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

, 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

. 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

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