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Kemal Monteno

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Bosnian singer-songwriter (1948–2015)

Kemal Monteno
Monteno in 2011
Born(1948-09-17)17 September 1948
Sarajevo, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Died21 January 2015(2015-01-21) (aged 66)
Zagreb, Croatia
Resting placeBare Cemetery, Sarajevo
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Spouse Branka Monteno ​(m. 1971)​
Children2
Musical career
GenresFolk, pop, sevdalinka
Instrument(s)vocals, guitar
LabelsJugoton, Diskoton, Croatia Records, Nimfa Sound
Musical artist

Kemal Monteno (17 September 1948 – 21 January 2015) was a Bosnian recording artist and singer-songwriter whose career stretched from the 1960s to the 2010s. He is widely considered one of the greatest songwriters of the former Yugoslavia.

Monteno wrote songs for other performers as well, most notably Zdravko Čolić, Toše Proeski, and the rock band Indexi.

Early life

Monteno's father Osvaldo was an Italian from Monfalcone. During World War II, he was drafted and deployed to occupied Yugoslavia in 1945 where he met a Bosniak woman named Bahrija in Sarajevo and fell in love. Osvaldo left his pregnant wife in Italy to marry Bahrija. Osvaldo's Italian wife gave birth in 1946 to a daughter named Daniela, Monteno's half-sister. Kemal was born to Osvaldo and Bahrija two years later in Sarajevo. Although his father was Catholic and his mother was a Muslim, Monteno was given a Muslim first name.

Osvaldo only spoke Italian and sang canzones to Monteno when he was a child, while his mother sang him Bosnian sevdalinkas. Both Osvaldo and Bahrija were employed at Sarajevo's Koševo Stadium.

Career

Monteno performing in Malmö, February 2010

Monteno recorded his first song "Lidija" in 1967 and enjoyed a prosperous career in Yugoslavia. He is perhaps best known for "Sarajevo, ljubavi moja", which gained a cult following and is considered an evergreen homage to his home town.

Many of his songs have also been performed by others. For instance, "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" was a hit not only for him, but for Toše Proeski, Crvena Jabuka and Indexi (the latter being the big hit). Similarly, others had success performing "Nekako s proljeća" (that one being a duet with Crvena Jabuka in 1991) and "Nije htjela". In a February 2014 interview, Monteno said that "Nije htjela" (She Did Not Want To) was written about a famous Yugoslav musician's wife, who was in love with another singer.

Over the years, due to his style of music, he became known as the "Bosnian Roy Orbison", and even the "Bosnian Neil Diamond."

Personal life

Monteno met his future wife Branka in 1967 in Sarajevo. They married on 26 June 1971 when he returned from his mandatory stint in the Yugoslav People's Army. Together they had a daughter Adrijana and a son Đani. He spent the entirety of the 1990s war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in besieged Sarajevo.

Illness and death

Monteno was diagnosed with diabetes in the late 1990s and received three-hour dialysis twice a week at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb. Diabetes weakened his heart and Monteno felt that the stress of the war in his country also contributed to his illness.

Monteno suffered a heart attack on 30 December 2011 and had bypass surgery in January 2012. A performance at the 2012 Split Festival that summer was cancelled due to health issues and rumors of his death circled the internet on 10 October 2012, even being picked up as fact by media in the region.

On 15 November 2014, after nearly three years of waiting, Monteno received a phone call that a kidney was available for transplant. He received the transplant the following morning in Zagreb. He was again hospitalized in December 2014 and doctors believed that his "body did not accept the kidney that was transplanted in November."

Monteno died on January 21, 2015, at Zagreb Rebro Hospital of pneumonia and sepsis. In the hospital, doctors fought for Monteno's life for hours to no avail. He was buried in his hometown of Sarajevo at the Bare Cemetery on 28 January 2015, seven days after his death.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Muziko, ljubavi moja (1973)
  • Žene, žene (1975)
  • Moje pjesme, moji snovi (1977)
  • Za svoju dušu (1980)
  • Dolly Bell (1981)
  • Uvijek ti se vraćam (1984)
  • Moje najdraže pjesme (1985)
  • Romantična ploča (1986)
  • Kako da te zaboravim (1987)
  • Dunje i kolači (2004)
  • Samo malo ljubavi (2009)
  • Šta je život (2013)

