Yugoslav rock legend Bora Djordjevic dies of pneumonia at 72

“Dear friends, it is with sadness and sorrow that we announce that our friend, our brother, Borisav Bora Djordjevic, has left us. Rest in peace, dear Boki”his group, Riblja Corba, said in a statement.

Better known by his stage name, Bora Corba, was 72 years old. Died from pneumonia, this tutelary figure of Yugoslav rockers, of Serbian origin, was the author of countless hits from the 1980s.

Riblja corba (Fish Stew) was one of the most famous rock bands in Yugoslavia, and continued to sell tens of thousands of records even after the breakup in the 1990s.

Their provocations, their committed texts, and Djordevic’s personality, made their success. In 1990, the singer was accused “to insult the Yugoslav working class” in some of his songs. But the prosecutions by a wavering power were abandoned.

Sometimes mocked by critics for his songs “with rose water”the group nevertheless recorded the most beautiful ballads in the region. In Serbia, reactions began to rain down as soon as his death was announced. “A giant has left us”President Aleksandar Vucic wrote on Instagram. “Farewell, legend”added Prime Minister Milos Vucevic on X.

Bora Djordjevic was born in Cacak, western Serbia, in 1952. He began his career in 1965 as a singer in various bands including Suncokreti and Rani Mraz. But it was with Riblja Corba that he would find the most success. After the fall of Yugoslavia, the rocker was gradually sidelined from the rock scene, criticized for his increasingly nationalist stance.