Severina (singer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Severina
Severina performing in 2024
Born	Severina Vučković (1972-04-21) 21 April 1972 (age 53) Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Other names	Severina Kojić
Occupation	Singer-songwriter actress
Years active	1989–present
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse(s)	Igor Kojić ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2021)​
Partner(s)	Milan Popović (2010–2012)
Children	1
Relatives	Aljoša Vučković (uncle)
Musical career
Genres	Pop turbo-folk rock electropop disco cabaret ethno
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Croatia Records Dallas Records City Records IDJTunes FM Play Production
Associated acts	Miligram Saša Matić Jala Brat Petar Grašo Učiteljice Azis

Severina Vučković (born 21 April 1972), better known mononymously as Severina, is a Croatian singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, the Croatian weekly Nacional listed her among the 100 most influential Croats, calling her "the only bona fide Croatian celebrity", as well as "Queen of Croatian music".

She represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, Greece, with the song "Moja štikla", finishing 12th.

She won the award "Zlatna ptica" for the best selling artist of the decade in Croatia. In 2015, she was the most searched person on Google in Croatia and Slovenia. She is considered one of the most popular figures in Croatia and Croatia's pop-culture, and one of the most popular musicians on Balkan region, having collaborated with numerous artists like: Jala Brat, Ministarke, Azis, Marina Tucaković, Saša Matić, Miligram, Petar Grašo, Kemal Monteno, Željko Bebek, Crvena Jabuka, Goran Bregović, Boris Novković, Lana Jurčević, Danijela Martinović and many others.

She wrote many of her songs including: Ostavljena, Da si moj, Ja samo pjevam, Ajde ajde zlato moje, Mili Moj, Pogled ispod obrva, Djevojka sa sela, Ante, Ko me tjero, Adam i Seva, Parfem and many others.

She is the only person in Croatia to accumulate more than 1 billion views on her YouTube channel.

Early life

Severina was born in Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia on April 21, 1972, as the youngest daughter of Ana (who was from Drniš) and Sever Vučković. Aljoša Vučković is her uncle. He also has two older sisters, Zdenka and Marijana. Severina has had a love for music and stage performance from an early age. When asked how did she got her name "Severina", she responded by saying: "My father wanted me to be Nataša, but my mom adored my father who's name was Sever, and my grandfather was giving his children names by Cardinal directions" (Serbo-Croatian: Sever - North)

From a young age, she was interested in music, dance, acting and the piano. She started singing as a girl in KUD Mozaik, which was led by Lepa Smoje, wife of Miljenko Smoje, who immediately recognized Severina as a future star. Lepa Smoje assigned her the role of Carmela in the musical "Frane Štrapalo". Lepa Smoje once said: "The moment I saw her on the stage of the Frano Štrapalo musical, I said: this little girl is a born star" Later, she started singing in the Treća smena group and won first prizes at competitions, one of which was from the Student summer, where she was declared the best singer. After elementary school, Severina enrolled in the Josip Hatze High School of Music in Split, but she stopped her education in order to devote herself to a musical career.

Career

Beginnings (1982 - 1993)

Severina's career was launched in the late 1980s when she began performing in local festivals and competitions. In 1982, in Split, at the Dječji prvi pljesak (Children's First Applause) competition, Severina won with the song Moja Milena. In 1987, at the Croatian amateur singer competition in Daruvar, Severina won with Josipa Lisac's song O jednoj mladosti ('About one youth'). One of her first major performances came in 1989, when she was 17 in her hometown of Split. In Hotel Marjan, she performed "Tata čuješ li muziku" ("Dad can you hear the music"). She performed at various festivals, and in 1990 she moved to Zagreb where she won the radio competition "Demo X" at Radio Zagreb, which got her recording of her first album. Severina started playing music professionally in 1990. In July 1991, she performed "Vodi me na ples" ("Take me to dance") at Split Festival. She released her first self-titled album called "Severina" in 1990. After meeting Zrinko Tutić in 1992, Severina released her second another self-titled album "Severina", relised by Croatia Records. The album contained songs like "Vodi me na ples" ("Take me to dance") and "Kad si sam" ("When you’re alone"), "Idemo se ljubiti" ("Let's kiss"), which quickly won the hearts of the audience and became hits. During the collaboration with Tutić, she also recorded the albums "Dalmatinka", "Trava zelena", "Moja stvar" and "Djevojka sa sela". She signed a six-year contract with the production company Tutico and Zrinko Tutić, who introduced her to Croatian singer and songwriter Gibonni. At the singer's urging, Zrinko gave Gibonni the chance to record the song "Zlatne godine" (Golden Years), which she had written. In addition to the two of them, she also collaborated with Dino Dvornik.

