Goran Bregović | |
|---|---|
Горан Бреговић | |
.jpg) Bregović in 2022 | |
| Born | (1950-03-22)22 March 1950 (age 75) |
| Other names | Brega |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Radojica Perišić (maternal uncle) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Member of | Bijelo Dugme |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | www |
Musical artist | |
Goran Bregović (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic:Горан Бреговић; born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist fromBosnia and Herzegovina.[nb 1] He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of theSlavic-speaking countries in theBalkans, and one of the fewformer Yugoslav musicians who have performed at major international venues such asCarnegie Hall,Royal Albert Hall andl'Olympia.
ASarajevo native, Bregović started out with the bandsKodeksi andJutro, but rose to prominence as the main creative mind and lead guitarist ofBijelo Dugme, widely considered one of the most popular and influential recording acts ever to exist in theSFR Yugoslavia. After Bijelo Dugme split up, he embarked on several critically and commercially successful solo projects, and started composing film scores. Among his better known film scores are three ofEmir Kusturica's films (Time of the Gypsies,Arizona Dream andUnderground). ForSilent Gunpowder, Bregović won theGolden Arena for Best Film Music at the 1990Pula Film Festival, among other awards. He has also composed for theAcademy Award-nominated filmLa Reine Margot and theCannes-entered filmThe Serpent's Kiss.
During his five-decade career, Bregović has composed for critically acclaimed singers, includingSezen Aksu,Kayah,Iggy Pop,Šaban Bajramović,George Dalaras,Cesária Évora andSeverina.
Born inSarajevo,PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,FPR Yugoslavia to aCroat father Franjo Bregović and aSerb mother Borka Perišić,[4][5] Goran grew up with two younger siblings—brother Predrag and sister Dajana. Their father was from the Croatian region ofPrigorje, specifically the village ofSveti Petar Čvrstec nearKriževci, while their mother was born inVirovitica to parents that had shortly before her birth arrived in the nearby village ofČemernica, settling there from the village ofKazanci nearGacko inEast Herzegovina.
Goran's maternal grandfather fought in theRoyal Serbian Army at theSalonica front duringWorld War I and as a reward received land inSlavonia, where he soon moved his family.[6] When theWorld War II in Yugoslavia began, Goran's grandfather joined theYugoslav Partisans, and his grandmother, two uncles, aunt and mother were taken to theJasenovac concentration camp, where at the gate of the camp they were exchanged for some captured Germans. The family arrived inSerbia whilst his grandmother supported the children throughout the war by smuggling tobacco fromHerzegovina. She jumped off the train before entering theBelgrade train station. Goran's maternal uncle was the Serbpriest andChetnik leaderRadojica Perišić (1906 – April 1945), one of the main leaders of theJune 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina during World War II. During the war he was commander of the Chetnik Gacko Brigade, who were the first guerrilla force inNazi-occupied Europe to liberate territory. Perišić was killed by theUstashas in April 1945.[7]
Franjo Bregović fought on the Partisan side during World War II. Shortly after the war, he attended aYugoslav People's Army (JNA) military school in Virovitica, a town where he met Goran's mother, Borka.[6] Franjo Bregović soon landed his first job, teachingballistics at a military school in Sarajevo, so the couple moved there.[6] Goran, their first child, was born in 1950 in Sarajevo.[6]
Goran was ten years old when his parents divorced. In later interviews, he mentioned his father'salcoholism as the reason for the breakdown of their marriage.[6] Soon after the split, his father moved toLivno, taking Goran's younger brother Predrag with him while Goran remained living with his mother in Sarajevo, visiting his father and brother every summer in Livno.[6] Their father soon retired and eventually moved back to his home village inHrvatsko Zagorje while Goran's brother Predrag later moved back to Sarajevo for university studies.[6]
Goran played violin in amusic school. However, deemed untalented, he was expelled during second grade. His musical education was thus reduced to what his friend taught him until Goran's mother bought him his first guitar in his early teens. Bregović wanted to enroll in a fine arts high school, but his aunt told his mother that it was supposedly full ofhomosexuals, which precipitated his mother's decision to send him to a technical (traffic) school. As a compromise for not getting his way, she allowed him to grow his hair long.[8]
Upon entering high school, teenage Bregović joined the school band Izohipse, where he began on bass guitar. Soon, however, he was kicked out of that school too (this time for misbehavior – he crashed into a school-ownedMercedes-Benz). Bregović then entered grammar school and its school band Beštije (again as a bass guitar player). When he was 16, his mother left him and moved to the coast, meaning that other than having a few relatives to rely on, he mostly had to take care of himself. He did that by playingfolk music in akafana inKonjic, working on construction sites, and selling newspapers.
