Lepa Brena
Background information
Birth name	Fahreta Jahić
Also known as	Fahreta Živojinović
Born	(1960-10-20) 20 October 1960 (age 51) Tuzla, SR Bosnia-Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina
Genres	Pop-folk, pop, dance, folk
Occupations	Musician, actress
Years active	1979–present
Labels	PGP, Diskoton, ZaM, Grand Production
Associated acts	Slatki greh
Website	www.jednajebrena.com

Fahreta Jahić- Živojinović (born 20 October 1960) is a Bosnian pop-folk and pop singer, South Slavs pop star and pop icon and showbiz manager, better known by her stage name Lepa Brena.

Early life[link]

Lepa Brena was born as Fahreta Jahić to a Bosniak family in Tuzla in 1960, but grew up in Brčko. She was the third-born child of Abid Jahić (1928-2010) and Ifeta Jahić.^[1] She has a sister Faketa and an older brother named Faruk.^[2]

Career[link]

In 1980, she started singing with the band Slatki Greh.^[2] She subsequently moved to Novi Sad and then to Belgrade. Brena started to sing in hotel TURIST in Backa Palanka. She released her first album Čačak, Čačak in 1982. She is arguably the most popular singer of the former Yugoslavia, and a top-selling female record artist with more than thirty million records sold.^[3][4][5]

Beside her career as a singer, Lepa Brena is one of the founders of Grand Slam Group and Grand Production.^[6]

Fahreta's nickname "Brena" was given to her by her gym teacher. Later on, Serbian showman Minimax added "Lepa" (beautiful), creating the stage name "Lepa Brena".^[7]

Lepa Brena's career can be divided into two main periods:

• Performance with the band Slatki Greh ("sweet sin")
• Solo career

Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh[link]

Lepa Brena joined Slatki Greh in 1981 when the group's original singer Spasa left the band because of her marriage. Saša Popović, the band's frontman, was initially opposed to the idea that Lepa Brena should be the band's new singer, but later changed his opinion. Their first performance was in Bačka Palanka on 6 May 1980.

Collaboration with Milutin Popović-Zahar and Vladimir Cvetkovic[link]

Her first album Čačak, Čačak was written mostly by Milutin Popović-Zahar, and the career-manager was Vladimir Cvetković. That same year Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh appeared in the first part of Yugoslavian classic comedy Tesna koža (translation: Tight Skin), which raised their profile and brought them almost instant popularity.

The second album Mile voli disko, was released in 1983. Best known songs from that album were "Mile voli disko", "Duge noge" and "Dama iz Londona". The album's main writer was Milutin Popović-Zahar.

Colaboration with Raka Đokić[link]

In 1983, Lepa Brena ended her collaboration with Milutin Popović-Zahar and Vladimir Cvetković. That year Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh participated in Jugovizija (Yugoslav selection for the Eurovision Song Contest) with the song "Sitnije, Cile, sitnije". Her appearance caused confusion among the audience, since Jugovizija was considered exclusively reserved for pop singers. Although they did not qualify for the prestigious European competition, Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh won the contest, gaining even more popularity.

The following year, Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh started a cooperation with a new manager Raka Đokić. "Bato, bato", her third album, was released the same year. A new provocative image was accompanied by a new musical style, different from the one fostered by Popović. Popular pub called "dvojka" has been replaced by pop melodies and more provocative lyrics. The same year, Lepa Brena held a concert in neighboring Romania, at the stadium in Timisoara to an audience of 65,000. It was the first successful concert of a Yugoslav singer outside their home country.

Lepa Brena's next three albums, Pile moje in 1985 and Voli me, voli and Uske pantalone in 1986 would propel her to the throne of the Yugoslav music scene.

Along with these albums, Lepa Brena established a cooperation with Yugoslav folk star Miroslav Ilić and recorded a romantic duet "Jedan dan života", and the song "Živela Jugoslavija", which was received with a mixed response. The latter song was in line with Lepa Brena's only official political stance: an uncompromising support of a united Yugoslavia, with her becoming a symbol of this view.

By the end of 1986, Lepa Brena has already become the most popular public figure in Yugoslavia and strengthened the position of undisputed sex symbol. Later that year, her manager Raka Đokić came up with the idea that her next studio album should be followed by a movie in which would Lepa Brena should play a major role. This idea was successfully implemented in 1987 when the motion picture Hajde da se volimo was filmed. Many then-popular Yugoslav actors co-starred in the film, including Dragomir Gidra Bojanić, Milutin Karadžić, Velimir Bata Živojinović, Milan Štrljić etc.^[8]

Based on the success of the original, two sequels were produced for Hajde da se volimo. Hajde da se volimo 2 (1989)^[9] was followed by the studio album Četiri godine, and Hajde da se volimo 3 (1991)^[10] followed by album Boli me uvo za sve in 1990.

