Vesna Zmijanac

Vesna Zmijanac was born on 4 January 1957 in Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia to mother Kovina from Kraljevo, Serbia and father Dušan from Sisak, Croatia. Her parents divorced when she was just a year old as they believed that they were too young to be married. Subsequently, Zmijanac was raised by her maternal grandmother because her parents went abroad to work. She was discovered by singer Šaban Šaulić as a teenager living with her mother in Vienna, Austria.[2] Zmijanac also cites Esma Redžepova and Safet Isović next to Šaulić as the biggest influences on her vocal performance.

After signing with PGP-RTS in 1979, she released three full-length albums which saw moderate success, and rose to prominence by starring in movies such as Sok od šljiva (1981), Kamiondžije 2 (1983) and Kamiondžije opet voze (1984). In July 1985, she then gained popularity as a singer with the song "Nevera moja" (My Infidelity), written by her husband at the time, Miroljub Aranđelović Kemiš.[3] Her fifth album, Dođi što pre (Come As Soon As You Can) was released at the beginning of 1986, selling over 400,000 copies that year.[3] It was also followed with her first national tour, making Zmijanac, next to Lepa Brena, arguably the most popular artists in the country. The following year she released Jedini si ti (The Only One Is You), which was sold in half a million copies.[3] In early 1987, Zmijanac released her best-selling album to date, Istina (The Truth), which yielded a duet with Bosnian singer-songwriter Dino Merlin, titled "Kad zamirišu jorgovani" (When Lilacs Smell). According to her, the album has sold over million copies.[4]

In 1990, Zmijanac released her eighth studio album Svatovi, under new label, Komuna. It was promoted with a tour and ten consecutive concerts in Belgrade's Sava Centar. In 1992, she released Ako me umiriš sad (If You Calm Me Down Now), followed by her tenth album, Idem preko zemlje Srbije (I'm Going Across the Country of Serbia), in 1994 and another tour. The following year, Malo po malo (Little by Little) was released under Diskos. In 1997, she then released Posle svega, dobro sam (After Everything, I'm Fine), where she collaborated with rock musician Bajaga on the track "Da budemo noćas zajedno" (To Be Together Tonight).

Zmijanac also published her autobiography in 2000, titled after her 1987 duet with Dino Merlin, and has appeared in reality TV shows, such as Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines (2010) and Farma (2016).[5]

In December 2019, Vesna Zmijanac among other artists received the Life Achievement Award for her work from the Union of Serbia's Music Artists.[6] In October the following year, she was proclaimed the National Music Artist of Serbia by the Folk Music Assembly of Serbia.[7]

During the 1980s, Zmijanac was married to composer and instrumentalist Miroljub Aranđelović Kemiš, who later remarried singer Zorica Brunclik.[8]

From her second marriage with former marketing chief at PGP-RTS, Vlado Jovanović, she has a daughter Nikolija (born 19 October 1989), who is also a well-known singer.[9]