Spotting him at a Beštije gig in 1969,Željko Bebek invited eighteen-year-old Bregović to play bass guitar in his bandKodeksi, which Goran gladly accepted.
Eventually, Kodeksi shifted setup so Bregović moved from bass to lead guitar, resulting in Kodeksi having the following line-up during summer 1970: Goran Bregović, Željko Bebek,Zoran Redžić andMilić Vukašinović. All of them would eventually become members ofBijelo Dugme at some point in the future. At the time, they were largely influenced byLed Zeppelin andBlack Sabbath. During the fall of 1970, this resulted in the departure of Željko Bebek, who (both as rhythm guitar player and singer) got phased out of the band. At the end of the year, Goran's mother and Zoran's brother arrived inNaples and took them back toSarajevo.
In the autumn of 1971, Bregović enrolled at theUniversity of Sarajevo's Faculty of Philosophy, studying philosophy and sociology. He soon quit, however. At the same time,Milić Vukašinović left for London, so Bregović formed a band with Nuno Arnautalić calledJutro (Morning), which Redžić soon joined as well. Over the next few years, the band changed line-ups frequently, and on 1 January 1974 modified its name toBijelo Dugme ("White Button").
From 1974 to 1989, Bregović played lead guitar and was the main creative force behind Bijelo Dugme. For years they stood as one of the most popular bands inSFR Yugoslavia. Just as with Jutro previously, he continued as Bijelo Dugme's undisputed leader and decision-maker as well as its public face in the Yugoslav print and electronic media once the band started taking off commercially.
Over the band's fifteen-year run, in addition to their enormous popularity at home, led by Bregović, Bijelo Dugme made several attempts at expanding their prominence outside of Yugoslavia. In late 1975, while recording their second album,Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu, inLondon, they additionally recorded anEnglish language track called "Playing the Part" (translated version of theirSerbo-Croatian track "Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu", itself an uncredited cover ofArgent's 1972 track "I Am the Dance of Ages") that was packaged as apromo single for English music journalists. Never officially released for mass distribution, the track quickly fell into oblivion.
Bijelo Dugme had somewhat better luck with touring abroad, which almost entirely took place in theEastern Bloc countries as part of their respectivecultural exchange programs with SFR Yugoslavia. The band briefly toured thePolish People's Republic during April 1977, a 9-concert leg as part of the tour in support of their third album,Eto! Baš hoću!.[9] During their 10-day Polish tour, the band played two concerts on back-to-back nights inWarsaw, followed byOlsztyn,Zielona Góra, three shows on back-to-back days inPoznań, and finally two shows on the same day inKalisz.[9] While in Poland, they also shot a 30-minute television special forTVP3 Katowice, a regionalKatowice-based branch of the state-ownedTelewizja Polska. Later that year, following the tour's culmination at a triumphant open-air concert atHajdučka Česma in Belgrade, Bregović went to serve his mandatoryYugoslav People's Army (JNA) stint. Assigned to aNiš-based unit, the twenty-seven-year-old reported for service on 3 November 1977 and would spend the following year away from music, a period during which the band was also on hiatus.[10]
During early 1982, as part of an event bringing togetherpast andfuture Winter Olympic hosts, the band played inInnsbruck,Austria as representatives of the city ofSarajevo and SFR Yugoslavia, the site of the upcomingWinter Olympics.[11] On return to Yugoslavia from Innsbruck, the band had its baggage confiscated by the Yugoslav customs afterundeclared musical equipment was found among their luggage.[11] Some six months later, during summer 1982, Bijelo Dugme went on an impromptu tour of thePeople's Republic of Bulgaria, playing 41 shows throughout the country from 15 July to 31 August 1982.[11] Despite the tour in support of their latest studio album,Doživjeti stotu, being over for more than a year, and having no new material to promote, the band reportedly accepted the tour of Bulgaria in order to recover some of the funds they had lost after getting fined by the Yugoslav customs over the attempt to bring undeclared musical equipment into the country.[11]
