A composer, performer, and creator who left an indelible mark on the music scene of Yugoslavia.
A cultured young man whom everyone loved and respected, and who had his own stance and was not afraid to express it. From Belgrade, through Zagreb, to Ljubljana, girls adored him, and boys admired his immense energy and freedom.
Born on May 10, 1958, he became interested in music as early as 1968, after attending a concert by Drago Diklić in Tučepi, a coastal town where he went on vacation with his family. Upon returning to Belgrade, he asked two friends, Zdenko Kolar and Boža Jovanović, to start a band. The first instrument he played was a small mandolin, as he was a fan of the group Dubrovački trubaduri. Later, he acquired a guitar, Kolar bought a bass guitar, and Boža Jovanović used a torch bucket as a drum with metal sticks made by Kolar’s father. The band was initially named Faraoni because Divljan had a necklace with a Tutankhamun medallion brought to him by his grandmother from Egypt. Since there was already a popular band from Koper with the same name, the band changed its name to Holipe. Divljan and Kolar attended a guitar course at the NU “Braća Stamenković,” taught by Professor Branko Perišić. Later, Perišić appeared in the video for “Sve laži sveta.”
To have rehearsals, the three guys sometimes skipped school. They practiced in a room in their building for about 10 years. They had their first gig in Dadov’s attic. In the late seventies, he became a member of the jazz-rock bands Merlin and Zvuk ulice, and later became the frontman of the band Dečaci, which was soon renamed Idoli (on March 1, 1980), a pop-rock group that is now considered the most famous representative of the Yugoslav New Wave.
Divljan is responsible for classics such as “Rarely Do I See You with Girls,” “Little One,” “Russia,” “Heavenly Theme,” “Marshal,” and “She Knows.” Among the rich Idoli repertoire, his masterpiece stands out, the album “Odbrana i poslednji dani” (1982).
After the breakup of Idoli in 1985, he continued a rich solo career, in which, in addition to pop-rock songs, he also expressed his musical inspiration in film and children’s music.
He was married to Dina Đurović, with whom he had sons Stevan and Pavle. They lived in Vienna, where he passed away on March 5, 2015, at the age of 56.
