Let 3 (; ) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band based in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, Croatia formed in 1987. The frontmen are Damir Martinović "Mrle" (born 15 July 1961) and Zoran Prodanović "Prlja" (born 18 December 1964). Particularly popular in the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, the band is known for their original approach to rock music and their obscene live performances. Their songs often contain provocative and vulgar lyrics. They represented Croatia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

with the song "".

History

Let 3 was formed in Rijeka in the late 1980s. The band soon gained a reputation for their unprecedented, controversial and sometimes obscene performances, exemplifying the eclectic nature of Rijeka's music scene. The band's members have voiced support for liberal causes, such as

women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

, and have taken a vocal stance against

conservative politics Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1997, the band released their fifth album, titled (translated as 'Outrageous' or 'Unheard-of'). It was distributed as a CD, but it had nothing recorded on it. Nonetheless, 350 copies of the album were sold. Just one copy of their follow-up, (), was initially made; the band refused to sell or distribute it. The record company eventually released the album in slightly different versions. As a protest, the band staged a mock suicide by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

Ban Jelačić Square Ban Jelačić Square (; ) is the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after ban Josip Jelačić. Its official name is and is colloquially called . The square is located below Zagreb's old city cores Gradec and Kaptol, just di ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. In late 2000, the band unveiled a four-metre tall statue named (), depicting a woman with a

horseshoe moustache A horseshoe moustache, also known as a biker moustache, is a full moustache with vertical extensions grown on the corners of the lips and down the sides of the mouth to the jawline, resembling an upside-down U or a horseshoe. The whiskers grown ...

and a one-metre long

phallus A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

. It was exhibited in various cities throughout Croatia. In 2005, Let 3 released the single "" (), a play on the Serbian patriotic song "". In the song's music video, extras dressed in Serbian and Albanian national costumes are seen

masturbating Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person sexually stimulates their own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of hands, everyday objects, sex toys ...

. The single featured on the studio album , which

parodies A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...

Balkan

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

and militarism. The band stated: "We wanted to create an album of what people here fear the most; namely peasantry… and pornography". In December 2006, the band was sanctioned by police after performing naked at an open-air concert in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. The band's defence that they had not been naked because they had corks in their

anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...

es did not convince the judge; the court found them guilty and fined each member (). On 14 December 2008, the live afternoon talk show was cut short by the host after two of the band members simulated the ejection of a cork from their rectums. On 9 December 2022, Let 3 was announced as one of eighteen participants in , the Croatian national selection for the

, with the song "". For their performance, they were joined by artist Žanil Tataj Žak as the character "" (meaning '

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

' in ). They went on to win the competition by a landslide with a total of 279 points, thus gaining the right to represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, United Kingdom. They performed at the first semi-final on 9 May 2023, placing eighth and thus qualifying for the final, where they ultimately came 13th with a score of 123 points (7th in the televote). For the "Mama ŠČ" video, visuals and staging, as well as numerous live shows and performances, Let 3 collaborated with the drag artist Jovanka Broz Titutka, famous in the Croatian queer scene. Let 3 was again among the twenty-four participants of with the song ""; they advanced from their semi-final on 22 February 2024. In addition, they performed an interval act of their Croatian Eurovision Mama ŠČ! entry during voting.

Band members

Members

* (Mrle) – bass guitar, effects, vocals * Zoran Prodanović (Prlja) – vocals * Ivan Bojčić (Bin) – drums * Dražen Baljak (Baljak) – guitar, mandolin * Matej Zec (Knki) – guitar, backing tracks

Former members

* Branko Kovačić (Husta) – drums, percussion * Kornelije Đuras (Korni) – keyboards, samples * Ivan Šarar (Faf) – keyboards, programming, samples * Ivica Dražić (Miki) – guitar, vocals * Nenad Tubin – drums, vocals * Igor Perović (Gigi) – guitar * Zoran Klasić (Klas) – guitar, vocals * Orijen Modrušan – guitar * Alen Tibljaš – drums * Marko Bradaschia – drums * Dean Benzia – drums * Siniša Banović – drums * Ljubomir Silić – bass guitar * Raoul Varljen – keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

* 1989 – '' Two Dogs Fuckin''' * 1991 – '' El Desperado'' * 1994 – ''Peace'' * 1996 – () * 1997 – () * 2000 – () * 2005 – () * 2008 – () * 2013 – ''/ Thank You, Lord'' () * 2016 – ()

Charted singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control Croatian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1987 Yugoslav rock music groups Yugoslav punk rock groups Musical groups from Rijeka Culture in Rijeka Croatian post-punk music groups Croatian dark wave musical groups Obscenity controversies in music Eurovision Song Contest entrants