The Most Famous

SINGERS from Serbia

This page contains a list of the greatest Serbian Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 22 of which were born in Serbia. This makes Serbia the birth place of the 36th most number of Singers behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece.

Top 10

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

1. Šaban Šaulić (1951 - 2019)

With an HPI of 58.97, Šaban Šaulić is the most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Šaban Šaulić (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабан Шаулић; 6 September 1951 – 17 February 2019) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav folk singer. Renowned for his refined baritone vocals and performances characterised by emotional intensity and crowd interaction, his career spanning over five decades has enjoyed both critical and commercial success. He is referred to as the "King of Folk Music" ("kralj narodne muzike").

2. Đorđe Balašević (1953 - 2021)

With an HPI of 58.22, Đorđe Balašević is the 2nd most famous Serbian Singer. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Đorđe Balašević (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Балашевић; 11 May 1953 – 19 February 2021) was a Serbian singer and songwriter, writer, poet and director. He began his career in the late 1970s as a member of the band Rani Mraz, transitioning after two albums to a solo career. He first gained mainstream prominence for writing Rani Mraz's hit "Računajte na nas" (Count on Us), which was often described as an anthem of a generation. Noted for his vivid lyricism and poetry, Balašević was also known for weaving political commentary into his songs and live performance. Broadly supportive of South Slavic unity in late 1970s and early 1980s, in the lead up to the Yugoslav wars he began to criticise the authorities. During the Yugoslav wars, he became a prominent anti-war voice in the region, thanks to which he also became an UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Balašević was the first Serbian act to perform in Sarajevo following the siege of Sarajevo. Balašević became one of the most prominent critics of Slobodan Milošević's regime, at considerable personal risk. Balašević was a prolific singer and writer, he recorded 14 albums and wrote 8 books during his career and has been characterised by media and commentators as "musical legend" and author of many "evergreen hits".

3. Ceca (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 54.32, Ceca is the 3rd most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Svetlana Ražnatović (née Veličković; Serbian Cyrillic: Светлана Ражнатовић, née Величковић; pronounced [sʋětlana raʒnǎːtoʋit͡ɕ]; born 14 June 1973), better known as Ceca (Serbian Cyrillic: Цеца, pronounced [t͡sěːt͡sa]), is a Serbian singer. Born in Prokuplje and raised in Žitorađa, she made her recording debut in 1988 and has collectively released sixteen studio albums. Dubbed the "Serbian Mother" (Srpska majka), she is recognized as one of the commercially most successful Serbian artists of all time with collective sales of seven million records. Furthermore, with 150,000 attendees, her 2013 concert in Ušće, Belgrade was one of the highest-attended concerts in the world. In 2023, Ražnatović also became the youngest recipient of the Life Achievement Award at the Serbian Folk Music Assembly. Between 1995 and 2000, Ceca was married to Serbian mobster and war criminal Željko Ražnatović 'Arkan', with whom she has two children. In 2011, Ceca was convicted of embezzlement and illegal firearm possession.

4. Šaban Bajramović (1936 - 2008)

With an HPI of 53.72, Šaban Bajramović is the 4th most famous Serbian Singer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Šaban Bajramović (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабан Бајрамовић, pronounced [ʃǎban bajrǎːmɔʋitɕ]; Romani: Shaban Bajramovičh; 16 April 1936 – 8 June 2008), nicknamed Šabi (Шаби), was a Serbian vocalist and recording artist of Arlije Romani ethnicity. He was one of the most internationally critically acclaimed Romani singer-songwriters. Due to his eminent impact on music in Eastern Europe, he was dubbed the "King of Romani music".

5. Sinan Sakić (1956 - 2018)

With an HPI of 53.60, Sinan Sakić is the 5th most famous Serbian Singer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Sinan Sakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Синан Сакић; 13 October 1956 – 1 June 2018) was a Serbian pop-folk singer. Sakić first reached massive popularity as a member of the Yugoslav turbo-folk band, Južni Vetar (Southern Wind). He also went on to have a successful career as a solo artist. Sakić was one of the most successful artists in the ex-Yugoslavia region.

