The Most Famous

SINGERS from Croatia

This page contains a list of the greatest Croatian Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 33 of which were born in Croatia. This makes Croatia the birth place of the 23rd most number of Singers behind Israel, and Ireland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Croatian Singers of all time. This list of famous Croatian 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 Croatian Singers.

1. Tereza Kesovija (b. 1938)

With an HPI of 60.17, Tereza Kesovija is the most famous Croatian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Tereza Ana Kesovija (pronounced [terěːza âna kesǒʋija]; born 3 October 1938) is an internationally acclaimed Croatian recording artist. She was one of the most recognizable figures on the music scene in former Yugoslavia and is renowned for her wide vocal range and operatic style. She also had a successful career in France. She has held many concerts around the world, being one of the few Yugoslav musicians to have sold out shows in The Royal Albert Hall, L'Olympia and Carnegie Hall.

2. Neda Ukraden (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 59.15, Neda Ukraden is the 2nd most famous Croatian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Neda Ukraden (Serbian Cyrillic: Неда Украден; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian singer. Her professional career stretches back to 1967.

3. Arsen Dedić (1938 - 2015)

With an HPI of 57.47, Arsen Dedić is the 3rd most famous Croatian Singer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Arsenije "Arsen" Dedić (pronounced [ǎrsɛːnijɛ ǎrsen děːditɕ]; 28 July 1938 – 17 August 2015) was a Croatian singer-songwriter. He wrote and performed chansons, as well as film music. He was also an award-winning poet, and was one of the best-selling poets of former Yugoslavia and Croatia.

4. Vice Vukov (1936 - 2008)

With an HPI of 55.00, Vice Vukov is the 4th most famous Croatian Singer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Vinko "Vice" Vukov (3 August 1936 – 24 September 2008) was a Croatian singer and politician.

5. Dado Topić (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 54.53, Dado Topić is the 5th most famous Croatian Singer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Adolf "Dado" Topić is a rock musician from Croatia. He was the lead singer and founder of Time, a 1970s progressive rock band from the former Yugoslavia. From 1970 to late 1971, he was also the lead singer of the popular prog-rock band Korni Grupa (also known as The Kornelyans). He is a male vocalist who sang the entry from Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, together with the band Dragonfly.

6. Zinka Milanov (1906 - 1989)

With an HPI of 54.52, Zinka Milanov is the 6th most famous Croatian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Zinka Milanov (Croatian pronunciation: [zîːŋka milǎnoʋ]; May 17, 1906 – May 30, 1989) was a Croatian operatic dramatic soprano who had a major career centered on the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After finishing her education in Zagreb, Milanov made her debut in 1927 in Ljubljana as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore. From 1928 to 1936, she was the leading soprano of the Croatian National Theatre. In 1937, Milanov performed at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time, where she continued to sing until 1966. She also performed as a concert singer and was a noted vocal coach and teacher. Milanov is the sister of the composer and pianist Božidar Kunc.

7. Josipa Lisac (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 54.11, Josipa Lisac is the 7th most famous Croatian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Josipa Lisac (pronounced [jɔ̌sipa lǐːsat͡s]; born 14 February 1950) is a Croatian and Yugoslav singer whose work has spawned many different genres, from rock and pop to jazz and ethnic music. Known for her unique contralto, Lisac is widely considered one of the most notable female vocalists of the Yugoslav popular music scene. Starting her professional career as the vocalist for the rock band O'Hara in 1967, Lisac immediately gained the attention of the Yugoslav audience and the media. In 1968, she moved to the band Zlatni Akordi, starting her solo career during the same year. During the initial phase of her solo career, she performed on Yugoslav pop festivals, gaining large attention of the public. After a series of 7-inch singles, she released her debut album Dnevnik jedne ljubavi in 1973, today widely considered one of the best albums in the history of Yugoslav popular music. The album featured songs composed by her husband Karlo Metikoš, who would continue to play a pivotal role in her career in the following years. After her second studio release, a jazz rock album recorded with B.P. Convention Big Band International, and her third studio album, Made in U.S.A., featuring songs written by a number of prominent American songwriters, Lisac turned to contemporary rock sound. Her following releases, despite bringing several hit songs, did not repeat the commercial and critical success of her debut. In the mid-1980s, she turned to performing on Yugoslav pop festivals, appearing in extravagant and flamboyant costumes, the new phase of her career reaching its highlight with the 1987 album Boginja. Following Meikoš's death in 1991, she organized tribute concerts in his honor, three of them released on live albums, and during released three more studio albums, the 2009 album Živim po svom being her latest studio release. During her career, Lisac has collaborated with a number of acts of the Croatian and Yugoslav music scenes and has received a number of awards for her work.