Singles and EPS

  • Sviraj, gitaro moja / Još juče bili smo sretni (1969)
  • Tužna je muzika / Pružam ti ruke (1971)
  • Što sam ti skrivio, živote moj / Jedne noći u Decembru (1971)
  • Laž (1972)
  • Dušo moja / Nana (1973)
  • Pahuljice moja (1974)
  • Moj prijatelj ari / Mali mir (1974)
  • Adrijana / Novembar (1974)
  • Pjesma zaljubljenika / Znam sve o tebi (1975)
  • Hiljade bijelih marama / Kad nas jednom godine odnesu (1976)
  • Tajna žena / Kad smo pošli mi u šumu (1976)
  • Sarajevo, ljubavi moja / Kratak je svaki tren (1976)
  • Ljubavna bol (1977)
  • Cvite bili iz Đardina / Nemoj reći doviđenja (1977)
  • Volim te živote kakav jesi / Na kraju grada (1978)
  • Sunce djetinjstva / Putovanja, putovanja (1978)
  • Nije htjela / Nek' sviraju gitare (1978)
  • Ej, srećo moja / Čekat ću te (1978)
  • Adriana, Adriana / Bracera (1979)
  • Postoji li mjesto / Ti si moja poezija (1979)
  • Energoinvest (1982)

Compilation albums

  • Volim te živote kakav jesi (1978)
  • The Platinum Collection (2007)
  • The Best Of... // Live (2012)
  • 50 originalnih pjesama (2014)

References

  1. "Kemal Monteno:Čovjek koji je pisao pjesme za sva vremena". nezavisne.com (in Bosnian). 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  2. "Intervju: Kemal Monteno". Južne vesti. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  3. "Naša je Juga za mene bila najlepša zemlja". Blic. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  4. "Životna priča - Kemal Monteno: Pesma mi je mnogo dala, ali i uzela". Story. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  5. "Muškarci više plaču od žena, ali krišom!". Svet. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  6. "Kemal Monteno, kompozitor i pevač : Naša je Juga za mene bila najlepša zemlja". Ekapija. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  7. "Majka mi je prala dresove za FK Sarajevo, a stari je bio oružar i izdavao je kopačke i lopte". Blic. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  8. Dizdarević, Zlatko; Ridjanović, Midhat; Alcalay, Ammiel (1995). Portraits of Sarajevo. Fromm International. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-88064-167-8.
  9. "Kemal Monteno pesmu "Nije htela" posvetio supruzi poznatog pevača". Blic. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  10. "Kemal Monteno - bosanski Roy Orbison". Muzika. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  11. "Kemal Monteno o jugonostalgiji: Plačem za starim dobrim vremenima, niko normalan ne bi rasturao onakvu državu, kakvu smo mi imali". Press. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  12. "Živim, pevam, fali samo bubreg". Blic. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  13. "Kemal Monteno je bolje, za dva tjedna ide na kućnu njegu". 24 sata. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  14. "Ljubav ne može pobijediti niko". Slobodna evropa. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  15. "Rat u Sarajevu mi je uništio zdravlje". Svet. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  16. "Ne, dijabetes me neće uništiti: Kemal popije 20 tableta na dan". 24 sata. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  17. "Kemal Monteno u Rebru nakon infarkta: Javili su se svi moji pravi prijatelji Arsen, Halid, Tereza". Index. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  18. "Kemalu Montenu pozlilo zbog vrućine, nije zapjevao u Splitu". 24 sata. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  19. "Koji srčani udar, imam novo srce i pod garancijom je!". 24 sata. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  20. "Dobio novi bubreg". Glas Slavonije. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  21. "SPASILI MU ŽIVOT Kemal Monteno uspješno operiran, dobio je novi bubreg!". Jutarnji. 16 November 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  22. "Kemalu Montenu transplantiran bubreg". Index. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  23. "NAKON TRANSPLANTACIJE BUBREGA: Kemal Monteno ponovo leži u bolnici". Večernji list. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  24. "Kemal Monteno završio u bolnici!". Telegraf. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  25. "PEVAČ JE POD NADZOROM LEKARA:Kemal Monteno ponovo završio u bolnici". Alo!. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  26. "ZBOGOM: Kemal Monteno preminuo nakon teške bolesti". Ekskluziva. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  27. "Preminuo Kemal Monteno". Radio Sarajevo. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  28. "Umro Kemal Monteno". Fokus. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  29. "Preminuo Kemal Monteno". klix.ba. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  30. Ermina Skorupan-Husejnović (28 January 2015). "Kemal Monteno sahranjen uz pjesmu "Sarajevo, ljubavi moja"" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded byJ-DA Sunčane Skale winner
with Teška industrija
2013 		Succeeded byDimitar Andonovski
Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)
By style
Folk music
Other
By country
and ethnicity
Folk dances
Circle dances
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Notable musicians
Operacija Trijumf
Season29 September 2008 — 5 January 2009
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