Nedeljko Bilkić was born in 1941 in Bugojno. During the war he lost his father and was brought up by his very musical mother, whose brothers were also musicians, they played violin, accordion and the Prim. So little Nedeljko grew up singing, the Bosnian Sevdalinka.
As a military scholarship holder, he completed the technical secondary school in Kragujevac and came to Belgrade to study mechanical engineering. He promptly passed the recording test and was recorded at Radio Belgrade, so that he studied and sang in parallel. At the concert of Safet Isović, he was advised to take singing lessons because he was very talented. Nedeljko began to take singing and solfeggio lessons with opera singer Anita Mezetova (who also trained Radmila Karaklajić). He had a chance at “Ilidža 65” when he sang the song “Ne pitaj me stara majko”, which had been rejected by Safet Isović before. Nedeljko won that year and more victories followed, seven at Ilidža and two at Belgrade Sabor.
He became very famous and his popularity lasted for the next fifteen years. He is the author of most of his songs (300) but recorded over 600. He has recorded over 30 albums and 80 singles. His greatest hit, which became his trademark, is the song “Krčma u planini”. The song was written in 1968, when a group of singers, after their tour, went to a restaurant on the Komar mountain above Travnik. The opera singer Miroslav Čonkić was inspired by this and so he wrote the text within five minutes, Nedeljko composed it and Radojka Živković arranged it. The song became a success overnight and is still sung today, on all occasions, both mourning and joy.
Nedeljko Bilkić has received numerous awards, the first “Golden Microphone” of Radio Belgrade was awarded to him in 1968. In 1968 and 1974 he was the singer of the year. He is married to the singer Dušica Bilkić, with whom he has two sons. In 1982 he moved with his family to Canada and spent the next 15 years there. He currently lives in Belgrade and still performs on the invitation.
