Aleksandra Milošević Hagadone (; 3 October 1955 – 26 March 2024), better known as Slađana Milošević (, ), was a Serbian and Yugoslav singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. Often referred to by the nickname "Rock Princess", Milošević was one of the most prominent female artists of the Yugoslav rock scene.
Milošević began learning classical music at the age of five, playing piano and later switching to violin. As a teenager, she played bass guitar in several bands, including one of the last lineups of the popular band Džentlmeni. After performing and recording with the Radio Television Belgrade Orchestra and Saša Subota's Orchestra during early and mid-1970s and performing with the disco group Zdravo, Milošević started her solo career in 1977 with the single "Au-au". Her following singles and her erotic image brought her large media attention. She released her debut album Gorim od želje da ubijem noć in 1980, joining in on the Yugoslav new wave scene and gaining nationwide popularity. In 1983, she formed the band Neutral Design with a group of West German musicians, recording the album Neutral Design to good reception in Yugoslavia and other European countries. During early and mid-1980s she was one of the most popular female vocalists and one of the biggest sex symbols of the Yugoslav rock scene. At the end of the decade, she turned towards jazz and experimental music, moving to the United States in 1989. She returned to Serbia in 1995, releasing her comeback metal-oriented album Animal Tested in 2000. In the late 2000s, she began performing only occasionally, dedicating herself to work in other fields of culture.
Career Early career (late 1960s–1977) Slađana Milošević was born in Belgrade on 3 October 1955. Her talent for music became very apparent at the early age, so she started her education in classical music at the age of five, playing piano. Few years later, her interest turned to studying violin. At the age of twelve, she became singer and bass guitarist in a rock and roll school band, though she had not given up on the violin. As a teenager she played bass guitar in the bands Nebeska Konjica (Sky Cavalry), Epitaf 8 (Epitaph 8), Juniori (The Juniors), Slomljena Srca (The Broken Hearts) and, for a period of time, she played in one of the last lineups of the band Džentlmeni. She made her debut recording at the age of fifteen, playing violin on the 7-inch single "Za usnule oči" / "Gubim te" ("For the Sleeping Eyes" / "I'm Losing You") recorded by the Indian music-inspired band Ganesha from Belgrade.
Simultaneously with playing bass guitar, Milošević acted in plays by experimental theatre Ex Art Theatre. She continued her career in theatre appearing in the play Tom Payne by Atelje 212 theatre, in which she acted and played violin. As a violinist, she continued her musical career as a member of Radio Television Belgrade Orchestra, participating in recording of about 30 albums of different genres.
Milošević debuted as a singer at the 1974 Student Summer festival in Maglaj, winning first place. In 1976, she toured the Soviet Union as a member of Saša Subota's Orchestra. With Saša Subota's Orchestra Milošević recorded a compilation of world hits for the Soviet market and the single "Mikado" for Soviet label Melodiya. The B-side of the single featured a cover of Korni Grupa song "Ivo Lola", for which Milošević provided the vocals. Besides extensive touring with hundreds of concerts performed throughout former Soviet Union, she took part in several TV shows. One of the highlights was her interpretation of Marina Tsvetaeva's poem "I Like When You Are Yearning for Me", sung in Russian on Moscow TV, in a special birthday greeting for General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev. After recording the single "Baloni" ("Balloons") with Saša Subota's Orchestra, she started performing with the disco band Zdravo, led by Boban Petrović, her boyfriend at the time.
Success as a solo artist, retirement from public (1977–1981) Milošević started her solo career in the summer of 1977, with the single "Au-au". As major record labels in Yugoslavia were not interested in releasing the single, she financed the release of the single through PGP-RTB herself. She had her first major live appearance as an opening act on Bijelo Dugme's concert at their famous Hajdučka česma concert in Belgrade on 28 August 1977 with Zdravo as her backing band. Following "Au-au", she released the singles "Simpatija" ("Crush") and "Sexy dama" ("Sexy Lady"), both in 1978, brandishing her erotic image to large attention of the Yugoslav media and mixed reactions by the Yugoslav public. In 1978, she was invited by the jazz rock band Leb i Sol to record vocals for the song "Talasna dužina" ("Wavelength"), released on their album Leb i Sol 2.
In 1980, Slađana Milošević released her debut album Gorim od želje da ubijem noć (I'm Burning with Desire to Kill the Night). She composed part of the songs, while the rest of the songs were composed by Aleksandar "Sanja" Ilić, Enco Lesić, Miki Petkovski (formerly of the band Smak) and Aleksandar Milovanović (formerly of DAG). All the album lyrics were written by lyricist Marina Tucaković, with the exception of the lyrics for "Amsterdam", written by Mirko Glišić, the song becoming the album's biggest hit. The album was produced by Miki Petkovski and Laza Ristovski, both of them playing keyboards on the album. The rest of the musicians who took part on the album recording were Generacija 5 members Dragan Jovanović (guitar) and Miloš Stojisavljević "Cajger" (bass guitar) and former Bijelo Dugme member Ipe Ivandić (drums). The album brought nationwide popularity to Milošević, as well as attention in neighboring countries. On the 1979 New Year's Eve, Hungarian national television broadcast Milošević's one-hour performance. During 1979, Milošević made a number of guest appearances: she appeared as a backing vocalist on YU Grupa album Samo napred... and Dado Topić's album Neosedlani (The Unsaddled), and recorded the song "Imam sve" ("I've Got Everything") for the National Class Category Up to 785 ccm soundtrack, composed by Zoran Simjanović.
