Legendary Croatian pop singer Mate Mišo Kovač died on Saturday at the age of 85. News of his death was broadcast over the PA system at Poljud stadium, and sources close to the singer confirmed the information. The circumstances of his death have not yet been disclosed.
Mišo Kovač was born on 16 July 1941 in Šibenik during the Italian occupation, where he also spent his childhood. His father, Jakov, was a true Šibenican from the Varoš district, while his mother, Zrinka, née Jurišić, was from the small island of Vrgada. He was one of three children in the family, and his brother Ratko and sister Blanka had already passed away.
He decided to take up the microphone at the age of 16, after hearing a performance by Šibenik singer Ljuba Lučev. He completed secondary industrial school training as a wallpaperer. In 1961, he shared first place in the Prvi glas Šibenika competition with Mirko Vukšić, choosing a single by Elvis Presley as his prize. After his military service in Belgrade, he moved to Zagreb. At a competition in Karlovac, he performed Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Loving You" and attracted the attention of producers. His first unofficial performance was in autumn 1964 at the City Café in Zagreb, and that same year he signed a contract with Jugoton. His first record was a cover of Charles's song, "Ne mogu prestati da te volim". In the summer of 1965, he performed at Melodije Jadrana.
Star status was brought to him by the song "Više se nećeš vratiti" from 1969, a work by then-young Đorđe Novković. The single sold nearly 190,000 copies and was the second best-selling Jugoton record that year. With five records selling more than 250,000 copies, Kovač became the best-selling singer for the label in 1969. His collaboration with Novković lasted until the composer's death in 2007. By winning the Split Festival in 1971 with the song "Proplakat će zora", he became the most popular singer in Yugoslavia. That same year, he narrowly escaped death in a traffic accident near Zadar. He let his moustache grow, which became his trademark, to cover a scar above his upper lip. After recovering, in 1972 he watched Elvis Presley perform at Madison Square Garden in New York.
He was named singer of the year five times, and in 1989 he was named person of the year in Yugoslavia. He also acted in film – in 1972 alongside Rade Šerbedžija in "Poslijepodne jednog fazana". In 1992, his 16-year-old son Edi died in Zagreb under unexplained circumstances. Following Edi's death, he held a major concert titled Noć svijeća at Poljud in Split, in front of 50,000 people. After the concert, he announced he would no longer perform, but did not keep his word.
He was married three times: to Ljubica Komadina, to Anita Baturina, a former Miss Yugoslavia, with whom he had Edi and Ivana, and to Lidija Pintarić, with whom he remained until the end of his life. In a career of nearly half a century, he sold more than 20 million records. His songs such as "Ostala si uvijek ista", "Ako me ostaviš" and "Svi pjevaju, ja ne čujem" have marked generations of listeners.