Severina (in the middle) with Band Škorpioni, in Pula Arena in 1993

That same year she won the first prize at the Zagreb Festival with the song "Sklopi oči muzika dok svira" (Close Your Eyes While the Music Is Playing). She soon became the host of the show Top Cup on Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), which she hosted for a year, and at the end of the year she went on her first tour in Australia.

In 1993, Severina with her previous producer Zrinko Tutić recorded the album "Dalmatinka" (Dalmatian girl) for the same record company, which brought her great popularity. The song of the same name can be considered Severina's signature and most listened to hit. The leading song from her third studio album, Dalmatinka (Dalmatian Woman), became a sensation and captured the emotions of many at the time of release. In the song, Severina sang about her love for her native Dalmatia, the color of white and Virgin Mary. The album had total of 10 songs among which were "Ne bi' ti oprostila" (I Wouldn't Forgive You), "Ne spavaj mala moja" (Don't Sleep, My Baby Girl; Bijelo Dugme cover), "Paloma nera" (Black Dove), "Ljubi me noćas" (Kiss me tonight) and others. Both "Paloma nera" and the title track became number one on national top list. It took first place on all the charts, and a very successful tour of Croatia and Slovenia followed.

Further success (1993 - 1998)

In 1995, the album "Trava zelena" (Green Grass) was released, and Severina wrote three of the lyrics. Although it did not have as many hits as the previous one, it was commercially successful. It contains ten tracks: "Trava zelena" (Green grass), "Vatra i led" (Fire and ice), "Mr. Taliman", "Bože moj" (My God), "Bambola", "Lude godine" (Crazy Years), "Poželi me" (Wish me), "Pruži mi ruku" (Give me your hand), "Ludo moja" (Crazy mine), "Ti si srce moje" (You are a heart of mine) a duet with Žera. Album achieved major success. Other collaborators are Faruk Buljubasic, Nenad Ninčević, Rajko Dujmić, and for the first time Severina herself is credited as a writer of three songs on the album The title track was the most popular song of the year and Severina's primacy on the Croatian media platform rose as a result. It was another collaboration with Tutić.

Her next fifth album was Moja stvar (My Thing), released on November 5, 1996. The album was influenced by rock sounds. The title track was written and composed by Severina herself. To promote her album, Severina held a sold-out concert on November 14, 1996 in Dom Sportova in Zagreb. She opened with a song "Moja stvar" (My thing). In Zrcalo interview on HRT, when asked why album wasn’t dance, she responded by saying: "Why would we separate music on only dance and pop? ". She continued to perform on her tour.

Her biggest breakthrough came in 1998 when she released album Djevojka sa sela (Girl from village) was composed and written partly by Tutić and partly by Severina. Severina wrote six songs. The title track is one of her biggest hits. It was used by the Croatia national football team as their unofficial anthem during their campaign at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Djevojka sa sela was her last album composed by Tutić and his production company Tutico. They parted ways following its release due to a contract dispute.

Continued success (1999 - 2003)

In early 1999, Severina went on a second tour of Australia, and in July of the same year she performed at the Melodies of Croatian Jadran (MHJ) with Đorđe Novković's song 'Da si moj'. She also released a new album 'Ja samo pjevam', which returned her to the top of all charts and from which the song 'Ante' stood out. Severina then cut off her long hair. Severina's seventh studio album, Ja samo pjevam (I'm just singing), was a continuation of the pop sounds heard on her previous albums. It was released in 1999 by Croatia Records, It had total of 10 songs. The composer of this album was Đorđe Novković with whom Severina started working on her next album. Ja samo pjevam is Severina's best selling album till this day, with more than 55,000 copies sold. In addition to nine original songs, the album also includes a cover of the song "Dodirni mi kolena" (Touch my knees) by group Zana. Four singles from the album "Da si moj" (If you were mine), "Ante", "Ja samo pjevam" and "Dodirni mi koljena" were released. The album was not supported by an indoor tour, but on 6 July 2000, she held a solo concert at the Stadion Stari plac in Split in front of more than 20,000 people.

