Predrag Živković Tozovac

Predrag Živković (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг Живковић), nicknamed Tozovac (Тозовац, born 22 January 1936) is one of the most famous Serbian folk singers^[1] and composers. He is also an accomplished accordion player and entertainer who appeared in movies and hosted several music TV shows.

Early life

Tozovac was born in Kraljevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 22 January 1936. His father Svetozar "Toza" Živković was also a musical and a restaurant owner, while mother Budimka was a housewife. His father was shot in 1941 in Kraljevo during the Axis occupation of Serbia.

He went to Kraljevo high school and in 1976 graduated at the Higher School of Economics in Belgrade.

He began working as a musician in the 1960s, first as an accordion player who accompanied other, more prominent singers, while later in the decade, he teamed up with other composers like Duško Radetić, Bane Popov, and Dušan Karaklajić, becoming a folk music star himself.

Musical career

During his 40-year-long career, Tozovac recorded over 30 singles and 20 albums, played on over 300 concerts in all of the former Yugoslavia, France, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, etc. Most prominent concerts were in Belgrade, in the Dom Sindikata Hall and in Zagreb, in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.

In addition to songs either composed by him or his colleagues, he also recorded many Serbian folk songs. Most important hits during his career are:

Television

In the 1980s he became a co-host of the highly popular TV folk-music show Folk parada on Television Belgrade, with another major folk star, Predrag Cune Gojković, and actress and singer Zlata Petković.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s he didn't record much, but he scored few hits, like Danče, Ljubav je za sve godine and a duet with Lepa Lukić, and was again a co-host of the most popular music TV show in Serbia, Grand Show, on TV Pink. He also held a very popular three-singers concert, performing with Predrag Cune Gojković and Miroslav Ilić.

He appeared in several feature and TV movies, like I Bog stvori kafansku pevačicu (1972) and Balkan express 2 (1989).

Personal life

Tozovac has a son, but he never married. He lives in Belgrade and is very outspoken about the author's rights and education of young musicians. He is one of the rare folk musicians who spoke out against Slobodan Milošević.

References