6. Lola Novaković (1935 - 2016)

With an HPI of 53.39, Lola Novaković is the 6th most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Zorana "Lola" Novaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоранa "Лола" Новаковић); (25 April 1935 – 3 April 2016) was a Serbian singer, hugely popular during the 1960s and to a lesser degree the 1970s. She was born in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. She represented FPR Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962, where she finished fourth. In 1962, she starred in Šeki snima, pazi se, a full-length comedy inspired by the public persona of football sensation Dragoslav Šekularac. She died on 3 April 2016, at age 80.

7. Dragana Mirković (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 53.00, Dragana Mirković is the 7th most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Dragana Mirković (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгана Мирковић, pronounced [drǎɡana mǐːrkɔ̝v̞it͡ɕ]; born 18 January 1968) is a Serbian pop-folk singer and entrepreneur. She rose to prominence in the eighties as a member of the popular collective Južni Vetar. Mirković is recognised as one of the most successful artists from the former Yugoslavia, with collective sales of 10 million records. Alongside her husband, she also founded a satellite music channel called DM SAT.

8. Bora Đorđević (1952 - 2024)

With an HPI of 51.82, Bora Đorđević is the 8th most famous Serbian Singer. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Borisav "Bora" Đorđević (Serbian Cyrillic: Борисав, Бора Ђорђевић; 1 November 1952 – 4 September 2024), also known as Bora Čorba (Serbian Cyrillic: Бора Чорба), was a Serbian singer, songwriter, and poet. He was best known as the frontman of the rock band Riblja Čorba. Renowned for his brand of poetic lyrics and husky baritone voice, Đorđević is widely considered one of the top and most influential authors of the Serbian rock scene.

9. Jelena Karleuša (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 50.63, Jelena Karleuša is the 9th most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Jelena Karleuša (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Карлеуша; born 17 August 1978) is a Serbian singer-songwriter and media personality. Born and raised in Belgrade, at the age of 16 she began her music career by releasing her debut album in 1995. Karleuša has so far collectively released twelve studio albums. She has held two major solo concerts in Belgrade: All About Diva Show in the Belgrade Arena (2010) and Viva La Diva Show in Ušće Park (2013). Additionally, between 2015 and 2021, Karleuša also served as a judge on the singing competition Zvezde Granda. Throughout her career, Karleuša has received substantial media coverage and has amassed strong social media following, being the second most-followed person from Serbia on Instagram with over 2.4 million followers. Known for her outspoken views on sociopolitical topics and frequent disputes with other public figures, she has also attracted significant controversy. Because of her polarizing and often controversial public persona and work, Kareluša was described as the "Lady Gaga of Serbia" and "Madonna of the Balkans" by W magazine in 2013 and Focus in 2015, respectively.

10. Marija Šerifović (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 50.34, Marija Šerifović is the 10th most famous Serbian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 54 different languages.

Marija Šerifović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марија Шерифовић, pronounced [mǎrija ʃerǐːfovitɕ]; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland with "Molitva", becoming Serbia's first and to date only winning entry. Šerifović made her recording debut in 1998 and has released six studio albums as well as numerous standalone singles. Additionally, she has served as a judge on the televised singing competition Zvezde Granda since 2015. She has won the Artistic Marcel Bezençon Award for "Molitva" and two regional MAC Awards. Predominately recognized for balladic songs, Šerifović is often regarded as one of the best female pop vocalists in Serbia.

People

Pantheon has 24 people classified as Serbian singers born between 1935 and 1993. Of these 24, 17 (70.83%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Serbian singers include Ceca, Dragana Mirković, and Jelena Karleuša. The most famous deceased Serbian singers include Šaban Šaulić, Đorđe Balašević, and Šaban Bajramović. As of April 2024, 2 new Serbian singers have been added to Pantheon including Bebi Dol, and Luke Black.