Đorđe Balašević

Đorđe Balašević Ђорђе Балашевић
Đorđe Balašević in 2010
Background information
Born	(1953-05-11) 11 May 1953 (age 63) Novi Sad, SR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Origin	Novi Sad, Serbia
Genres	Pop rock, rock, chanson, folk rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1977 – present
Labels	ZKP RTLJ, Jugoton, PGP-RTB, Diskoton, UFA Media, Hi-Fi Centar, Salayka
Associated acts	Žetva, Rani Mraz, Apsolutno Romantično

Đorđe Balašević (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Балашевић, born 11 May 1953) is a prominent Serbian and former Yugoslav singer-songwriter.

Balašević started his career in the 1977 as a member of the pop rock band Žetva, before leaving to form the pop rock band Rani Mraz. After releasing two albums, Rani Mraz disbanded, and Balašević started a successful solo career, spanning up to the present. While his initial works were mostly pop rock-oriented, in his later career he often used elements of rock, chanson and folk music, while his lyrics often dealt with romantic, humorous or political- and social-related themes.

Balašević was born to a Serbian father, Jovan Balašević, and to Veronika Dolenec, half Hungarian, half Croatian from Rasinja near Koprivnica, Croatia. He has a sister, Jasna. His grandfather's surname was Balašev, but in 1941 the grandfather changed it to Balašević.

The younger Balašević grew up on Jovan Cvijić street in Novi Sad, in the same house where he currently lives. He started writing poetry in primary school. He left high school in the third year (because, in his words, he hated subjects like mathematics, physics and chemistry) but managed to get a high school diploma as part-time student and passed the preliminary exam for the university study of geography. He never graduated from the university. Instead, he joined the band Žetva (Harvest) in 1977.

After Balašević joined the group, Žetva recorded a humororus tango-oriented hit single "U razdeljak te ljubim" ("I Lay a Kiss on Your Parting"), which was sold in more than 180,000 copies.