Predrag Jovanović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Предраг Јовановић, born 14 April 1950), better known by his stage name Peđa D'Boy, is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n and Yugoslav musician, best known as the former

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of the Yugoslav band

D' Boys D' may resemble: * D' (''D'' + apostrophe), the contracted form of words in several languages (for example, a French indefinite article); for a full list, see the Wiktionary entry * Dʼ (''D'' + modifier apostrophe), Slavic notation for palatal ...

. Jovanović started his musical career in the 1960s, as the vocalist for the Yugoslav band Lutalice. After living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the 1970s, he became the vocalist for the English-language

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

progressive/

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

band Jane, recording one studio album with them. Upon his return to Yugoslavia in 1982, he formed D' Boys with Mihajlo "Miško" Mihajlovski. The group gained large mainstream popularity with their debut studio album ''Ajd' se zezamo''. After the release of D' Boys second album, Mihajlovski left the band, so the rest of the group continued as Peđa D'Boy Band. After releasing two albums under this name, the group disbanded, Jovanović moving back to France soon after. He made his comeback upon his return to Serbia in 2006, releasing three solo albums since.

Biography

Early career

During the 1960s, Jovanović was a vocalist for the band Lutalice (''The Wanderers''). He made a cameo appearance in

Živojin Pavlović Živojin "Žika" Pavlović (15 April 1933 – 29 November 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film director, writer, painter and professor. In his films and novels, Pavlović depicted the cruel reality of small, poor and abandoned people living ...

's 1967 film ''

When I Am Dead and Gone ''When I Am Dead and Gone'' (Serbo-Croatian: ''Kad budem mrtav i beo'', Serbian Cyrillic: ''Кад будем мртав и бео'') is a 1967 Yugoslav film directed by Živojin Pavlović and written by Ljubiša Kozomara and Gordan Mihić. It s ...

''. In the famous singing contest scene he is introduced as "Predrag Jovanović, young

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

from Kruševac", before proceeding to sing "

I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the American band the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart ...

" by

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

. During the 1970s, he performed in

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

in France and spent some time on

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

beaches in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where he performed with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and rock musicians from all over the world. During the 1970s, he owned a

boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...

of leather clothes at

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

, where he met members of the German progressive/krautrock band Jane, soon becoming their vocalist and rhythm guitarist. With Jane he recorded their 1980 self-titled album, containing the hit "Love Your Life".

D' Boys (1982–1984)

Upon his 1982 return to Belgrade, Jovanović decided to join the city's music scene. At a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

held in Belgrade's Students' Cultural Center during the

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

of the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artist

Igor Kordej Igor Kordej (referred to as Igor Kordey in American and French publications; born 23 June 1957) is a Croatian comic book artist, illustrator, graphic designer and scenographer. Biography Igor Kordej graduated at ŠPUD (The School of Applied Arts ...

, he met Mihajlo "Miško" Mihajlovski, the two deciding to start a band together. They chose the name

(pronounced as ''The Boys''), Jovanović adopting the alias Peđa D'Boy. D' Boys initially performed as a duo, attracting the attention of the audience and the media with their

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

songs about parties and girls. After frequent live appearances in Belgrade and the release of their debut record, the

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

with the songs "Mi smo D' Boys" ("We Are D' Boys") and "Plave oči, crna ljubav" ("Blue Eyes, Dark Love"), the two were joined by guitarist

Goran Vejvoda Goran Vejvoda ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Вејвода; born in 1956 ) is an English-born Serbian composer, sound and visual artist, performance artist, photographer, writer and actor based in France. Early life Son of the Yugoslav diplomat who had ...

and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

Miško Plavi Miško () is a South Slavic masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Miško Jovanović (1878–1915), Bosnian Serb agent * Miško Kranjec (1908–1983), Slovenian writer * Miško Mirković (born 1966), retired Serbian football ...

, the new lineup of the band moving towards more

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 Wale ...

-influenced sound. The band achieved large commercial success with their debut studio album ''Ajd' se zezamo'' (''Let's Fool Around''), released in 1983. It was followed by the album ''Muvanje'' (''Hitting On''), released in 1984, bringing the band's biggest hit, "Jugoslovenka (Ljupka oko pupka)" ("Yugoslav Girl (Lovely Around Her Waist)"). However, after the album release and the band's concerts in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

during the summer of 1984, Mihajlovski left the band, the rest of the group led by Peđa D'Boy changing their name to Peđa D'Boy Band.

Peđa D'Boy Band (1984–1986)

Peđa D'Boy Band, consisting of former D' Boys members Peđa D'Boy (vocals), Miško Plavi (guitar), Jean-Jacques Roscam (guitar), Dragan "Gagi" Ilić (bass guitar), and Zoran "Cole" Miljuš (drums), released the album ''Avantura'' (''Adventure'') in the autumn of 1985. The album was produced by Peđa D'Boy and

Boban Petrović Boban Petrović ( sr-cyr, Бобан Петровић; 19 July 1957 – 27 September 2021), was a Serbian professional basketball player. Playing career A forward, Petrović played 18 seasons in Yugoslavia, France, Spain, and Belgium from 19 ...

. The video recorded for the song "Visibabe, ljubičice" ("

Snowdrops ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single sm ...

