Šaban Šaulić

Šaban Šaulić (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабан Шаулић; 6 September 1951 – 17 February 2019) was a Serbian-born folk singer of Bosniak descent.

Renowned for his refined baritone vocals and performances characterised by emotional intensity and crowd interaction, his career spanning over five decades has enjoyed both critical and commercial success. He is referred to as the "King of Folk Music" ("kralj narodne muzike").

Šaban Šaulić was born on 6 September 1951 in Šabac, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia to Bosniak parents Ilduza Demirović and Huso Šaulić. Neither of his parents had a full-time job, as his father sold lottery tickets whilst his mother sold children's toys at fetes. As a result, they would spend a lot of their time travelling and looking for work leaving Šaulić primarily in the care of his older sister, Sarajka.

Šaulić initially showed interest and affinity for football. It was his uncle Alija, however, who first noticed that his nephew's true talent lay in music. In the mid-1960s, Alija asked his nephew to sing at their local kafana, which was to mark the start of Šaulić's five decade long musical career. Šaban Šaulić is of Bosniak descent.

In 1969, at the age of 18, Šaulić recorded his first single Dajte mi utjehu ("Give me Solace"). The song became an instant hit and led Šaulić to make the move to Belgrade, Serbia so that he could continue working on what was promising to be a successful career. By the mid-70s, Šaulić had become a household name and his songs were much requested in kafane.

Šaulić was also a judge on the televised singing competition Zvezde Granda between 2013 and 2016, and the televised singing competition "Pinkove zvezde" in 2016-2017 season.

In 1974, Šaulić married his wife, Gordana (b. 1958). The pair briefly separated in 1985; during this period, Šaulić wrote and dedicated the song "Gordana" to her. Šaulić and his wife reconciled after just 20 days. Together, they had three children; a son, Mihajlo, and two daughters, Sanela and Ilda. Ilda is also a singer.

Prior to his marriage to Gordana, Šaulić had a son out of wedlock, named Robert. He acknowledged him and provided financial support until Robert turned 18.

Šaulić's father died unexpectedly during Šaban's concert tour of Australia. He was not able to attend his father's funeral which was held the very next day. Šaulić would often express how he would never be able to come to terms with the fact that he was not in attendance.

Šaban Šaulić has lost his hair in 1974. He has made one of the wigs in Germany, which has dropped in 2002 in favour of real bald scalp because of the famous Serbian basketball player Aleksandar Đorđević.

In the early hours of 17 February 2019, Šaulić was being driven to the airport on his way home as he had held a concert the night before in Bielefeld, Germany. His best man, Boban Stojadinović, was a fellow passenger in the car. His keyboardist, Mirsad Kerić, who had accompanied him to the concert, was driving.

At approximately 06:50 am, on the Bundesautobahn 2 between Bielefeld and Gütersloh, a drunk and unlicensed driver violently collided with the SEAT Ibiza that Šaulić was travelling in. This caused serious injuries to all passengers. All three were rushed to the hospital, where Šaulić and Kerić were later pronounced dead.

The news of Šaulić's death was met with widespread shock and sorrow from his colleagues and fans. He was buried on 22 February 2019 in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the Belgrade New Cemetery.

In February 2020 he was awarded Golden Medal of Merits of Republic of Serbia.

Studio albums

Compilation albums

• Balade
• Najlepše pesme