Marinko Rokvić ( sr-cyr, Маринко Роквић; 27 January 1954 – 6 November 2021) was a Serbian folk singer.

Early life

Marinko Rokvić was born on January 27, 1954 in

Bosanski Petrovac Bosanski Petrovac ( sr-cyrl, Босански Петровац) is a town and municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the municipality has a ...

PR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

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 Yugo ...

(modern-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

). He was raised in an ethnic

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

agricultural family in the village of

Kolunić Kolunić ( sr-cyrl, Колунић) is a village in the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known inform ...

. His affinity for music was demonstrated from an early age through his

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 ...

playing. Rokvić eventually relocated to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

to attend the Electrical Engineering High School "Nikola Tesla".

Career

He started performing in

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 ...

s after graduating from high school and released his debut record in 1974. However, Rokvić rose to prominence three years later upon his first appearance at the

Ilidža Folk Music Festival The Ilidža Folk Music Festival ( bs, Festival narodne muzike Ilidža / Фестивал народне музике Илиџa) is the oldest living and premier folk music festival in the Former Yugoslavia. It is held annually in Ilidža, Sarajevo, ...

. His debut album, titled ''Ruža'', was released in 1981 under

PGP-RTB PGP-RTB (abbreviation for sr, Produkcija gramofonskih ploča Radio televizije Beograd) was a major state-owned record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia, based in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. After the breaku ...

. Over the years he became one of the most popular Serbian folk singers. His 1983 release, ''Da volim drugu ne mogu'', was sold in around 600,000 copies. The following year he also made a cameo in the popular television series ''Kamiondžije ponovo voze''. Marinko Rokvić released in total twenty one studio albums and had numerous hit-songs, including ''Skitnica'', ''Svađalice moja mala'', ''Potražiću oči zelenije'', ''Zanela me svetla velikog grada'', ''Polomio vetar grane'', ''Da volim drugu ne mogu'', ''Jedina moja'', ''Ti za ljubav nisi rođena'', ''Ljubav stara srce para'' and ''Tri u jednoj''. In 1993, he won the "Zlatni Melos" award and also received the ''Life Achievement Award'' in 2019 from the Union of Serbia's Music Artists.

Personal life

He met his wife Slavica in her native

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

in 1984 and they married in January next year. The couple had two sons,

Nikola Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montene ...

and Marko Rokvić, who are also well-known singers. Rokvić also had a third son, named Dario, from a different relationship. On November 6, 2021, Rokvić died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at sixty seven years of age.

Discography

;Studio albums *''Ruža'' (1981) *''Jedna je želja moja'' (1982) *''Potraži sunce'' (1983) *''Kako da dođem na svadbu tvoju'' (1984) *''Budi dobra do povratka moja'' (1985) *''Čuvaj me od zaborava'' (1986) *''I pijan i trezan'' (1986) *''Bila si mi sve'' (1987) *''Ljubav stara srce para'' (1988) *''Sevdalinke'' (1988) *''Da me nije srela'' (1989) *''Posle tebe'' (1992) *''Nismo mi anđeli'' (1993) *''Zbogom ženo nevernice'' (1995) *''Što nisi tuđa'' (1996) *''Sunce i zora'' (1998) *''Ti za ljubav nisi rođena'' (2000) *''Pravo na ljubav'' (2001) *''Skitnica'' (2003) *''Gatara'' (2008)

References

External links

* 1954 births 2021 deaths People from Bosanski Petrovac Singers from Belgrade Yugoslav male singers 20th-century Serbian male singers Serbian folk-pop singers Grand Production artists Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Serbia 21st-century Serbian male singers Deaths from cancer in Serbia Deaths from pancreatic cancer Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{BosniaHerzegovina-singer-stub