In the turbulent years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lepa Brena held more than three-hundred and fifty concerts yearly,^[11] and would often hold two concerts in one day. Lepa Brena set a record by holding thirty-one concerts day after day at Dom Sindikata, and seventeen concerts day after day at the Sava Center.^[12] In the late 1990s Brena held a concert at Levski stadium in Sofia (Bulgaria), in front of one hundred thousand people.

Lepa Brena and Slatki Greh recorded their second-to-last album together: Zaljubiška, in 1991.

Solo career[link]

In 1994, after a three-year break, Lepa Brena recorded her first solo album Ja nemam drugi dom, and held a famous "Concert in the Rain" at Tašmajdan stadium which was attended by 35,000 people.^[13] The next year, she recorded a couple more solo albums: Kazna Božija (1995) and Luda za tobom (1996).

Return to music[link]

After eight years of absence from making music, Lepa Brena returned in 2008 with a studio album, "Uđi slobodno".^[14] The album contained 10 new songs, nine of which were written by Brena's old song-writer Marina Tucaković and Aleksandar Milić Mili.^[15] She then released her sixteenth album, "Zacarani Krug", in 2011.^[16] Both albums were major successes.

Personal life[link]

She married Serbian tennis star Slobodan Živojinović in 1991. Their wedding on 7 December 1991 was a supreme media event throughout the then-still-existing Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The lavish ceremony took place at Belgrade's InterContinental Hotel. The level of interest in the event was such that Brena's manager Raka Đokić even released a VHS tape of the wedding for commercial exploitation. Their very public relationship has been providing steady fodder for various yellow media publications ever since. The couple has three sons - Filip (Brena's step son), Stefan and Viktor.

In November 2000, their son Stefan was kidnapped. After they had paid a ransom of 2,500,000 deutsche mark in cash, he was released.^[17] She currently resides in Belgrade, together with her husband Slobodan Živojinović and their three sons.

After her marriage, she moved to the United States and ceased cooperation with Slatki Greh. However, in 2000 they recorded another album together "Pomracenje sunca", their last album together. The album was not well received by the public. After the debacle and family drama, she retired once again, for 8 years that time. She returned to the industry in 2008.

Brena and her husband have a home in Coconut Creek in Pompano Beach, Florida, where they lived during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. She also has an apartment in Monte Carlo and another townhouse on Fisher Island in Florida. More recently in 2010 Brena and her husband have purchased a 5 bedroom villa with a inground heated pool on one of Miami's Islands. Purchase price of $1.6 million in cash.

Her father died on 22 October 2010 aged 82 after he had been injured in a traffic accident.

Concerts[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Yugoslavia

• Serbia, Beograd, Sava Centar - 80.000 attendants
• 1983 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar, Bijeli Brijeg Stadium - 35.000 attendants
• 1983 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zenica - 20.000 attendants
• 1983 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuzla - 23.000 attendants
• 1985 Croatia, Split, Arena Gripe - 40.000 attendants
• Serbia, Beograd, Dom Sindikata Hall ( 31 concert repeatedly ) - 54.000 attendants
• 13 June 1995 - Macedonia Skopje Philip II Arena - 35.000 attendants
• Skopje, Republic of Macedonia - 100.000 attendants
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Olympic Hall Zetra - (more concerts in a row)- 40.000 attendants
• Serbia, Beograd, stadium Tasmajdan - 35.000 attendants
• Croatia, Zagreb, Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall - (in total 4 concerta repeatedly)- 40.000 attendants
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Skenderija - 13.000 attendants
• Serbia, Nis, Niš Fortress - 20.000 attendants

