Nataša Bekvalac ( sr-cyr, Наташа Беквалац, , born 25 September 1980) is a Serbian singer from
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
. She made her recording debut in 2001 and has since collectively released five studio albums.
Early life
Bekvalac was born on 25 September 1980 in
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia. She is the daughter of
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...
and coach,
Dragoljub Bekvalac
Dragoljub Bekvalac ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Беквалац, ; born 14 July 1952) is a Serbian retired footballer and current coach.
Playing career
Bekvalac spent most of his playing years with Novi Sad in the Yugoslav Second League. He also ...
. Bekvalac grew up as the middle child with two sisters. In 1989, she performed with the band
Regina at the children's music festival Deca pevaju hitove.
Bekvalac also appeared on the popular variety show hosted by
Minja Subota, called Mužički tobogan, the following year.
Before pursuing a career in music, she graduated from a senior coaching school.
Career
At 17 years of age, Bekvalac made her professional debut at the 1998 Beogradsko proleće festival with the song "Mojoj ljubavi". Her first album, titled ''Ne brini'', was released in 2001 under
City Records
City Records (full legal name in Serbian: Предузеће за издавачко-пропагандну делатност City Records д.о.о. Београд/''Preduzeće za izdavačko-propagandnu delatnost City Records d.o.o. Beograd'') ...
. The song "Laži me" was presented a year prior at the pop music festival
Sunčane Skale
Sunčane Skale was a pop music festival held every summer in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. The festival began in 1994. The festival was held every year from 1994 to 2015, except in 1999 - NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. In 2016, it was cancelled for financi ...
in
Herceg Novi. She has collectively released five studio albums: ''Ne brini'' (2001), ''Ništa lično'' (2002), ''Stereo ljubav'' (2004), ''Ne valjam'' (2010) and ''Original'' (2016), and an
EP: ''Ljubav, vera, nada'' (2008). Bekvalac has released several duets, including "Gospodine" (2011) and "Muško više ne mogu" (2019) with
Emina Jahović, "Mala plava" (2018) with
Coby, "Neprijatelj" (2018) with
Magla Band, and "Iz daleka" (2021) with
Rasta.
Bekvalac performed alongside other artists like
Ceca and
Kiki Lesendrić
Zoran "Kiki" Lesendrić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран "Кики" Лесендрић) is a Serbian rock musician, most notable as the founding member of the rock band Piloti.
Early career
With Piloti he released a number of albums in the former Yugosl ...
at the 2014
New Year's Eve concert in front of the
House of the National Assembly. On the
Valentine's Day 2020, she held her first solo concert at the
Belgrade Arena, titled ''S.O.S. za ljubav'' (''S.O.S. for Love''). In June 2020, Bekvalac performed a
live stream concert via Serbian streaming service YouBox, which attracted close to 100,000 viewers. During the live show she was joined by her childhood musical influence,
Bebi Dol. In September 2022, she embarked on a six-date
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
solo tour, performing mainly for
Serbian diaspora.
Outside her singing career, Bekvalac debuted as an actress in 2016, starring as Queen
Draga Mašin in the
musical ''Tajna Crne ruke''. She as was also a judge on the fifth season of the children's music competition ''
Pinkove Zvezdice
''Pinkove Zvezdice'' is a Serbian singing contest on the RTV Pink
Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocke ...
'' in 2018.
Public image
In public surveys, Bekvalac has been cited as one of the most successful public figures from
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
.
Recognized for publicly supporting
LGBT rights in Serbia
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Serbia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Serbia, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientati ...
, she was officially declared Serbian
gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon of some members of the LGBT community.
The most widely recognized gay icons are often actresses and singers who garnered large LGBT fanbases, such as Judy Garland, Madonna, Diana Ros ...
in 2019. During 2021, she advocated for the legalization of same-sex partnerships in Serbia. Later that year, Bekvalac was the "godmother" of the 2021
Belgrade Pride, where she stated that she is not an ally to the
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
, but a "part of it".
Personal life
Bekvalac has also received widespread media attention because of her personal life. She has been married three times and has two daughters. In 2004, she started dating Serbian
waterpolo player
Danilo Ikodinović
Danilo “Dača” Ikodinović ( sr-cyrl, Данило Дача Икодиновић, born 4 October 1976) is a Serbian former professional water polo player who played on the bronze medal squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics (with Yugoslavia) and t ...
.
They married in July 2006. The couple welcomed their daughter Hana on 17 March 2007. After five years of marriage, Bekvalac divorced from Ikodinović in 2011.
Between 2015 and 2017, she was married to
handball player Ljubomir Jovanović.
Subsequently, she married
IT entrepreneur Luka Lazukić.
Bekvalac gave birth to her second daughter, named Katja, on 28 February 2018. On the night of April 12, she was physically assaulted by her then husband. In April the following year, Lazukić was charged for
domestic assault
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...
and was sentenced to 8 months of prison. Bekvalac filled for a divorce from Lazukić in October 2019.
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''Ne brini'' (2001)
* ''Nista lično'' (2002)
* ''Stereo ljubav'' (2004)
* ''
Ne Valjam'' (2010)
* ''Original'' (2016)
Awards and nominations
See also
*
Music of Serbia
Music of Serbia represents the musical heritage of Serbia, both historical and modern. It has a variety of traditional music styles, which are part of the wider Balkan musical tradition, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics.
Musi ...
*
List of singers from Serbia
*
Serbian pop
Serbian pop is the pop music scene of Serbia. During the 1940s, 1950s 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s, while Serbia was a constituent republic of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbian pop scene was a part of the SFR Yugoslav pop scene.
B ...
References
1980 births
Living people
Actors from Novi Sad
21st-century Serbian women singers
Serbian pop singers
Serbian LGBT rights activists
Musicians from Novi Sad
Models from Novi Sad
Megatrend University alumni
Serbian LGBT singers
External links
*
* {{IMDb name, 1388462