Following the success of her 2001 album Pogled ispod obrva (The Look Underneath the Eyebrows) which was released on May 15, 2001, Severina's 2002 concert tour and live album Virujen u te (I Believe in You) won her an award for best selling live album along with a nomination for hit song of the year. Virujen u Te was her first major tour in which she performed in most of the big cities on the Balkans including Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ljubljana, Slovenia and confirmed her status of one of the most popular Croatian music artists. In 2001, she performed again at the MHJ with the song ‘Ajde, ajde, zlato moje’, and at the end of the year she went on her third tour of Australia. She was the majority author along with Dorđe Novković on that album. With the song ‘Virujen u te’, she won the MHJ that same year and won the Grand Prix, and the album ‘Pogled ispod obrva’ became the best-selling album of her career. The album has sold 30,000 copies.

In 2002, she released the live album "Virujen u te (najbolje uživo!)", which was later awarded the award for the best-selling live album. ‘Pogled ispod obrva’ was nominated for album of the year at the Porin discography award, and the song ‘Virujen u te’ for hit of the year.

Career setbacks and Eurovision Song Contest 2006 (2004 - 2010)

After a two-year break, Severina released her ninth studio album Severgreen in 2004. The album was influenced by jazz music. Severina also collaborated with Lana Jurčević on their song "Rođena da budem prva" (Born to be first). In 2006, she won the Dora festival with the song "Moja štikla" (My high-heel) and represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece, finishing in 13th place. The song caused some controversy in Croatia when several journalists and musicologists claimed the song resembled the music of Serbia. However, prominent Croatian ethno musicians such as Dunja Knebl and Lidija Bajuk disagreed, and both the song's composer Boris Novković and Severina herself have claimed that the song includes Croatian folk music influences from the Dalmatian Hinterland such as ganga and rere singing and lijerica instrumentation. In 2007, she sang the song "Gardelin" for the film "Rooster's Breakfast". She got the role of Baroness Kasteli in the theater play "Gospoda Glembajevi", where her acting skills met with conflicting comments.

Severina performing in 2008

After the contest, she started working on her tenth studio album together with Goran Bregović, one of the most successful music composers in the Balkans, and soon Severina's long-anticipated tenth studio album Zdravo Marijo (Hail Mary) was released in May 2008 by Dallas Records. The author and producer is Goran Bregović, and the texts were written by Marina Tucaković and Ljilja Jorgovanović. In terms of sales, the album was in first place in Croatia and Slovenia, where Severina was presented with a gold plaque. She started her self-titled tour in Zagreb, which she crowned with a performance in the Belgrade Arena in front of 20,000 people. The album achieved popularity and Severina released three more official music videos for the singles "Tridesete" (Thirties; cover of Sezen Aksu's "Kaçın Kurası"), "Haljinica boje lila" (Little Lilac Dress; Nikola Pejaković cover) and the title track. Following the release of the album, Severina went on her second major regional tour. On 15 December 2009, Severina was featured on Miligram's song "Lola", which was included on their self-titled debut album. In 2010, Severina started dating Serbian businessman Milan Popović, and in 2012 gave birth to their first child - a son Aleksandar. She gave birth in Split, and baptized him in Rijeka.

International success (2010–2014)

Her album Dobrodošao u klub (Welcome to the Club) held her at the top of Croatian pop music for all of 2012 and 2013, and established her position as the most popular pop singer in former Yugoslav countries. The album had total of 12 songs, seven of them singles. The first two singles that were released were "Brad Pitt", named after the actor, and "Grad bez ljudi" (City without people). "Brad Pitt" became one of the biggest hits of 2011. In 2011, in the final of the reality show "Big Brother", she announced her new album by singing the single "Brad Pit", which received a phenomenal response from the audience. A few months later, she promoted the track "Grad bez ljudi", which reached a record number of views on YouTube. On YouTube, in just 24 hours after its release, 'Grad bez ljudi', was listened to more than 180,000 times, which is a record for a domestic artist, and in the entire region. The songs were composed by Filip Miletić and Miloš Roganović. "Italiana", released in the summer of 2012, was viewed more than half a million times in the first 24 hours, till this day accumulation of that song has 95 million views on YouTube. Later on, she released "Uzbuna" (Alert), the title track and "Tarapana" (Agitation). In support of the album she embreak on her second headlining Dobrodošao u Klub Tour. She performed, yet again, in every large city in the region. The tour started in Rijeka in March 2013 and continued in Belgrade (in front of 20,000 people), Zagreb (in front of 19,000 people), Sarajevo (in front of 15,000 people), Ljubljana (in front of 11,000 people) and her native Split (in front of 12,000 people). The whole tour sold more than 250,000 tickets.

