Jana (singer)

Jana was born in the village of Babin Most, near the town of Obilić, SFR Yugoslavia in 1974. She has two siblings: a brother Dejan and a sister Danijela.[1]

Her career started at the age of fourteen, in 1988, when she visited a well-known kafana in the town of Obilić one night with her parents and brother (who played the accordion). She had worn a white overcoat and pink hat. During dinner, she took the microphone, got a chair, and, being shy, turned her back against the audience and started singing "Što me pitaš" (Why Are You Asking Me) by Šemsa Suljaković to roaring applause.

After finishing the Stevan Mokranjac music academy in her hometown, she recorded an album in 1992 that sold very few copies and flopped. She went back to performing in kafanas throughout Kosovo, then took a short break from singing due to the disappointment of her last album, working as a music educator.

In 1997, she met singer Marina Živković in Kosovska Mitrovica, a meeting which kick-started her career. As Živković was preparing for her concert, she overheard Todorović singing and was left 'breathless'. She asked for Jana to come to her table and talk and after the conversation, she recommended Jana to friend, Ivan Todorović (Jana's future husband) who owned a discothèque and was in need of a live band. Not long after, Ivan traveled to Priština to meet with Jana. That day, Jana and her cousin met up with him near the Grand Hotel and struck up a record deal. In October 1997, with great sadness, she left her home country and moved to Germany, four months prior to the outbreak of war in Kosovo. She became extremely homesick in Germany, but was unable to travel home because of the insecurity. She was signed to the now-defunct record label Zabava miliona (ZAM). As there already was a famous singer called Dragana Mirković, Saša Popović, the label's director, recommended her to adopt Jana as her stage name. During the recording of her second album, Sokolica (Falcon, 1998), she fell in love with Ivan Todorović and they later married. Her first album was a huge success and she went on tour with famous singer Lepa Brena.

She then recorded her third album, Prolaznica (Free Pass, 1999), under the label Grand Production (formerly ZaM).

Jana's fourth studio album, Ostavi mi drugove (Leave My Friends, 2000), featured the hit songs "Ko visoko leti" (He Who Flies High), "Robinja" (Slave) and the title track. It was followed by her fifth release: Prevare do prevare (Affair After Affair, 2001) had the hit songs "Barabar" (Unison) and "Tuge mi dovoljno" (I've had enough pain).

For her seventh album, Zidovi (Walls, 2003), she started to work with VIP Production (later renamed BN Music), a label founded and owned by her husband Ivan Todorović. It was the first album distributed by VIP Production.[2]

Jana released three more albums under the label: Malo magije (A Little Magic, 2005), Kući, kući (Home, Home, 2007) and Jana Dva (Jana Two, 2011).

On 2 November 2006, Jana and her husband had a daughter, Kristina Džulijen Todorović.[3]