Zana Šiškin (; sr-Cyrl, Зана Шишкин, ; born in September 1961) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired singer and songwriter, best known as the first frontress of the

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Zana.

Biography

Early life

Zana Nimani was born in 1961 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, to

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo (, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the north of ...

parents from the town of

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

Musical career

Nimani started her career in 1976, when she started to sing with the band Suton, in which her boyfriend-at-the-time

Radovan Jovićević Radovan Jovićević ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Јовићевић) is a Serbian pop-rock/folk music composer, producer and band leader. Born in Belgrade on 31 January 1956, he has lived in New York City since 1999. Balkan Years Radovan’s career ...

played guitar. Since 1979, the band started to perform under the name Zana, adopted after Nimani's first name. The band's first

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

s and their debut album ''Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu'' (''Bad News Accompanied by

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

for a Beer Bottle''), released in 1981, brought them nationwide popularity. The following two albums, '' Dodirni mi kolena'' (''Touch My Knees''), released in 1982, and ''Natrag na voz'' (''Back to the Train''), released in 1983, were also well received, bringing a number of hits for the band. However, when Zana went on a hiatus in 1984 due to mandatory army stints of Jovićević and keyboardist Zoran Živanović, Nimani decided to leave the band (which would continue to work under the name Zana) and start a solo career. In 1984, Nimani appeared as guest vocalist on Divlji Anđeli

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

''Totalni kontakt'' (''Total Contact''). In 1986, she released her only solo album, ''Noćas pevam samo tebi'' (''Tonight I Sing Only for You''). The album was recorded in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and featured Swedish

studio musicians A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

. It was produced by Tini Varga, who also authored part of the songs. Other authors on the album were Nimani herself and former Zana members

Marina Tucaković Marina Tucaković ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Туцаковић; 4 November 1953 – 19 September 2021) was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the Universit ...

, Aleksandar "Futa" Radulović and Bogdan Dragović. The album brought minor hits "Što ne znam gde si sad" ("Why Don't I Know Where You Are Now") and "Miško zna" ("Miško Knows"). During the same year, Nimani appeared at the MESAM Festival with the song "Ruža na dlanu" ("Rose on the Palm"), which was released on the festival official compilation ''Mesam – Pop festival 86.'', and on a split 7-inch single with

Bebi Dol Dragana Todorović (; ; born 2 October 1962), better known under the stage name Bebi Dol ( sr-Cyrl, Беби Дол, lit=Baby Doll), is a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter. Born in Belgrade, she made her solo debut in 1981 with the su ...

's song "Inšalah" ("

Inshallah ''Inshallah'', usually called the , is an Arabic-language expression meaning or . It is mentioned in the Quran, which requires its use when mentioning future events. It signifies that nothing, neither action nor thought, happens without God' ...

"). In 1987, she recorded backing vocals for the album ''Into the Heart'' by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist Dragoljub Crnčević. In 1988, she appeared in the TV rock operette ''Kreatori i kreature'' (''Creators and Creatures''). The operette was composed by Vladimir Milačić, directed by

Milutin Petrović Milutin Petrović (; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Петровић; 1791–1861) was one of the ''vojvodas'' (military commanders) of the Serbian Revolutionary forces in the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman ...

and featured, beside Nimani, Massimo Savić, Dejan Cukić, Snežana Jandrlić,

Bora Đorđević Borisav "Bora" Đorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Борисав, Бора Ђорђевић; 1 November 1952 – 4 September 2024), also known as Bora Čorba ( sr-Cyrl, Бора Чорба), was a Serbian singer-songwriter and poet. He was best known as th ...

, Goran Čavajda "Čavke", Amila Sulejmanović and Đorđe Dragojlović. In 1988, she also wrote lyrics for the song "Priđi bliže" ("Come Closer") recorded by Mladen Vojičić "Tifa" on his first solo album ''No. 1''. Soon after, she got married and retired from the scene.

Family

She is married to Đorđe Šiškin. Nimani and Šiškin have one child, daughter Tea (born in Belgrade in 1991). With the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, she moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where she still resides.

Discography

With Zana

Studio albums

*''Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu'' (1981) *'' Dodirni mi kolena'' (1982) *''Natrag na voz'' (1983)

Singles

*"Nastavnice" / "Sveta" (1980) *"Moj deda" / "Pepito pantalone" (1981) *"Leto" / "Snovi od slame" (1981) *"On" / "Ti si neko staro lice" (1981) *" Jabuke i vino" / "Jabuke i vino – instrumental" (1983)

Solo

Studio albums

*''Noćas pevam samo tebi'' (1986)

Singles

* "Što ne znam gde si sad" / "Eto, to si ti" * "Ruža na dlanu" (1986)

References

External links

Zana Nimani at Discogs

Zana Nimani at Last.fm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nimani, Zana 1961 births Living people Serbian rock singers Serbian pop singers Serbian women pop singers Yugoslav rock singers Yugoslav women singers Singers from Belgrade Women new wave singers Synth-pop new wave musicians Pop rock singers Yugoslav Albanians Albanians in Serbia Yugoslav emigrants to Canada