In 2013, Severina released the song "Hurem", named after Hürrem Sultan. It was composed and written by Andrej Babić, and the arrangers were Ivan Popeskić and Branko Berković. In March 2014, she released the song "Alcatraz", named after the Alcatraz Prison. Soon after, she released the song "Brazil" to support the Croatia national football team's campaign at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the country.

In July 2014, she released "Uno momento" (One Moment), a duet with Serbian band Ministarke. The single was viewed over 728,000 times on YouTube in just 24 hours, breaking the regional record held at the time by the single 'Italiana', which was streamed 500,000 times in its first day. It turned out to be highly popular across the Balkans, becoming a summer hit in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, accumulating more than 130 million views on YouTube.

In October 2014, she released a song with Serbian singer Saša Matić called "More tuge" (Sea of Sorrow). At the end of 2014, she released the song "Generale" (Hey, General) with the Croatian band Učiteljice, with more than 71 million views on YouTube.

Halo (2019)

At the beginning of 2017, she released "Kao" (Like), the lead single from her twelfth studio album Halo (Hello). On 27 March 2017, she released the second single, "Otrove" (You Poison) featuring Bosnian rapper and producer Jala Brat. Its music video was viewed around 15 million times in less than a month, and 29 million times after two months, and overall 105 million views on her YouTube channel. The third single. along its music video, "Mrtav bez mene" (Dead Without Me) was released on 5 June. In June 2018, she released two music videos for collaborations with Croatian singer Petar Grašo named "Unaprijed gotovo" (Over in Advance), and with Serbian child singer Ljuba Stanković named "Tutorial". In July 2018, she released the music video for a single named "Magija" (Magic), featuring Jala Brat once again.

Sorry & Superstar Hrvatska (2023)

On 4 July 2023, she released an EP titled "Sorry" with 5 new songs: Sorry, Metak (Bullet) collaboration with Serbian Rapper Nucci, Nebo (Sky) with Sandi Cenov & KIMMV, Pravda za ljubav (Justice for Love), 100 Stepeni (100 Degrees) with L'Amiral.

On 31 March 2022, she published her music video with Bulgarian superstar Azis titled "Fališ mi" (Missing you) on her YouTube Channel. Till this day the music video accumulated more than 78 million views.

In June 2023, Severina was announced as one of the four judges on RTL's singing reality television series Superstar, along with Nika Turković, Tonči Huljić and Filip Miletić. The first season of Superstar aired from September to December 2023. Severina re-joined the judging panel for the show's second season, which premiered in September 2024.

Superstar Hrvatska 2nd Season & New songs (2024)

Severina continued as a judge on singing reality show series Superstar Hrvatska, and on finals of the show, she performed her new song which she wrote: "Tako ti je sine moj" ("That's how it is my son"), and on December 15, she released it on her YouTube channel. The performance of that song gained positive response. When talking about the song she said: "It is a lesson that a mother tells her child. I started writing it at the beginning of the year, in order to "shake off" the sadness and anger that came over me after that decision of the Supreme Court, in which they said that my child should be taken away because of a "procedural error" - the singer continued, then concluded: "Then she seemed sad to me, and I didn't care for anything, so I put her aside To Serbia, which fights for justice and does not want to sell honor, and which was supported by fellow students in Croatia - wrote the singer."

For New Year's Eve 2025, Severina performed a concert in Sarajevo with record audience of 55,000 and said: "My heart beats for this city!"

