Vesna Zmijanac is a Montenegrin-born Serbian folk singer. Having sold millions of records and several regional tours she is recognized as one of the most popular Yugoslavian singers. Zmijanac became known for her emotional vocal delivery and melancholic ballads, thus often dubbed the "Queen of sadness". In addition she was noted as the sex-symbol and fashion icon of the eighties.
Life and career
Vesna Zmijanac was born on 4 January 1957 in Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia to father from Sisak, Croatia and mother from Kraljevo, Serbia. 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 because her parents went abroad to work. Zmijanac was discovered by singer Šaban Šaulić as a teenager living with her mother in Vienna, Austria. She also cites Esma Redžepova and Safet Isović next to Šaulić as the biggest influences on her vocal performance. Zmijanac released her debut single in 1979, but rose to prominence in the early eighties by appearing in popular television movies and series as a singer. She then released her first album, Ljubi me, ljubi, lepoto moja, under PGP-RTS, which saw moderate success. Zmijanac scored her first hit in 1985 with "Nevera moja", written by her then husband Miroljub Aranđelović Kemiš. The following year she released her fifth record, Dođi što pre, which sold over 600,000 copies. During this period she had her first national tour and was recognised as one of the biggest artists in the former Yugoslavia, only competing with Lepa Brena. Zmijanac saw success again with Jedan si ti in 1987. Istina was then released in 1988, which knowably included a duet with then less known Bosnian singer-songwriter Dino Merlin, titled "Kad zamirišu jorgovani". The album marked her biggest success, overall selling record-breaking 1,1 million copies according to Zmijanac. On October 19 the following year, she gave birth to daughter Nikolija, while married to Vladimir Jovanović, who at the time worked as the marketing chief at PGP-RTS. In 1990, she had another best-selling album with Svatovi, but under new label Komuna. Zmijanac then embarked on her fourth tour when she sold out ten concerts in a row in Belgrade's Sava Centar. In 1994, Zmijanac released Idem preko zemlje Srbije, followed by another regional tour. Malo po malo was then released in 1995 under Diskos. In 1997, she released Posle svega, dobro sam, where she collaborated with rock musicianBajaga on Da budemo noćas zajedno. In 2000, she published her autobiography. Zmijanac subsequently released Šta ostanu kad padnu haljine under Grand Production in 2003. The album's title track was written by Željko Joksimović. In 2010, Zmijanac took part in the reality TV series broadcast on TV Prva alongside her daughter, where she was second contestant to be voted out. Zmijanac also appeared in the seventh season of Farma on RTV Pink in 2016. She eventually walked out from the show, after receiving news about Nikolija being pregnant.
