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Zdenko Runjić (26 October 1942 – 27 October 2004) was a Croatian songwriter. In his long career, he established himself as one of the most prolific and most popular songwriters of former Yugoslavia and Croatia.

Biography

Runjić was born on 26 October 1942 in the village of Garčin near Slavonski Brod. Many of his songs were inspired by the folk traditions of Dalmatia. The songs became classics and Runjić helped the careers of many notable Croatian musicians such as Oliver Dragojević, Doris Dragović and Meri Cetinić. He was especially successful at the prestigious Split Music Festival. He wrote almost 700 songs which sold several million copies in both albums and singles. More than 200 songs were written for Dragojević alone. He was also a successful businessman and music producer. He owned a record company called Skalinada which became one of the most prominent record companies of Croatia.

In 1993, following the dispute with the Split Music Festival organisers, he founded the rival music festival called Melodije Hrvatskog Jadrana (Melodies of the Croatian Adriatic) and it soon became the key music festival of the country. On 27 October 2004, Runjić died in Krapinske Toplice from a stroke while recovering from a heart attack.

See also

• Croatian music

References

1. ^ "Na današnji dan umro je Zdenko Runjić, kćer Ivana mu uputila intimno pismo". slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
2. International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Page 610.
3. "IN MEMORIAM Na današnji dan je rođen Zdenko Runjić, jedan od najznačajnijih hrvatskih skladatelja zabavne glazbe". www.dalmacijadanas.hr (in Croatian). Dalmacija Danas. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.

External links

• Discography of Zdenko Runjić
• Some audio clips

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• Croatian songwriters
• Croatian male songwriters
• 1942 births
• 2004 deaths
• People from Slavonski Brod
• Musicians from Split, Croatia
• Burials at Lovrinac Cemetery
• European composer stubs
• Croatian music biography stubs