Davorin's solo works, such as "I pad je let" ("The Fall Is Flying Too") or "U tebi se žena rađa" ("You're Becoming a Woman") from his debut LP Svaka je ljubav ista (osim one prave) (Every Love Is the Same (Except The True One)) from 1976, which was oddly the first studio album with entirely new songs that was recorded by Indexi as a group (they used to issue singles and compilations rather than studio albums). It was however released as Davorin's solo effort because the band was working on their progressive masterpiece "Modra Rijeka" ("Dark-Blue River") at that time. Music on Popović's solo albums is generally closer to mainstream pop rock and easy-listening schlager songs, although some retained the trademark Indexi rock formula.

8. Sena Jurinac (1921 - 2011)

With an HPI of 52.87, Sena Jurinac is the 8th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Srebrenka "Sena" Jurinac (Croatian pronunciation: [srêbreːŋka sěːna jurǐːnat͜s]) (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011) was a Bosnian-born Austrian operatic soprano.

9. Seid Memić Vajta (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 52.40, Seid Memić Vajta is the 9th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Seid Memić, known by his stage name Vajta, (born 8 March 1950, in Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a Bosnian singer and the vocalist for the Yugoslav rock band Teška industrija ("Heavy Industry"). In 1973, Vajta moved to Sarajevo and that is when his music career begins in earnest. From 1975 to 1976 he was a vocalist for Teška Industrija, who enjoyed great commercial success throughout the Balkan countries but later dissolved. Soon, though, Vajta left the band to start a career as a pop singer. In the years from 1979-85, the albums "Zlatna Ribica" (Goldfish), "Vajta 2 Ponoćni valcer" (Midnight Waltz), "Tebi pjevam" (Singing to You) and "Kad bulbuli pjevaju" (When Bulbuls Sing) brought him to the heights of popularity throughout former Yugoslavia and made him a household name.He became internationally known in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest during which he represented Yugoslavia. He achieved 15th place for Yugoslavia with the song "Lejla", which became a hit and still is throughout the Balkan countries. He hosted Nedeljni zabavnik kids programme in the 1980s. With the breakout of the Bosnian war, he moved to Germany, settling in Hamburg, where he lives today. In early 2007, Teška Industrija reunited and released a new album. In 2009, Vajta attained popularity by participating in the Croatian reality TV show Farma, where he was expelled in the 6th duel on April 10.

10. Ljiljana Petrović (1939 - 2020)

With an HPI of 52.02, Ljiljana Petrović is the 10th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ljiljana Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Љиљана Петровић; 1939 – 4 February 2020) was a Serbian singer. She was born in Bosanski Brod, but was brought up in Novi Sad. She began to sing at local clubs and restaurants, and performed at a festival in Mali Lošinj in 1960, where she was noticed by the head of the artists and repertoire division at the record label Jugoton. In 1961, Petrović represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "Neke davne zvezde" (Some ancient stars). Petrović finished in 8th place receiving 9 points. Subsequently, she continued to record music until the late 1970s, at which point she retired from public life until the late 1980s, when she became an author, releasing a book of poetry in 1991. Petrović died on 4 February 2020, aged 81.

People

Pantheon has 26 people classified as Bosnian, Herzegovinian singers born between 1921 and 1987. Of these 26, 21 (80.77%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Bosnian, Herzegovinian singers include Lepa Brena, Zdravko Čolić, and Dino Merlin. The most famous deceased Bosnian, Herzegovinian singers include Kemal Monteno, Davorin Popović, and Sena Jurinac. As of April 2024, 4 new Bosnian, Herzegovinian singers have been added to Pantheon including Željko Bebek, Seid Memić Vajta, and Rodoljub Roki Vulović.