Branimir Štulić

Branimir "Johnny" Štulić (born April 11, 1953) is a Yugoslav singer-songwriter, musician and author, best known for being the frontman of the popular Yugoslav rock group Azra. He is known for his charismatic stage performances and inspiring song lyrics that often combined rock poetry with a strong sense for social commentary, which is the cause for him becoming a cult figure. His paternal Croatian family originates from Nin, belonging to one of the town's oldest families. His family background is ethnic Croat but he declares himself a "Balkanian". At the age of seven, Štulić moved with his family to Jastrebarsko. In January 1967, Štulić moved to Zagreb, where he attended high school and later studied phonetics and history at the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy for two years before dropping out. The name of the band was changed to Azra in 1977. The initial line up, which included Jura Stublić, Marino Pelajić and Mladen Juričić, soon dissolved, and the other members formed another popular band, Film. His alleged last visit to the territory was in 1995 in Belgrade, where he produced the album Anali and promoted the book Božanska Ilijada. Hrvoje Horvat, a Croatian journalist, wrote a biography of Johnny Štulić titled Fantom slobode ("The Phantom of Freedom"), published in 2006. Due to Štulić's immense popularity in former Yugoslavia, the book was an immediate commercial success. However, it was also heavily criticized by many literary critics, and even Štulić himself, for its occasionally poor writing quality and alleged misinterpretation of facts. Ines Pletikos directed a documentary film Kad Miki kaže da se boji, and Kruno Petrinović wrote a book, Prilozi za biografiju Johnnyja B. Štulića (2006), about the heroes of Johnny's poems.

Today, Štulić lives a modest and ascetic lifestyle in Houten, Netherlands, with wife Josephine Grundmeiyer. He also worked on a dozen Serbo-Croatian translations of ancient and medieval works.

In 2012 he initiated a lawsuit against Croatia Records from Zagreb, the direct successor of Jugoton, over royalty rights, as well book publisher from Belgrade, for copyright infringement. In revolt to the statements made by music editor from the Croatia Records and former Jugoton, Štulić stated that Azra is not a Croatian band. About appearing in Croatia or Serbia, he said that he does not want to perform in "occupied territories", referring to the successor states that contributed to the breakup of Yugoslavia. He saw himself as Yugoslav and stated that Yugoslavia is his only country of origin. Štulić states he sees no reason to return to the region, as he "went as far away as possible from people who suddenly wanted to kill each other". Upon being asked about visiting Croatia or Serbia, he stated he could not due to not possessing a passport and that he has no interest in registering for one.

Discography Balkanska rapsodija (1989, Jugoton) Balegari ne vjeruju sreći (1990, Jugoton) Sevdah za Paulu Horvat (1991, Komuna) Anali (1995, Komuna) Blase (1997, Hi-Fi Centar) splet (2021, self-released) kavern (2022, self-released)