Europe

• Bulgaria, Plovdiv, Plovdiv Stadium - 55.000 attendants
• Bulgaria, Varna - 40.000 attendants
• Australia, Sydney - 15.000 attendants
• 24 July 1990 - Bulgaria, Sofia, Vasil Levski National Stadium - 110.000 attendants
• 1984 Romania, Timișoara, Stadionul Dan Păltinişanu - 65.000 attendants
• 2004 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brčko, Stadion Blatuša - 17.000 attendants
• 2004 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuzla, Stadion Tusanj - 15.000 attendants
• 1 November 2008 - Zürich, Switzerland - Grodoonia - 2,000 attendants
• 22 November 2008 - Wien, Austria - Nachtwerk - 3,000 attendants
• 20 December 2008 - Stuttgart, Germany - Carl Benz Arena - 4,000+ attendants
• 25 December 2008 - Bochum, Germany - Club Taksim - 2,500 attendants
• 31 December 2008 - Budva, Montenegro - Gradski Trg - 20,000 attendants
• 17 January 2009 - Bansko, Bulgaria - Nai Club - 1,000 VIP attendants
• 7 February 2009 - Frankfurt, Germany - Union Halle - 3,000 attendants
• 13 February 2009 - Ulcinj, Montenegro - Diskoteka Primavera - 1,200 attendants
• 7 March 2009 - Duisburg, Germany - Intakt Club - 2,000 attendants
• 14 March 2009 - Zürich, Switzerland - Grodoonia - 3,000+ attendants
• 21 March 2009 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Hala Tivoli - 10,000+ attendants
• 4 April 2009 - Kotor, Montenegro - Disco Maximus - 1,500+ attendants
• 11 April 2009 - Yverdon, Switzerland - Zed Club - 2,000 attendants
• 24 April 2009 - Malmö, Sweden - Amiralen - 2,500+ attendants
• 25 April 2009 - Stockholm, Sweden - Gamla Tryckeriet - 2,500+ attendants
• 30 May 2009 - Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina - Olympic Hall Zetra - 18,000 attendants
• 11 June 2009 - Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina - Bijeli Brijeg Stadium - 25,000 attendants
• 13 June 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia - Arena Zagreb - 15,000+ attendants
• 28 June 2009 - Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina - City Stadium of Banja Luka - 20.000 attendants
• 5 September 2009 - Portorož, Slovenia - Avditorij - 3,000 attendants

Australia

• 28 November 2009 - Sydney, Australia - Withlam Centre Liverpool
• 4 December 2009 - Perth, Australia - Herb Graham Mirrabooka
• 5 December 2009 - Melbourne, Australia - Springvale Hall

Europe

• 9 February 2010 - Ptuj, Slovenia - Karnivalska Dvorana - 3,500 attendants
• 27 February 2010 - Münich, Germany - Tonhalle - 1,000 + attendants
• 3 April 2010 - Düsseldorf, Germany - Ambis Club
• 1 May 2010 - Pforzheim, Germany - Flash Club
• 8 May 2010 - Montlingen, Switzerland - Disco Flash
• 18 May 2010 - Tinjan, Croatia - Tinjan Stadion - 3,000 + attendants
• 12 June 2010 - Varaždin, Croatia - Varaždin Arena
• 10 September 2010 - Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina - Disco Bridge
• 24 September 2010 - Malmö, Sweden - Slagthuset
• 25 September 2010 - Norrköping, Sweden - Folkets Park Borgen
• 1 October 2010 - Horsens, Denmark - Torsted Hallen
• 2 October 2010 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Hogsbohallen Angasvallen
• 3 November 2010 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Nai Club (cancelled due to death of her father)
• 25 December 2010 - Hamburg, Germany - Balkannight Club
• 21 January 2011 - Littau, Switzerland - Perosa Club
• 5 February 2011 - Münich, Germany - Inclub
• 5 March 2011 - Rijeka, Croatia - Dvorana Mladosti - 5.000 attendants
• 26 March 2011 - Osijek, Croatia - Gradski vrt Cancelled due to the objections of Croatian nationalists
• 16 April 2011 - Skopje, Republic of Macedonia - Boris Trajkovski Sports Center - 12.000 attendants

Tour 2011/2012[link]

After her last album "Začarani krug" was released, Lepa Brena started the tour on 20 and 21 October 2011 with two consecutive concerts in Belgrade Arena.

• 20 October 2011 - Belgrade, Serbia - Beogradska Arena - 25,000 attendants
• 21 October 2011 - Belgrade, Serbia - Beogradska Arena - 25,000 attendants
• 3 December 2011 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Armeets Arena - 20,000 attendants
• 8 December 2011 - Niš, Serbia - Hala Čair - 7,000 attendants
• 31 December 2011 - Petrovac, Montenegro - 5,000 attendants
• 3 March 2012 - Switzerland, Dietikon, Stadthalle - 6,000 attendants
• 5 May 2012 - Chicago, Illinois
• 12 May 2012 - Toronto, Canada
• 19 May 2012 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Arena Stožice - 15,000 attendants
• 2 June 2012 - Paris, France - DOCK EIFFEL -
• 15 June 2012 - Timișoara, Romania - Stadionul Dan Păltinişanu -
• 15 July 2012 - Prilep, Macedonia -

