Vesna Zmijanac

Vesna Zmijanac (, ; born 4 January 1957) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav singer. Having sold around 6.7 million records, Zmijanac is recognized as one of the most popular singers from the former Yugoslavia, and has also maintained popularity in neighboring Bulgaria.

Zmijanac made her recording debut in 1979 and is best known for hit songs "Nevera moja" (1975), "Kad zamirišu jorgovani" (1988), "Svatovi" (1990), "Idem preko zemlje Srbije" (1994) and "Malo po malo" (1995). Her emotional vocal delivery and melancholic ballads earned her the nickname "Queen of Sadness" (Kraljica tuge).

Early life Vesna Zmijanac was born on 4 January 1957 in Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia to mother Kovina from Kraljevo, SR Serbia and father Dušan from Sisak, SR Croatia. Zmijanac's nationality is Serbian. Her parents divorced when she was just a year old. Subsequently, Zmijanac was raised by her maternal grandmother in the village of Kovače near Kraljevo because her parents moved abroad to work. Zmijanac also briefly lived in Vienna with her mother, where she attended high school, from which she eventually dropped out. She did, however, finish a typing course.

According to Zmijanac, she showed interest in music from an early age, citing folk singers Šaban Šaulić, Esma Redžepova, and Safet Isović as the biggest influences on her vocal performance.

Career While living in Vienna, Zmijanac was discovered by singer Šaban Šaulić, who offered her to join him on his European tour. The album featured a popular duet with Dino Merlin, called "Kad zamirišu jorgovani". Zmijanac embarked on her second tour, performing at the Hala Pionir, Belgrade and Zetra Olympic Hall, Sarajevo to over 10,000 people. These albums include popular songs such as "Svatovi" (1990), "Idem preko zemlje Srbije" (1994), "Ja imam nekog, a ti si sam" (1994) featuring , "Malo po malo" (1995) and "Da budemo noćas zajedno" (1997).

In 2000, Zmijanac published a book, called Kad zamirišu jorgovani, which was described by her as "an attempt of an autobiography". In October 2010, she participated on Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines alongside her daughter, Nikolija. Zmijanac was the second contestant to be eliminated on the show. Her final album to date, Sokol, was released in 2011 through PGP-RTS. Zmijanac competed on the seventh season of the reality television show Farma. She eventually voluntarily left the show after finding out about her daughter's pregnancy. In December 2019, Vesna Zmijanac was awarded with the Life Achievement Award from the Association of Music Artists of Serbia.

In October 2020, she was proclaimed the National Music Artist of Serbia at the Folk Music Assembly of Serbia. To celebrate fifty years of her career, Zmijanac held three cosecutive concerts at the Belgrade Arena in May 2026.

Private life In the 1980s, Zmijanac was married for three years to songwriter and instrumentalist ; he later married singer Zorica Brunclik.

From her second marriage to economist and former PGP-RTS marketing chief Vlada Jovanović, she had a daughter, singer Nikolija Jovanović, on October 19, 1989.

Zmijanac endorsed President Aleksandar Vučić in the 2022 Serbian general election. During the March 2026 rally of Serbian Progressive Party, Zmijanac, who performed at the event, stated: "The president should be supported in any case. I have always been with the government. [ ... ] You should always be with the government, because then you don't have any problems". Her daughter Nikolija and son-in-law Relja Popović, on the other hand, participated in the 2025 student-led anti-government protests.

Discography Studio albums Ljubi me, ljubi, lepoto moja (1982) Ti mali (1983) Šta će meni šminka (1984) Zar bi me lako drugome dao (1985) Dođi što pre (1986) Jedan si ti (1987) Istina (1988) Svatovi (1990) Ako me umiriš sad (1992) Idem preko zemlje Srbije (1994) Malo po malo (1995) Posle svega, dobro sam (1997) Šta ostane kad padnu haljine (2003) Sokole (2011)

Filmography