, Violets") was banned from Yugoslav television due to its

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

imagery. In 1985, Peđa D'Boy took part in

YU Rock Misija YU Rock Misija (known in English as YU Rock Mission) was the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's contribution to Bob Geldof's Band Aid campaign, which culminated with the Live Aid concert. It consisted of recording the "Za milion godina" ...

, the Yugoslav contribution to

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

, providing the vocals for the charity song "

Za milion godina YU Rock Misija (known in English as YU Rock Mission) was the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's contribution to Bob Geldof's Band Aid campaign, which culminated with the Live Aid concert. It consisted of recording the "Za milion godina" ...

", and Peđa D'Boy Band performed on the corresponding charity concert, held on

Red Star Stadium The Rajko Mitić Stadium (, ), previously known as Stadion Crvene zvezde (), also known as Marakana ( sr-Cyrl, Маракана), is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia which has been the home ground of Red Star Belgrade, Crvena zvezda sinc ...

on 15 June 1985. During the same year, Peđa D'Boy represented Yugoslavia at the Song of

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

festival in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, winning the second place with "Jugoslovenka", and sang in the duet "Bubi" with

Bilja Krstić Biljana "Bilja" Krstić (Serbian Cyrillic: Биљана Биља Крстић, Serbian pronunciation: ǐʎana bǐːʎa kř̩ːstitɕ born 9 November 1955) is a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter. Starting her musical career as a teena ...

, released on her album ''Iz unutrašnjeg džepa'' (''From the Inner Pocket''). Soon after, Jean-Jacques Roscam left the band to join

Galija Galija ( sr-cyr, Галија; ) is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Niš in 1977. The central figures of the band are brothers Nenad Milosavljević (vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica) and Predrag Milosavljević (vocals). A larg ...

, while Dragan Ilić died of complications caused by

gastric ulcer Peptic ulcer disease is when the inner part of the stomach's gastric mucosa (lining of the stomach), the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus, gets damaged. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while ...

operation. In 1986, Peđa D'Boy Band released the album ''Laku noć ti, mala'' (''Goodnight, Baby''), produced by

Kornelije Kovač Kornelije "Bata" Kovač ( sr-Cyrl, Корнелије "Бата" Ковач, ; ; 1 January 1942 – 13 September 2022) was a Serbian composer. Early life Born in Niš during World War II in the Nazi-occupied Serbia to a Hungarian father an ...

, who also composed four songs for the album. Beside Peđa D'Boy, Miško Plavi and Zoran Miljuš, the album featured Kornelije Kovač and Boban Petrović on keyboards, Dragan Jovanović and Srđan Miodragović on guitar and Ivan Švager on saxophone. The song "Šta da radim s rukama" ("What Should I Do with My Hands") featured guest appearance by actor Ratko Tankosić. After the album release, the band went on a short tour across Greece with

Riblja Čorba Riblja Čorba ( sr-Cyrl, Рибља Чорба, pronounced ; ) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav Rock music, rock band formed in Belgrade in 1978. The band has been one of the most popular and most influential acts of the Popular music in the So ...

and Galija, after which they ended their activity. Peđa D'Boy performed briefly as a solo artist. He appeared at the 1986 MESAM festival with the song "Mrzim da spavam sam" ("I Hate Sleeping Alone"), and at the end of the year he moved back to France.

Comeback (2006–present)

Peđa D'Boy made a brief appearance in Belgrade in 1992, only to perform at a retro concert of Yugoslav pop and rock music held in

Belgrade Youth Center Belgrade Youth Center (; abbr. DOB) is a cultural center in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, dedicated primarily to youth. History At the corner of the ''Dečanska'' and ''Makedonska'' streets, where the youth center is today, was the locati ...

. In 1997, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he recorded some new material, produced by Mark Evans, including a remix of "Jugoslovenka". The material was published on an EP, but was not promoted on live appearances. He returned to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in 2006, having his comeback appearance as a guest at Delča i Sklekovi concert in Belgrade Youth Center. He continued to perform and record as a solo artist, backed by the group Polyester Shock. In 2006, he released the EP with the song "Beograđanka", a new version of "'Ajd se zezamo", and a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

version of "Jugoslovenka", entitled "La fille Yougoslavie". He released his comeback album ''General'' in 2008, followed by 2010 album ''72-3'' and the 2014 album ''Moj put / Paranemija'' (''My Way / Paranaemia''), all featuring new songs alongside new versions of old songs.

Other activities

He participated in the '' Big Brother VIP''

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

and acted in Vladimir Rajčić's 2009 film ''Serbian Scars''.

Discography

With Jane

* ''Jane'' (Brain, 1980)

With D'Boys

Studio albums

* ''Ajd' se zezamo'' (1983) * ''Muvanje'' (1984)

Singles

* "Mi smo D'Boys" / "Crne oči, plava ljubav" (1983)

With Peđa D'Boy Band

* ''Avantura'' (1985) * ''Laku noć ti, mala'' (1986)

Solo

* ''General'' (2008) * ''72-3'' (2010) * ''Moj put / Paranemija'' (2014)

References

External links

Peđa D'Boy
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Boy, Peda 1950 births Living people Serbian rock singers Serbian pop singers 20th-century Serbian male singers 21st-century Serbian male singers English-language singers from Serbia French-language singers of Serbia Yugoslav rock singers Yugoslav male singers German rock singers Synth-pop new wave musicians Musicians from Kruševac Big Brother (franchise) contestants Big Brother (Serbian TV series)