Theatre and film

In 2003 Severina landed her first theatre role at the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka (HNK Rijeka) and played the title role in the rock opera Karolina Riječka (Caroline of Rijeka). Two years later she produced and acted in the monodrama Čekajući svog čovika (Waiting for My Man) at the Satirical Theatre Kerempuh in Zagreb. In 2007, she was cast for one of the main roles in HNK Rijeka's musical Gospoda Glembajevi (The Glembays; based upon Miroslav Krleža's 1929 play). Although the decision to cast Severina was met with criticism by some commentators who questioned her acting credentials, the musical premiered in March 2007 with considerable success. Severina also starred along Davor Janjić and Enis Bešlagić in a 2007 Bosnian film Duhovi Sarajeva (Ghosts of Sarajevo), set in Sarajevo. In 2007, she made a five-minute cameo appearance playing herself in the Slovenian film Petelinji zajtrk (Rooster's Breakfast).

Personal life

Relationships

Severina had a relationship with singer Alen Marin of the band Kojoti. She later entered into a relationship with music producer Ante Pecotić. In 1999, Severina entered into a brief relationship with the Croatian model Adnan Taletović, whom she met while filming her "Da si moj" (If You Were Mine) music video. Severiana's relationship with the economist Mate Čuljak lasted a year and a half, but the couple broke up one week before Severina's 35th birthday. Severina soon began dating sports entrepreneur Slavko Šainović. After two and a half years of dating, the couple broke up.

In December 2010, Severina met wealthy Serbian businessman Milan Popović at his birthday celebration, where she was hired to perform. They soon began dating, and in August 2011 she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. On 21 February 2012, she gave birth to a boy named Aleksandar in Split. During the period she lived between Belgrade, Vršac and Zagreb. In October 2012, Severina announced that she and Popović have separated and that she has moved back to Zagreb. At the same time it was announced she had her son baptized in a Catholic church in Rijeka. Several months later the couple reunited until separating for good in August 2013.

On 22 November 2015, Severina married 15-year younger Serbian footballer Igor Kojić (son of Serbian Musician Dragan Kojić Keba) in Bale, Istria. Severina and Igor's wedding deservedly won the title of wedding of the year because 50,000 euros were invested in it and they had 600 guests. The celebration was held at the "Genex Impuls Hall" hotel in New Belgrade, and the couple came to the "stojadina". The song to which they played the first dance was "Zlato moje", sung by Petar Grašo. The wedding was attended by a large number of people from the entertainment industry such as Lepa Brena, Rada Manojlović, Željko Joksimović, Nada Topčagić, Goran Karan, Džej Ramadanovski, Aca Lukas and others. After 6 years the couple formally divorced in Zagreb on 19 August 2021.

In 2013, she publicly supported the LGBT community in Croatia ahead of the 2013 Croatian constitutional referendum.

Controverises

On August 25, 2024, when scheduled to perform at a birthday party in Belgrade, Vučković was denied entry into Serbia on the Bajakovo border crossing. According to media and herself, she was denied entry due to her comments on the Srebrenica genocide which she made shortly after the United Nations designated July 11 as the annual International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. Additionally, she claimed that Serbian police asked her about Operation Storm, Jasenovac and Franjo Tuđman. She blamed this incident on Aleksandar Vučić and his political regime and claimed that he was the one who prohibited her from entering Serbia. Shortly after news of the incident broke, she stated that she will never enter Serbia while Aleksandar Vučić is in power. Serbian Minister of Internal affairs Ivica Dačić later stated that she will be removed from their list of "verbal offenders".

Discography

Studio albums

• Severina (1990)
• Severina (1992)
• Dalmatinka (1993)
• Trava zelena (1995)
• Moja stvar (1996)
• Djevojka sa sela (1998)
• Ja samo pjevam (1999)
• Pogled ispod obrva (2001)
• Severgreen (2004)
• Zdravo Marijo (2008)
• Dobrodošao u klub (2012)
• Halo (2019)

EPs

• Bojate Bane Buski (2004)
• Moja štikla (2006)
• Moja štikla / Moj sokole (2006)
• Sorry (2023)

Live albums

• Paloma nera – uživo (1993)
• Virujen u te (najbolje uživo!) (2002)
• Tridesete – uživo (2010)
• Dobrodošao u klub live (2014)

Singles

Other charted songs

Filmography

Tours

Headlining

• Zdravo Marijo Tour (2008–12)
• Dobrodošao u Klub Tour (2013)
• The Magic Tour (2019)

See also

In Spanish: Severina Vučković para niños