In summer 1985, following a decade of continuous rejection for tours of theSoviet Union by the culturalattaché of the Soviet embassy in Yugoslavia, Bijelo Dugme was finally approved and booked to play inMoscow on 28 July 1985, on the same bill with fellow Yugoslav rock actBajaga i Instruktori, at a huge open-air concert atGorky Park as part of the12th World Festival of Youth and Students.[12] Ahead of the show, Bregović decided to sequester the band inBudva for two weeks in order to rehearse for the Moscow show, an indication of the seriousness with which they approached this particular concert.[12] However, once in Moscow, due toovercrowding at Gorky Park and resulting safety concerns, the event was interrupted around 10 p.m. after the Bajaga i Instruktori set before Bijelo Dugme even had a chance to take the stage.[12] Two days later on 30 July 1985, instead at the marquee Gorky Park in central Moscow, Bijelo Dugme got to play the Dynamo Arena on the city outskirts at an unpopular noon time slot.[12]
Between Bijelo Dugme's studio releases and tours, in-demand Bregović worked on various side projects in Yugoslavia. These included releasing asolo record in 1976 and composing two movie soundtracks—1977'sLeptirov oblak and 1979'sLične stvari.
He also tried his hand at music production, producingIdoli's 1980 seven-inch single "Maljčiki" / "Retko te viđam sa devojkama" and co-producing, alongsideKornelije Kovač,Zdravko Čolić's fourth studio album,Malo pojačaj radio, in 1981.
Bregović further made guest appearances on guitar on various studio recordings by different Yugoslav pop, folk, and rock acts:Neda Ukraden's track "Tri djevojke" (together with Bijelo Dugme bandmatesVlado Pravdić andZoran Redžić) off her 1976 albumKo me to od nekud doziva,Hanka Paldum's track "Zbog tebe" off her 1980 albumČežnja, "Ne da/ne nego i/ili" track byKozmetika off their 1983eponymous album, Valentino's track "Pazi na ritam" off their 1983 debut albumValentiNo1,Riblja Čorba's track "Disko mišić" off their 1985 albumIstina,Merlin's 1986 albumTeško meni sa tobom (a još teže bez tebe), Mjesečari track "Gdje izlaziš ovih dana" off their 1988 albumOne šetaju od 1 do 2, andPiloti track "Tiho, tiho" off their 1990 albumNek te Bog čuva za mene.
During his time leading Bijelo Dugme, Bregović also became involved in the financial and organizational side of themusic business. In 1984, dissatisfied with their respective financial terms at the state-ownedJugoton label, Bijelo Dugme bandleader Bregović and one of Yugoslavia's biggest pop stars, Zdravko Čolić, got together to establish their own music label Kamarad, which—via a deal with state-ownedDiskoton and later another newly established private labelKomuna—would end up co-releasing all of Bijelo Dugme's subsequent studio albums including three of Čolić's studio albums from 1984 to 1990.[13] Considered an unusual move at the time in a communist country with nearly across-the-board public ownership that had just recently began allowing certain modes of private entrepreneurship, starting a privately owned record label—combined with Bregović's and Čolić's high public profile in Yugoslavia—got them both a lot of additional attention in the country's press. The company was registered inRadomlje nearDomžale inSR Slovenia.[14] Due to not having its own production facilities and distribution network, the new label entered a co-releasing agreement with Diskoton, thus essentially functioning as the legal entity that holds the licensing rights to the works of Bijelo Dugme and Zdravko Čolić.[13] Kamarad's debut co-release was Čolić's 1984 studio albumTi si mi u krvi followed by Bijelo Dugme'sself-titled studio album later that year with new vocalistMladen "Tifa" Vojičić. The label would also co-release many of Dugme's and Čolić's later best-of compilations in addition to Bregović's movie soundtrack albums as well asVesna Zmijanac's 1992 albumAko me umiriš sad.
