Kiki Lesendrić | |
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 Lesendrić in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1961-01-02)2 January 1961 (age 64) |
| Origin | Belgrade,Serbia |
| Genres | |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | PGP-RTB,PGP-RTS,Komuna, Eastfield Music, Bread Ventures Records, Power Music,City Records,Croatia Records |
Zoran "Kiki"Lesendrić (Serbian Cyrillic:Зоран "Кики" Лесендрић) is aSerbian andYugoslavmusician,songwriter,composer andmusic producer, best known as the vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of the popularrock bandPiloti.
Lesendrić started his musical career in late 1970s. He was one of the forming members of Piloti, which soon after the formation became a prominent act of theYugoslav new wave scene. After making a shift towards commercialpop rock sound, the band reached the peak of popularity in late 1980s and early 1990s, disbanding in 1997. Lesendrić reformed Piloti in 2008, following the release of his first solo album. With Piloti, Lesendrić has recorded ten studio albums and a live album.
In addition to his work with Piloti, Lesendrić was also a member of thesupergroupDobrovoljno Pevačko Društvo. He has worked as songwriter and music producer with a number of prominent artists from former Yugoslav republics andGreece, and has composed scores for several films.
Lesendrić was born on 2 January 1961 inBelgrade.[1] His father was anelectromechanic and his mother was ahousewife.[1] His interest in music was influenced by his older sister, who was a fan ofThe Beatles andTom Jones.[2] During the 1970s, Lesendrić's biggest musical influences wereBritishhard rock andglam rock bands and Yugoslav band andBijelo Dugme..[2]
Lesendrić started his musical career as a member of the band Kako (How), which he formed in late 1970s with his neighborhood friend, drummer Dragan Andrić "Andra".[2] Kako performed melodic hard rock with elements ofjazz rock, and the group's biggest success was appearing as one of the opening acts forBijelo Dugme on their 1979 concert at the BelgradeJNA stadium.[3][4]
Lesendrić formed Piloti in 1980 with Dragan Andrić (bass guitar), Goran Bogićević (guitar) and Nenad Antanasijević (drums).[3] The band's debut self-titled album, released in 1981, featuredmod revival-inspired songs and modernska sound, and was met with good reception by the public, with several album songs becoming large hits.[3] The band's second album, titledDvadeset godina (Twenty Years) and released in 1982, featured similarnew wave sound.[3] The band recorded their third studio album in 1983, but the material remained unreleased due to Lesendrić being drafted to serve his mandatory stint in theYugoslav People's Army.[3] Upon his return from the army, Lesendrić re-assembled Piloti, the group turning towards more radio-friendlypop rock sound.[3] Their late 1980s and early 1990s albumsKao ptica na mom dlanu (Like a Bird on My Palm, 1987),Osmeh letnje noći (A Midsummer Night Smile, 1988),Neka te Bog čuva za mene (May God Save You for Me, 1990) andZaboravljeni (The Forgotten Ones, 1993) brought a number of major hits.[3] The band disbanded in 1997, which was followed by a brief 1998 reunion.[3] In 2008, after a long discographic hiatus, Lesendrić released his first solo albumMesec na vratima (The Moon at the Door).[3] Following the album release, Lesendrić reformed Piloti, and the group has released three studio albums and a live album since, under the name Kiki Lesendrić & Piloti.[3]
Lesendrić formed the supergroupDobrovoljno Pevačko Društvo in 1994 with formerIdoli membersSrđan Šaper andNebojša Krstić. In 1995, the group released the albumNedelja na duhove (The Week beforeWhit Sunday).[3] Lesendrić wrote music for part of the songs, wrote part of themusic arrangements and produced the album.[3] The group ended their activity soon after the album release.
In late 1980s, Lesendrić started working as a songwriter for a number of popular Yugoslav singers, and a number of his songs written for other artists became hits, most prominently "Kolačići" ("Little Cookies"), written forMarina Perazić, "Dolazi tiho" ("It's Coming Quietly"), written forDejan Cukić, "Barakuda" ("Barracuda") and "Arija" ("Aria"), written forViktorija, and "Spavaju li oči nebeske" ("Are the Eyes in the Sky Asleep"), co-written withGoran Bregović forZdravko Čolić.[3] Lesendrić would continue to write songs for other artists during the following decades. He wrote most of the songs for the 1999 albumSnovi od somota (Velvet Dreams) bypop singer Hani and for the 2001 self-titled album byĐorđe David & Fuzzbox.[3] He has written songs for a number of pop andfolk acts from the region of former Yugoslavia, includingŽeljko Samardžić,Zoran Kalezić,Aca Lukas,Aco Regina,Seka Aleksić,Viki Miljković,Indira Radić,Jana,Ana Nikolić,Marta Savić,Dženan Lončarević,Sanja Đorđević,Tony Cetinski,Romana, andTijana Dapčević.[5]
In 1993, Lesendrić started working as composer and music producer for Greek branches ofPolyGram andUniversal Music Group, collaborating with a number of popular Greek artists, includingGeorge Dalaras,Panos Kiamos,Michalis Hatzigiannis,Alkistis Protopsalti,Dimitra Galani,Onirama and others.[3] TheGreek language lyrics for his songs were written mainly by his long-time collaboratorLina Nikolakopoulou.[3] In 1996, Lesendrić and his Piloti bandmateMiško Plavi recorded the albumΣτο Δρόμο Με Τα Χάλκινα (On the Road with Trumpets) with Greek singerManolis Mitsias, the album featuring Greek language versions of Piloti songs.[3]
Lesendrić ventured into composingfilm music in early 1990s, when Piloti, collaborating with keyboardistLaza Ristovski, wrotesoundtracks forDarko Bajić's filmZaboravljeni (The Forgotten Ones) andDragan Kresoja's filmFull Moon over Belgrade, with songs from the films released on the hit albumZaboravljeni.[3] Lesendrić wrote music for Darko Bajić's filmsBalkan Rules (1997),The Beautiful Blue Danube (2008) andWe Will Be the World Champions (2015), Balša Đogo's filmKlasa (Class, 2002), Boško Savković's filmIn the Beginning Was the Word (2007) and for Bojan Andrejek's upcoming filmKofer (Suitcase). The music he wrote for Greek documentary seriesOn the Shadow of War was released as asoundtrack album.[3] Lesendrić also co-wrote the music for George Cacoyannis' filmElectra and for Ivica Vidanović documentary seriesWe Were World Champions (2015).[6][7]
From 2013 to 2015 Lesendrić was a judge on theX Factor Adria series.[citation needed]
He made acameo appearance in the 2012 TV seriesComrade Black in WWII.[8]
Lesendrić served his mandatory army stint as a member of the elite63rd Parachute Brigade.[9]
He publicly supported the2024–present Serbian anti-corruption protests, appearing on protests alongside other former members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade.[9]
In 2000, Piloti song "Kao ptica na mom dlanu" was polled No.74 onRock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list.[10] In 2011, the same song was polled, by the listeners ofRadio 202, one of 60 greatest songs released byPGP-RTB/PGP-RTS during the sixty years of the label's existence.[11]
The lyrics of Piloti song "Imam diplomu" ("I Have a Degree"), authored by Lesendrić, were included inPetar Janjatović's bookPesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 - 2007).[12]