8. Sergio Endrigo (1933 - 2005)

With an HPI of 53.08, Sergio Endrigo is the 8th most famous Croatian Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Sergio Endrigo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛrdʒo enˈdriːɡo]; 15 June 1933 – 7 September 2005) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Born in Pola, Istria in Italy (now Pula, Croatia), he has been often compared—for style and nature—to authors of the so-called "Genoa school" like Gino Paoli, Fabrizio De André, Luigi Tenco, and Bruno Lauzi. He won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1968 with the song "Canzone per te", sung with Roberto Carlos. The same year he represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "Marianne." His hits also include "L'arca di Noè", "Io che amo solo te" and "Adesso sì".

9. Severina (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 51.73, Severina is the 9th most famous Croatian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Severina Vučković (born 21 April 1972), better known mononymously as Severina, is a Croatian singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, the Croatian weekly Nacional listed her among the 100 most influential Croats, calling her "the only bona fide Croatian celebrity". She represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, Greece, with the song "Moja štikla", finishing 12th. She won the award "Zlatna ptica" for the best selling artist of the decade in Croatia. In 2015, she was the most searched person on Google in Croatia and Slovenia. She is considered one of the most popular people in Croatia and Croatia's pop-culture, and one of the most popular musicians on Balkan region, having collaborated with numerous artists like: Jala Brat, Ministarke, Azis, Marina Tucaković, Saša Matić, Miligram, Petar Grašo, Kemal Monteno, Željko Bebek, Crvena Jabuka, Goran Bregović, Boris Novković, Lana Jurčević, Danijela Martinović and many others. She wrote many of her songs including: Ostavljena, Da si Moj, Ja samo pjevam, Ajde ajde zlato moje, Mili Moj, Pogled ispod Obrva, Djevojka sa Sela, Ante, Ko me tjero, Adam i Seva, Parfem and many others. She is the only person in Croatia to accumulate more than 1 billion views on her YouTube channel.

10. Kićo Slabinac (1944 - 2020)

With an HPI of 51.16, Kićo Slabinac is the 10th most famous Croatian Singer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Krunoslav "Kićo" Slabinac (28 March 1944 – 13 November 2020) was a Croatian pop singer. His specialties were the songs nowadays inspired by folk music of Slavonia region of Croatia, and the uses of traditional instruments such as the tamburica. In the 1960s Slabinac was a member of several rock'n'roll bands. He then opted for a solo career as a pop singer and moved to Zagreb. While performing in a club, he was noticed by Nikica Kalogjera who gave him a chance to appear as a newcomer at the 1969 Split Festival. A year later, in 1970, Slabinac won the first prize at the Opatija Festival. He represented Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with "Tvoj dječak je tužan", placing 14th. Slabinac's song "Zbog jedne divne crne žene" was a huge hit which solidified his status as a singer. However, in the 1970s, legal troubles and time spent abroad set back his career. After his return from the United States, Slabinac focused on folk music, although he remained active in the pop music scene. His song "Letaj mi" became an evergreen in Macedonia, particularly because it was sung in Macedonian on the festival "MakFest" in 1989. He died on 13 November 2020 in Zagreb, following a long and complicated illness.

People

Pantheon has 36 people classified as Croatian singers born between 1906 and 2000. Of these 36, 30 (83.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Croatian singers include Tereza Kesovija, Neda Ukraden, and Dado Topić. The most famous deceased Croatian singers include Arsen Dedić, Vice Vukov, and Zinka Milanov. As of April 2024, 3 new Croatian singers have been added to Pantheon including Darko Rundek, Emilija Kokić, and Mia Dimšić.