During the late 1980s, a period that would turn out to be the final years of Bijelo Dugme, Bregović entered the world offilm music. His first project wasEmir Kusturica'sTime of the Gypsies (1989) and it turned out to be a great success (both the film and the soundtrack). Bregović's collaboration with Kusturica continued as the musician composed the soundtrack (which was performed byIggy Pop) for Kusturica's next film,Arizona Dream (1993). During theBosnian War, Bregović relocated to Paris, but also lived in Belgrade. His next major project, music forPatrice Chéreau'sQueen Margot, was a great success as well, and as a result, the film won two awards on the 1994Cannes Film Festival. The next year'sGolden Palm award went toUnderground, for which Goran Bregović composed the music.
In 1997, he worked with Turkish singerSezen Aksu on her albumDüğün ve Cenaze (Wedding and Funeral). After that album, he continued making composite albums with other musicians that were based on his music and singers' lyrics.
He made an album withGeorge Dalaras in 1999 namedThessaloniki – Yannena with Two Canvas Shoes. In the same year, Bregović recorded an album calledKayah i Bregović (Kayah and Bregović) with popular Polish singerKayah, which sold over 700,000 copies inPoland (seven times platinum record).
In 2001, he recorded another album with another Polish singer,Krzysztof Krawczyk, titledDaj mi drugie życie ("Give Me Second Life").
In 2005, Bregović took part in three large farewell concerts of Bijelo Dugme.
A number of works created by Bregović can be heard on the soundtrack to the 2006 filmBorat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, most notably "Đurđevdan". The film itself actually features more Bregović samples than the soundtrack.
Two musical numbers by Bregović, "Ne Siam Kurve Tuke Sijam Prostitutke" and "Gas, Gas", were featured in the soundtrack of the 2012 Brazilian telenovelaSalve Jorge, on the television networkRede Globo.[15]
For many years Bregović performed with a large ensemble of musicians: a brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a tuxedo-clad all-male choir fromBelgrade, women wearing traditional Bulgarian costumes, andRoma singers make up his 40-piece band and orchestra.
Since 1998, and until about 2012, Bregović has been performing his music mainly in the form of concerts all over the world with his Wedding and Funeral Orchestra. This consists of 10 people (in the small version) or 37 (in the large version, although, in some instances, this number varies, depending on participants from the host country).
Since 2012 the orchestra consists of 9 people (in the small version) or 19 (in the large version), as it played in New York at the Lincoln Center on 15 and 16 July 2016.[16]
The small orchestra consists of Muharem "Muki" Rexhepi (vocals, drums), Bokan Stanković (first trumpet), Dragić Velićović (second trumpet), Stojan Dimov (sax, clarinet), Aleksandar Rajković (first trombone, glockenspiel), Miloš Mihajlović (second trombone), female Bulgarian singersDaniela Radkova-Aleksandrova andLyudmila Radkova-Traykova, and Goran himself. The large orchestra includes also string quartet: Ivana Mateijć (first violin), Bojana Jovanović-Jotić (second violin), Saša Mirković (viola), and Tatjana Jovanović-Mirković, as well as sextet of male voices: Dejan Pesić (first tenor), Milan Panić and Ranko Jović (second tenors), Aleksandar Novaković (baritone), Dušan Ljubinković and Siniša Dutina (basses).
In previous years, the following musicians have performed in the orchestra: Ogi Radivojević andAlen Ademović (vocals, drums), Dalibor Lukić (second trumpet), Dejan Manigodić (tuba), Vaska Jankovska (vocals).
