Tatjana Cameron (, ; born on 1 July 1970), known professionally as Tajči ( , ), is a Croatian singer, television show host, published author and blogger, who now lives in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

As a pop star in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tajči won the national selection of RTV

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

and represented

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1990 The Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was the 35th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 5 May 1990 in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. Organised by the European Broadcast ...

. The contest was held in Zagreb and she sang the song "

Hajde da ludujemo Yugoslavia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with the song "" , composed by Zrinko Tutić, with lyrics by Alka Vuica, and performed by Tajči. The Yugoslav participating broadcaster, (JRT), selected its entry through ''1990 ...

" ("Let's go crazy"). Her Yugoslav music career was cut short by the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

and the subsequent

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. She left Croatia in 1992 and a year later graduated from the

American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificates ...

in New York. She appeared in numerous off Broadway productions and landed a lead role in "Miracle of Christmas" a mega-production at Sight and Sound Theatre, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During her time in New York, she was signed by Camile Barbone and produced the "Age of Love" CD recorded at

Long View Farm Long View Farm Studios was a music recording studio located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, North Brookfield, Massachusetts that was founded in 1974 by Gilbert Scott Markle, a professor at Clark University, on his farm property. It was the lo ...

s Studio. In 1994, she returned to Croatia and starred in a production of '' Kiss Me Kate'' by Croatian National Theatre, Rijeka. She moved to Los Angeles in 1997 seeking to expand her performing skills through television and film. She continued her musical theater career with roles in

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and score by Frederick Loewe. The plot features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years; on ...

produced by Starlight Theatre in San Diego and ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' at the

San Gabriel Mission Playhouse The San Gabriel Mission Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located in the Mission District of the city of San Gabriel, California, United States. History The Playhouse was constructed between 1923 and 1927 for John Steven McGroarty’ ...

. In 1997-98, she produced a series of benefit concerts at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra, California, where she met Matthew Cameron, whom she married in 1999. She ended up performing music in

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

churches while auditioning for roles, some of which she rejected because they required nudity. In late 2004, she and her family relocated to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, a more central location for her heavy touring schedule with concerts. In 2011, Yamaha Entertainment Group produced a remake of her mega-hit from the 1990s "Dvije zvjezdice". She released an indie pop album ''Awaken'' in 2013 on which she collaborated with Bryan Lennox, a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning producer. Tajči wrote a full-length musical, ''My Perfectly Beautiful Life'', which was produced by Cincinnati Playwright Initiative at the Jarson-Kaplan Theatre in February 2010. Tajči, her husband and their three children relocated to

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

in 2014, the same year she started producing and hosting TV show "Waking Up in America" and in 2015 founded "Waking Up Revolution", a multi platform brand. She is also a certified Holistic Life Coach through Radiant Health Institute, certified as 65 hours of Approved Coach Specific Training Hours by the

International Coach Federation The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to professional coaching. ICF is an accrediting and credentialing body for both training programs and coaches. Overview ICF has over 50,000 members in over 150 ...

. Collaborating with Nashville songwriters, Tajči co-wrote "Window in the Wall" (Tom Paden, Eddie Kilgallon, Tajči) a song recorded by

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

and Chloe Latanzzo, and in 2023 "Holding Out My Hand" (Steve Leslie, Tajči). In 2024, Tajči was a guest on HRT's travel documentary television series '' Sretni gradovi'', where she discussed her life in Tennessee in an episode dedicated to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Personal life

Tajči married Matthew Cameron, whom she met in church, in 1999. The couple have three sons, Dante, Amadeus, and Blais. She lost her husband Matthew to Stage 4 non smokers' lung cancer in 2017. Her sister is Croatian-American actress and singer Sanja Matejaš, known as Sanya Mateyas. Mateyas played the role of Myra Menke in 2003 film ''

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

''. She also was a leader and a composer for her

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based hard-rock band Duda Did It, with an independent album released in 2008 and a singer for

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-pr ...

Discography

*''

Hajde Da Ludujemo Yugoslavia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with the song "" , composed by Zrinko Tutić, with lyrics by Alka Vuica, and performed by Tajči. The Yugoslav participating broadcaster, (JRT), selected its entry through ''1990 ...

'' (1990) *''Bube u glavi'' (1991) *''All american'' (1991) *VHS ''Bube u glavi'' (1991) *''The best of Tajči'' (1992) *''Taichi Eqinocij'' (1997) *''Struggles & Graces'' (1997) *''Now and Forever'' (2000) *''Emmanuel – The Story of Christmas'' (2002) *''Let It Be – Mary's Story'' (2003) *''I Thirst'' (2004) *''Zlatna kolekcija'' (2004) *''A Chance to Dream'' (2006) *''Need A Break'' (2008) *''The love collection'' (2011) *''God bless America'' (2010) *''Dell'aurora tu sorgi piu bella'' (2011) *''AWAKEN'' (2014)

References

External links

Cincinnati Enquirer: From pop stardom to an inner light

"Nisam požalila prekid karijere"

Website: TatianaCameron.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajci 1970 births Living people Croatian pop singers Croatian Roman Catholics 20th-century Croatian women singers Croatian emigrants to the United States Musicians from Zagreb 21st-century Croatian women singers Yugoslav women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants