He was born in the town of Sombor during World War II to a Bunjevac family, when that part of Yugoslavia was under Axis Hungarian occupation. He spent his childhood on the salaš of his maternal grandfather Stipan Kukuruzar; his other grandfather Franja was a coachman, tamburitza musician and bon viveur. After a brief adventure in local Sombor theatre, he headed for Belgrade, in age of 19, to enter the drama academy, and started singing in Belgrade kafanas to earn for living, and he found himself in this job. The engagement in Belgrade's "Union" hotel, meeting place of numerous journalists and bohemes, boosted his career; for almost 30 years, he would sing in "Union" whenever he visited Belgrade. His first solo concert was held at Kalemegdan terrace. In 1971, he recorded "Ej salaši na severu Bačke", the song he would be forever remembered for. From 1972, he performed with Janika Balázs' orchestra on Novi Sad's Petrovaradin fortress, a hallmark of tamburitza music. During the turbulent 1990s and Yugoslav wars, Bogdan largely withdrew from public performances. As he explained, "Simply, I wasn't in a mood to work. Also, the piracy took so much momentum that I was sick even of thoughts of composing and music... I hope those ugly times have gone and that we would be able to live like humans again". In 2004, Bogdan performed in Novi Sad for the Exit festival, mostly devoted to pop/rock, also held on Petrovaradin fortress; it was a tribute of new generations to the old bard and the site which was the cornerstone of traditional music. Bogdan sings both the original and also the traditional songs of Vojvodina and Slavonia accompanied by the traditional tamburitza orchestra. Some of the songs he composed himself, including his most famous "Ej salaši na severu Bačke". Some of his songs are also in Hungarian and Roma language. Accompanying bands on his concerts are the Orkestar Mileta Nikolića from Vojvodina and the Zagrebački tamburaši from Croatia. The late Janika Balázs and still living Jerry Grcevich are his favourite tamburitza musicians and co-workers. Zvonko Bogdan is still very active and he plays in Serbia and Croatia, and all over the world where Serbian and Croatian people live. Bogdan is also a prolific harness racer, and horses and affection for them are common themes in Bogdan's songs. He is considered one of the most successful racers of Vojvodina In 2001, at Zagreb's Hippodrome, he won the Hrvatski kasački derbi, establishing a record that still stands. Some of his most recognized songs are "Ej salaši na severu Bačke", "Osam tamburaša s Petrovaradina", "Bunjevačko prelo", "U tem Somboru", "Već odavno spremam svog mrkova", "Ne vredi plakati", "Govori se da me varaš", "Kraj jezera jedna kuća mala", "Fijaker stari", "Prošle su mnoge ljubavi" and "Ko te ima, taj te nema". Bogdan married his wife in Belgrade. They have two children, and three grandchildren. He has been living in Subotica since 1980.
Influence
The most prominent Croatian tamburitza artists, such as Zlatni Dukati, Kićo Slabinac and Miroslav Škoro have recorded many songs that Bogdan wrote or is known for singing them. Zlatni Dukati made an album Starogradska pjesmarica in 1994, with many popular Bogdan's songs. Kićo Slabinac also started to sing tamburitza songs in the 70s and part of his repertoire is very similar to Bogdan's. Miroslav Škoro, who is an apprentice of Jerry Grchevich, has a habit to perform "Ej salaši na sjeveru Bačke" in almost every concert as dedication to Zvonko Bogdan. In 1990, Croatian poet Drago Britvić and composer Siniša Leopold wrote a song "Svirci moji" especially for Zvonko Bogdan, for him to perform at the traditional festival of tamburitza songs "Zlatne žice Slavonije" in Požega, Croatia. Because of the Yugoslavia crisis, Bogdan did not have a chance to make his performance, but Đuka Čajić stepped in and won the festival. It took more than a decade for Bogdan to perform the song before an audience. In the HRT show "Hit do hita" in April 2004, Zvonko Bogdan finally gave his premiere of "Svirci moji". Since then, it has become a regular song in his repertoire. Krunoslav Slabinac and Zlatni Dukati also recorded their version of this song, which became a tamburitza classic. During the past years, Zvonko Bogdan has written a few Croatian patriotic songs such as "Otvori prozor", "Od Konavala pa do Zagore", "Markova čežnja". In May 2003, at the Brodfest, an annual tamburitza festival held in Slavonski Brod, Zvonko Bogdan won the "Ruka slobode" award for the song "Od Konavala pa do Zagore". The song lyrics were declared the most patriotic lyrics written for the Croatian tamburitza scene in 2002.
