Vladimir "Vlado" Pravdić (born 6 December 1949) is a Bosnian musician most famous as the

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

of the Yugoslav

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

group

Bijelo dugme Bijelo Dugme (trans. ''White Button'') was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav rock music, rock band, formed in Sarajevo, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. Bijelo Dugme is widely co ...

from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1978 to 1987. Born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

, PR Bosnia-Herzegovina,

FPR 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 Yu ...

as the only child of a Croat father and a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

mother, Pravdić's parents divorced during his adolescence as the youngster remained living with his mother. Pravdić enrolled in musical school at the age of seven and learned to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. After completing his secondary schooling, he studied

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the larges ...

's Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Pravdić's musical activity began during 1965 in Vokinsi, whom he was with until 1968. He would go on to play in Kost from 1968–1970,

Ambasadori Ambasadori were a Yugoslav schlager pop band from Sarajevo, active from 1968 until 1980. The band is most notable for its 1975 hit single , as well as for representing Yugoslavia at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with " Ne mogu skriti svoju b ...

from 1970–1971 and

Indexi Indexi was a Bosnian and former Yugoslav rock band popular in Yugoslavia. It formed in 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and disbanded in 2001 when singer Davorin Popović died. Some of their most notable songs are "Svijet u kome živi ...

from 1971–1973. While gigging with Indexi over summer 1973, he struck up a friendship with

Goran Bregović Goran Bregović (born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic-speaking countries in the Balkans, and is one of the few former Yugo ...

who at the time had a band called Jutro. The two hit it off immediately, and Pravdić decided to join Jutro, which would soon be transformed into the highly influential

as of 1 January 1974. Pravdić played on Bijelo dugme's first two albums ''

Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme ''Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme'' (trans. ''If I Were a White Button'') is the 1974 debut studio album from influential Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme. The album was polled the 14th on the 100 Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Albums list in the 1998 ...

'' and '' Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu'' before commencing his compulsory military service in fall 1976, when he got replaced by

Laza Ristovski Lazar "Laza" Ristovski (Serbian Cyrillic: Лаза Ристовски, ; 23 January 1956 – 6 October 2007) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav keyboardist, known for being a member of rock bands Smak and Bijelo Dugme, as well as for his eclectic ...

. He returned to Bijelo dugme in 1978 and went on to play until 1987. During the early 1990s, Pravdić moved to

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he has been living ever since. Pravdić joined the rest of the band in the 2005 farewell tour.

References

1949 births Living people Musicians from Sarajevo Rock keyboardists {{BosniaHerzegovina-musician-stub