Husein Kurtagić was born on 29.01.1938 in Trebinje. As a child, he lost his eyesight through a bomb injury in 1945. Despite treatments and two operations, his eyesight did not return, so that he was sent to Belgrade as a seven-year-old child to an educational institution for blind children.
After he came to Sarajevo in 1957, he sang at Radio Sarajevo and became a permanent soloist at the age of 19. At the same time, he began to compose songs in the spirit of folk melodies and successfully participated in many folk music festivals, especially the “Ilidža” and “Beogradski sabor” festivals. At these festivals, he performed both as a performer and as an author.
He recorded his first records in 1960 and was also the exclusive artist of the then-largest record company “Jugoton” from Zagreb.
For this house, he recorded a large number of records from his own collection, as well as songs by other authors.
Most of his works were sold in large editions. Among his most famous compositions were: “Bol bolujem draga”, “Ima jedna cura u sokaku mome”, “Moj život je rijeka bez obale” and many more. Nevertheless, the most successful composition was “Ne klepeći nanulama” to the lyrics of Ibrahim Dedić, which was recorded in 26 arrangements and versions.
According to record companies and numerous surveys, this song is the most successful melody of composed folk music of all time.
Parallel to his singing career, he was involved in the organization of the entertainment industry. As a music manager, he organized countless concerts of all kinds of music for many agencies.
At the beginning of 2008, he wrote a book entitled “Muzika mog vremena” (Music of my time).
Husein Kurtagić died on 27 November 2008 in Sarajevo.