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Čačak, Čačak (1981)
• Mile voli disko (1982)
• Sitnije, Cile, sitnije (1983)
• Bato, Bato (1984)
• Pile moje (1985)
• Jedan dan života (1985)
• Voli me, voli (1986)
• Uske pantalone (1986)
• Hajde da se volimo (1987)
• Četiri godine (1989)
• Boli me uvo za sve (1990)
• Zaljubiška (1991)
• Ja nemam drugi dom (1994)
• Kazna Božija (1995)
• Luda za tobom (1996)
• Pomračenje sunca... (2000)
• Lepa Brena (The Best of – Dupli CD) (2004)
• Uđi slobodno... (2008)
• Začarani krug (2011)

Filmography[link]

• Tesna koža, (1982)
• Kamiondzije 2, (1983); television series
• Nema problema, (1984)
• Kamiondžije opet voze, (1984)
• Hajde da se volimo, (1987)
• Hajde da se volimo 2, (1989)
• Hajde da se volimo 3, (1990)
• Hajde da se volimo 4, (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lepa Brena

• Official website
• http://www.bhraja.ca/Vijesti/Magazin/Lepa-Brena:-Nisam-ni-Hrvatica-ni-Srpkinja,-ja-sam-Jugoslovenka!.html

Lepa may refer to:

• Palma de Mallorca Airport, assigned the ICAO code LEPA
• Lepa, Samoa village in Samoa
• Lepa, Estonia village in Estonia
• Lepa Ves, village in Croatia

Other uses[link]

• Lepa Brena, Bosnian singer
• LEPA, low-energy precision application irrigation
• Lepas, a genus of goose barnacles
• Leader peptidase A (LepA), elongation factor (biology)

See also[link]

• All pages with titles containing "Lepa"
• All pages with titles containing "Lepas"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

Miroslav Ilić
Background information
Born	(1950-12-10) December 10, 1950 (age 61)
Origin	Mrčajevci Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Genres	Folk
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1965 - present
Labels	PGP RTB/PGP RTS in Serbia BN Music in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Miroslav Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирослав Илић; born December 10, 1950 in the village of Mrčajevci, Čačak, Serbia SFR Yugoslavia), is a popular Serbian folk singer-songwriter. He is known for his powerful vocals and emotional lyrics. Before becoming a musician he took Electrical courses at a University of Skopje. He has worked together with several popular Yugoslavian musicians such as Lepa Brena.^[1] In recent times, he has spoken out against the new generation of Serbian music videos, claiming that music videos are becoming more and more sexually suggestive and inappropriate for general audiences.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

• Savila se vita grana jablana (1965)
• Vesna stjuardesa (1972)
• Razboleh se pod tresnjama (1973)
• Zori, zori, dan se zabjelio (1973)
• Selo moje, zavicaju mio (1973)
• Oj, Moravo zelena dolamo (1973)
• Gina (1973)
• Vragolan (1974)
• Hiljadu suza (1974)
• Daleko si sada (1975)
• Sta je zivot (1975)
• Sta bi htela kad bi smela (1976)
• Boem (1976)
• Jelena (1977)
• Ja ne igram kako drugi svira (1977)
• Vino tocim a vino ne pijem (1978)
• Koliki je ovaj svet (1979)
• Otvor prozor, curice malena (1980) Duet with Dobrivoje Topalovic
• Joj Rado, joj Radmila (1980)
• Gde si sada (1981) From the Film Sok od Sljiva

Albums[link]

• Ovom te pesmom pozdravljam (1973)
• Voleo sam devojku iz grada (1975)
• Sreli smo se, bilo je to davno (1979)
• Polomiću čaše od kristala (1979)
• U svet odoh majko (1980)
• Tako mi nedostaješ (1981)
• Shvatio sam, ne mogu bez tebe (1982)
• Kad si sa mnom ne misli na vreme (1983)
• Poydravi je, poydravi (1983)
• Putujem, putujem (1984)
• Jedan dan života (Duet album with Lepa Brena)(1985)
• Zoveš me na vino (1985)
• Tebi (1986)
• Misliš li na mene (1987)
• 10 Godina sa vama aka Dan osviće a ja odlazim (1988)
• Balada o nama (1988)
• Lažu da vreme leči sve (1989)
• Šta će nama tugovanje (1990)
• Prošlost moja (1993)
• Naljutićeš me ti (1993)
• Amerika, Amerika (1993)
• Probudi se srce moje (1996)
• Bili smo drugovi (1996)
• Čuvajte mi pesme (1998)
• Lidija (1998)
• Što si rano zaspala (1999)
• Tek smo počeli (2001)
• Može li se prijatelju (2002)
• Eto mene (2004)
• Dajem reč (2005)
• Mani me godina (2010)

Filmography[link]

• Sok od Šljiva, (1981)

References[link]

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