In 2013, as part of his Asia-Pacific tour (including Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong), Bregović performed with a string quartet, a male choir, Bulgarian singers and half of a brass band. The other part of the brass band – including bass and percussions – were being played from his computer. In 2017, he was a guest artist on Puerto Rican rapperResidente's albumResidente on the song "El Futuro Es Nuestro" (Spanish for "The Future is Ours").
During theEurovision 2008 final inBelgrade Arena, Serbia, he played as the interval act.[17] He also composed the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010; 'Ovo Je Balkan' sung byMilan Stanković.
Bregović's compositions, extending Balkan musical inspirations to innovative extremes, draw upon European classicism and Balkan rhythms.[18]
Bregović's music carriesYugoslav,Bulgarian,Romani,Greek,Romanian,Albanian,Italian,Turkish andPolish themes and is a fusion ofpopular music, with traditionalpolyphonic music from the Balkans,tango andbrass bands.
Bregović's younger siblings, brother Predrag and sister Dajana, have lived in New York City andSplit, respectively. His brother Predrag reportedly also spends time in theSyrmian village ofBeška in Serbia, where he owns avineyard.[19][20] Their sister Dajana Bregović-Marić, a mother of four, died in May 2020 in Split, aged 61.[21]
During the early 1970s, from a brief relationship with a Sarajevo-based dancer named Jasenka, Bregović's first child, daughter Željka, was bornout of wedlock.[22] Željka lives inAustria, where she gave birth to Goran's granddaughter, Bianca.[22]
With Bijelo Dugme's mid-1970s breakout commercial success and Bregović's increased public profile in Yugoslavia, details of his lifestyle and romantic relationships also became fodder for the country's press. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, various Yugoslav print media outlets documented his high-profile relationship with Serbian model Ljiljana Tica, who reportedly inspired his song "Bitanga i princeza" off Bijelo Dugme'seponymous 1979 album.[23][24]
In parallel to his relationship with Tica, Bregović maintained a relationship with Dženana Sudžuka, aBosnian Muslim model 11 years his junior, having reportedly first met her in 1977 when she was sixteen.[25] Eventually, in 1993, Bregović married his long-time girlfriend Sudžuka in a civic wedding ceremony held in Paris with film directorEmir Kusturica as the groom'sbest man and longtime Bijelo Dugme backing vocalist Amila Sulejmanović as the bride'smaid of honour.[2]
The couple has three daughters: Ema (born in March 1995), Una (February 2002), and Lulu (May 2004). Since the early 1990s, when not touring, Bregović's primary residence has been in Paris, a city where he got married and his three daughters were born and raised. Additionally, he spends a lot of time in Belgrade, where he does most of his musical work. In a late-2000s interview, answering a question about where his home is, Bregović said: "If you define 'home' as the place where you keep your winter coat during summer and your swimming trunks during winter, then my home is my Paris apartment".[26] His daughter Ema graduated from theSaint-Nazaire Fine Arts School [fr] inNantes and became aconceptual artist.[27][28]
On 12 June 2008, fifty-eight-year-old Bregović sustained aspinal injury in Belgrade, breakingvertebrae by falling four meters from acherry tree in the garden of his Senjak house. After being medically assessed, his condition was stated to be "stable without neurological complications."[29] Following surgery, he made a quick recovery and, within a month, on 8 and 9 July, held two big concerts in New York City, proving for more than two hours each night his performance skills had not suffered from the accident.[30]
It's not accidental that bothBebek and I are members of theCommunist League. Being a communist means being politically active and organized. It really gets on my nerves when I hear someone say: 'I feel like a communist, but I'm not a member [of the party]'. A politically inactive communist is not a communist. Only a politically organized communist is a real communist.
