Oliver Dragojević was a Croatian recording artist who was considered one of the most enduring musical stars and cultural icons in Croatia with a discography that spanned nearly five decades. His style blended traditional klapa melodies of Dalmatia, a coastal region in his native Croatia, with jazz motifs wrapped up in a modern production. For his influential musical career, he reached critical and commercial acclaim in Croatia and neighbouring countries, and numerous accolades, including numerous Porin and Indexi awards. He is one of the few Croatian musicians who performed at major international venues such as Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, L'Olympia and Sydney Opera House. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of Danica Hrvatska for his services to culture.
Early life
Dragojević's father Marko and mother Kata had three daughters, all of whom died young during World War II. His family escaped to a refugee camp in El Shatt, Egypt, together with many other women and children from Dalmatia. Dragojević was born on 7 December 1947 in Split, not long after his family returned to their ancestral town of Vela Luka, on the Dalmatian island of Korčula. He had an older brother, Aljoša. When Oliver was five, his father, Marko, bought each of his sons a harmonica. Dragojević mastered the instrument quickly, and entertained other kids on his street, as well as passengers on board of ships on the busy route of Vela Luka – Split. As Dragojević showed a strong passion for music, his parents decided to enroll him in a music school in his hometown. There he learned to play the piano, clarinet and bass guitar.
Music career
Dragojević's first performance was at the "Split Children's Festival" in 1961 with the song "Baloni". In a competition of amateur singers, his cult band from Split, "Batali", won first place for their rendition of "Yesterday", a Beatles classic. In 1972 Dragojević went abroad to further develop his craft. He played in clubs across Germany, Sweden and Mexico. His solo singing career began in 1974 at the Split Festival, where he won with the song "Ča će mi Copacabana". A year later, composer Zdenko Runjić and Dragojević, released the song "Galeb i ja". It proved to be a big hit across the former Yugoslavia and made Dragojević a household name. This was followed by hits "Romanca", "Oprosti mi, pape", "Stari morski vuk". Runjić would further collaborate with Dragojević on further 200 songs, until Runjić's death. Between 1975 and 1980, the Dragojević/Runjić duo dominated the music scene of the former Yugoslavia. Part of the secret of their success was a third contributor, Jakša Fiamengo, who wrote the lyrics to some of Dragojević's most iconic songs, namely: "Nadalina", "Piva klapa ispo' volta", "Karoca", "Ništa nova", "Infiša san u te", and "Ostavljam te samu". In 1990 Dragojević won the Split Festival with Ti si moj san, and the Jugovizija Jamboree with the song Sreća je tamo gdje si ti, both collaboration with Zorica Kondža. Most of Dragojević's songs are considered evergreen on the Balkans. Dubbed "the Cosmic Dalmatian" Dragojević was widely lauded and remembered for his emotionally intense ballads and equally candide performances. These include "Vjerujem u anđele", "Kad mi dođeš ti", "La Musica di Notte", "Bez tebe", "Pred tvojim vratima", "Cesarica", "Pismo moja" and "Vjeruj u ljubav". Dragojević participated five times in national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. He made his debut in the Jugovizija 1988 with hopes to represent Yugoslavia performing "Dženi", which finished second. He returned to the contest again in 1990 with Zorica Kondža performing "Sreća je tamo gdje si ti" and finishing third. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Dragojević participated in the Dora 1994 with hopes to represent Croatia, with "Arja". The song ended up in fourth place. He participated in the Dora 1995 again with "Boginja", finishing second, and in the Dora 1997 with "Lucija", finishing eight.
Personal life
Dragojević married his wife, Vesna, in 1974, with whom he had three sons: Dino, and twins Damir and Davor.
Death
In August 2017 Dragojević was diagnosed with lung cancer. In June 2018 he was hospitalised in the :hr:KBC Split|Split Hospital due to breathing difficulties, where on 29 July 2018, at 2:00 am, Dragojević died after succumbing to a year long battle with the illness. He was 70. The Croatian Government declared 31 July as the National Day of Condolences to honour him. Also, over 10,000 people on Split Riva, terraced the coffin with his body to the catamaran for Vela Luka on the same day. Dragojević was buried at the St. Roko Graveyard in Vela Luka, on 1 August 2018.
