Dragana Todorović (; sr-cyr, Драгана Тодоровић ; born 15 March 1974), known by her stage name Jana ( sr-cyr, Јана), is a Serbian

turbo-folk Turbo-folk (sometimes referred as pop-folk or popular folk) is subgenre of contemporary pop music with its origins in Serbia, that initially developed during the 1980s and 1990s, with similar music styles in Bulgaria (chalga), Romania (manele ...

and

pop folk Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...

singer.

Biography

Jana was born in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

on March 15, 1974 and grew up in the village of Babin Most, near the town of

Obilić Obiliq, ) or Obilić ( sr-cyr, Обилић, ), also referred to as Kastriot ( sq-definite, Kastrioti, ) is a List of cities and towns in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statist ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. Her career started at the age of fourteen, in 1988, when she visited a well-known

kafana Kafana is a distinct type of local bistro (or tavern), common in former Yugoslav countries and Albania, which primarily serves alcoholic beverages and coffee, and often also light snacks (''meze'') and other food. Many kafanas feature live music ...

in the town of

one night with her parents and brother (who played the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

). 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 Šemsa Suljaković born 29 September 1951) is a Bosnian folk singer. Early life Suljaković was born in Maglaj, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia. She was born as the eldest of six children into an ethnic Bosniak family. Career Suljakov ...

to roaring applause. After finishing the

Stevan Mokranjac Stevan Stojanović ( sr-Cyrl, Стеван Стојановић, ; 9 January 1856 – 28 September 1914), known as Stevan Mokranjac ( sr-Cyrl, Стеван Мокрањац, ) was a Serbian composer and music educator. Born in Negotin in 185 ...

music academy The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

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 Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, 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 Mitrovica ( sq-definite, Mitrovicë; sr-cyrl, Митровица) or Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-cyrl, Косовска Митровица) is a city and municipality located in Kosovo. Settled on the banks of Ibar and Sitnica rivers, the city is ...

, 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 A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

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 A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

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 The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. 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 Dragana Mirković ( sr-cyr, Драгана Мирковић, ; born 18 January 1968) is a Serbian pop-folk singer and entrepreneur. She rose to prominence in the eighties as a member of the popular collective Južni Vetar. Today, Mirković is reco ...

Saša Popović Saša is a South Slavic given name. It is a diminutive of Aleksandar (see Sasha), but in the South Slavic countries it is often a formal name as well. It may refer to: * Saša Antunović (born 1974), Serbian footballer *Saša Bjelanović (born 197 ...

, 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 Fahreta Živojinović (; ; born 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Lepa Brena (), is a folk singer, actress, and businesswoman. She is the best-selling female recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Lepa Brena grew up in Brčko, Bosni ...

. She then recorded her third album, ''Prolaznica'' (''Free Pass'', 1999), under the label

Grand Production Grand Production ( sr, Гранд продукција) is a Serbian record label and production company predominantly focused on folk performers. The label produces the weekly television show ''Grand Parada'', launched their own cable television ...

(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. 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.

Discography

Albums

*''Imam moć'' (1992) *''Sokolica'' (1998) *''Prolaznica'' (1999) *''Ostavi mi drugove'' (2000) *''Prevara do prevare'' (2001) *''5'' (2002) *''Zidovi'' (2003) *''Malo magije'' (2005) *''Kući, kući'' (2007) *''Jana Dva'' (2011) Sokolica (1998) #Crna ovca #Druge ljubiš srcem #Dva života #Gresi nebeski #Hiljadu puta #Kapitulacija #Moje drugo lice #Primadona #Sestre #Sokolica Prolaznica (1999) #Prolaznica #Mostovi #Za tebe za mene #Željna #Piši propalo #Umirem ti majko #Ožiljak #Inostranstvo #Veselo društvo #Spremna na sve Ostavi mi drugove (2000) #Ostavi mi drugove #Robinja #Ko visoko leti #Odvedi me srećo #Pesmu imam samo #Samica #Tamo gde me najviše boli #Patila sam ja #Neće moći tako #Oprosti ženo Prevara do prevare (2001) #Prevera do prevare #Tuge mi dovoljno #Sviraj nešto narodno #Dođe mi da vrisnem (featuring

Saša Matić Aleksandar Matić ( sr-cyr, Александар Матић; born 26 April 1978), better known as Saša Matić is a Bosnian Serb pop-folk singer. Life and career Early life Matić was born on 26 April 1978 in Bihać, SFR Yugoslavia. He has a twi ...

) #Nazdravi sa mnom #Kuda #'Ajde dođi, šta ćeš tu? #Lažu me lažu #Jasno je #Barabar 5 (2002) #Hajde Jano #Htela sam ti reći #Miraz #Pa nek sama večera #Piješ, ne nudiš #Rođena za kraljicu #Samo da znaš #Šta će ti pevačica #Suviše lepa #Vratiti se neću #Za badava Zidovi (2003) #Koje li su boje njene oči? #Rame uz rame #I lomi i moli #Duh iz lampe #Svi dignu ruke #Zidovi #Kad slavuji zapevaju (featuring Šekib Mujanović) #Evo, ja ću #Srećna nova #Za mene se zna Malo magije (2005) #Ne pitaj #Malo magije #Imam pravo #Crna kutija #Cena tuge #Sunce sjalo (featuring Sejo Kalač) #Troši me ove noći #Ja sam tvoja #Stari prevarant #Zabranili ženi piće Kući, kući (2007) #Iza tvojih prozora #Idi pa se leči #Ja nisam ona #Beleg #Kući, kući #Prevari me #Ljubav nije greh #Kunem ti se #Tužni se smeju najlepše #Ja te samo ljubim Jana Dva (2011)
New songs #Jana 2 #Rane od pre #Kada se svetla pogase #Princeza #Višak prtljaga #Nije in da budeš fin #Jutro posle #Niko nije kriv #Gori kuća naša Old songs as bonus tracks #Kući kući #Iza tvojih prozora #Beleg #Ne pitaj #Crna kutija #Stari prevarant #Cena tuge #Ljubav nije greh #Ja nisam ona

Non-album singles

*''Lune, lune'' (2012) *''Zapevaj, zaigraj'' (2012) *''Bruka i sramota'' (2013) *''Anđele Moj'' (2013) *''Boginja'' (2014) *''Može, može'' (2014) *''Bravo, bravo'' (2015) *''Ostavljam'' (2015) *''Samo široko'' (2015)

As featured artist

*''Jutro tuge'' (2009) with Asim Bajrić *''Ti i ja'' (2012) with MC Stojan Za sve dobre ribe with Marta Savić (2012) *''Aj, milo moje'' (2012) with Jasmin Jusić *''Muči me'' (2013) with

DJ Sky A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

*''Lude godine'' (2013) with DJ Đuro *''Sve bih dala'' (2015) with

Đogani Đogani ( sr-cyr, Ђогани), formerly known as Giogani Fantastico, is a Serbian turbo-folk and Eurodance duo from Belgrade, founded in the early 90s. The group was originally composed of the married couple Đorđe Đogani and Slađana Delib ...

*''Lepoto moja'' (2015) with Big Time & DJ Mr.Dani-E *''Sipaj mi duplo'' (2016) with Deny *''Pevačica'' (2017) with MC Stojan *''Vesti'' (2018) with Mirko Plavšić • “Nemoguce” with Hako Sljivar (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jana 1974 births Living people 21st-century Serbian women singers People from the District of Pristina Kosovo Serbs Grand Production artists Serbian turbo-folk singers Kosovan singers 20th-century Serbian women singers