In 1971, twenty-one-year-old Bregović—a student at theUniversity of Sarajevo's Faculty of Philosophy—got accepted into theYugoslav Communist League (SKJ), the only party in SFR Yugoslavia'spolitical system.[32]
Throughout the mid-to-late 1970s, by now a famous rock musician in SFR Yugoslavia, Bregović often publicly expressed personal support for thecommunist ideology while underscoring importance of being active in the party.[31]
In 1990—with the dissolution of the SKJ and reinstatement of multi-party political system in Yugoslavia—Bregović expressed public support forAnte Marković'sUnion of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia (SRSJ), a centre-left social-democrat political party opposing ethnic nationalism and advocating for reform of Yugoslav communism into liberal market capitalism. Furthermore, he actively participated in the party's election campaign ahead of thegeneral elections in theSR Bosnia and Herzegovina constituent unit of SFR Yugoslavia, lending his celebrity and contributing to the campaign in creative capacity.[33] Despite securing public support, endorsements, and even active campaign participation from many prominent public figures in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina such asEmir Kusturica,Nele Karajlić,Branko Đurić, etc., the party got only 8.9% of the total vote.
On 2 April 1999—a week into theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia—alongside Greek performersGeorge Dalaras,Stavros Kouyioumtzis, andAlkistis Protopsalti as well as a number of others from different parts of the Balkans, Bregović played at an anti-war open-air concert atThessaloniki'sAristotelous Square.[34]
In the years following theYugoslav Wars andbreakup of Yugoslavia, Bregović has described himself asYugonostalgic.[2] In 2009, he stated: "Yugoslavia is the intersection of so many worlds: Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim. With music, I don't have to represent anyone, except myself – because I speak the first language of the world, the one everyone understands: music."[35]
Bregović ownsreal estate all over the world,[36] but divides most of his time betweenBelgrade, where he does most of his musical recording work, and Paris, where his spouse lives with their three daughters.
He reportedly owns properties in Paris,Istanbul, Belgrade,Zagreb, onMount Jahorina, andPerast, many of which are used forcommercial purposes such as touristic rentals, studio recording, andfilming locations.[36][37][38][39][40][41]
In Belgrade, Bregović owns multiple properties in the upscaleSenjak neighbourhood.[42] Some of his Belgrade properties in the neighbourhoods of Senjak andDedinje were leased out asshooting locations for Serbian television seriesŽene sa Dedinja [sr],Državni službenik [sr], andKlan [sr].[43]
Bregović has frequently been accused of plagiarizing other performers' works,[44][45][46][47] as well as republishing his own previously released material as new.[48][49][50][51][52]
In the mid-2000s, French singer-songwriterEnrico Macias reportedly sued Bregović over Bregović's song "In the Deathcar" off theArizona Dreamsoundtrack album, claiming it plagiarized Macias' song "Solenzara". Media outlets in the Balkans reported in 2015 that the French court ruled in Macias' favour, ordering Bregović to pay Macias€1 million in damages.[53][54][55][56]
In response, via a press release distributed to media outlets throughout the Balkans, Bregović's representative Svetlana Strunić claimed that there never was a plagiarism court process against Bregović inFrance.[57]
In March 2015, Bregović performed a concert inCrimea after it wasannexed by Russia in the previous year. The following month, the Life Festival inOświęcim,Poland canceled an appearance by Bregović, saying that his statements were "contrary to the values cherished by the Life Festival founders."[58]
In August 2023, Bregović was denied from enteringMoldova on the grounds of his allegedly open support for the Russian annexation of Crimea andinvasion of Ukraine. He intended to play in a music festival in the country.[59]
In April 2025, at the recommendation ofLatvia'sState Security Service (VDD), Bregović has been put on the list of personae non gratae in Latvia, alongside Russian-Lithuanian singerKristina Orbakaitė. According to the VDD, Bregović has made several appearances in "occupied Crimea" since 2014 along with "frequently expressing his support for the aggressor Russia in public, while spreading discrediting messages against Western countries".[60]
Bregović responded to the accusations by stating he comes from "a city marked by war" and he "would never support any war or aggression".[61]
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest Final Interval act 2008 | Succeeded by |