Milošević appeared on the 1981 Jugovizija festival, the Yugoslav national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Recept za ljubav" ("Recipe for Love"), written by Nenad Pavlović. The song was released on a 7-inch single with the song "Srećan ti rođendan", written by Idoli member Vlada Divljan, as the B-side. After release of the single, she started her studies of veterinary medicine and retired from performing.
Comeback and nationwide popularity (1983–1987)
In 1983, Milošević moved to Munich, Germany, where she formed the band Neutral Design with a group of German musicians, some of them previously performing with Santana and Nina Hagen. With them, she recorded the album Neutral Design, released in 1983 under Slađana & Neutral Design moniker. Milošević composed part of the songs and wrote part of the lyrics, while a part of the songs was composed by guitarist Bruce Werber and Peter Labontie, and a part of the lyrics were written by Papatra member Danko Đurić and Riblja Čorba guitarist Momčilo Bajagić "Bajaga". The album was released in Yugoslavia, as well as in other countries of Europe, achieving success in West Germany and Sweden. The album's biggest hit in Yugoslavia was the song "Miki, Miki". Neutral Design was Milošević's first album produced by herself.
After the release of Neutral Design, she returned to Yugoslavia and embarked on a tour with her new backing band Ljudi (People) as an opening act for the English rockabilly band Matchbox. At the 1984 Opatija Festival, Milošević won Special Award for Interpretation for the composition "Samsara", written by Dejan Tričković (formerly of the group Susret). During 1984, she played guitar and sung backing vocals in the band Mama Co Co, which at the time featured vocalist Dado Topić. During the same year, Milošević and Topić recorded the duet "Princeza" ("Princess"), with which they appeared at 1984 Jugovizija. Despite not winning the festival, the song became a nationwide hit. Later during the year, Milošević shot the TV show Djevojčica u svijetu čipova (Little Girl in the World of Microchips), directed by Ademir Kenović, for Television Sarajevo. The show won the Best Yugoslav TV Show of the Year Award on national television festival in Struga and was screened at the Rose d'Or festival in Montreux.
In 1985, Milošević took part in YU Rock Misija, a Yugoslav contribution to Live Aid. She took part in the recording of the charity single "Za milion godina" and in the corresponding charity concert held at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade on 15 June. She participated in the U.S.E. project (United States of Europe, produced by Midge Ure), recorded in Paris, where she took a role of a vocal producer assistant. In 1986, she was among the organizers of the charity concert for Yugoslavs suffering from muscular dystrophy. The concert, entitled Ujedinjene snage YU rocka (United Forced of YU Rock), was held on the Belgrade's Tašmajdan Stadium. For her support, the Belgrade Paraplegic Organization proclaimed her an honorary member. In 1985, she appeared at the MESAM festival with the song "Fantastično putovanje" ("Fantastic Journey"), written by Srđan Jul, and in 1987, she won first place at the MESAM festival with the song "Bez nade" ("Without Hope"). Soon after, Italian TV channel RAI2 filmed her 20-minute show.
Jazz and experimental music, moving to United States (1988–1995) In 1988, Milošević recorded a jazz album with songs composed by prominent jazz composer Darko Kraljić. The album, entitled Alexandra Slađana Milošević & Darko Kraljić, featured Radio Television Belgrade Jazz Orchestra, Milutin Lilić Vocal Quartet, Vladimir Vitas on piano, Vojin Draškoci on double bass, Lala Kovačev on drums, Mirjana Filipović on harp and Nikola Mitrović on trumpet. Most of the lyrics were written by Milošević, and she also played violin on the recording.
After the album recording, she represented Yugoslavia on the International Friendly Cities Singers Meeting festival in Beijing, China. She had won a Special Honorary Award and a Silver Cup for an overall two-part competition that included interpretation of a traditional Chinese song and her original music. During her staying in China, she performed in several concert venues and television shows. Following the success at the festival, the Chinese record label Hundred Flowers Records released the compilation of her own songs. Upon returning to Europe, she co-hosted a TV periodical titled Cultural Bridge Beijing-Belgrade, produced by TV Belgrade. In 1989, she went on a tour across China and performed at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment in the piece Tokata (Toccata) written by Igor Gostuški (formerly of the band Duh Nibor). The piece won two first prizes, at the experimental classical music contests in Opatija and Munich. During the same year, she performed the experimental piece Night Brother, written by Ognjen Bodranović, at the opening of the 23rd Belgrade International Theatre Festival. During the festival, she also performed the piece Prvi obredni san (First Ritual Dream) by Vuk Kulenović, using acoustic sculptures by sculptor Vladimir Labat.
In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, where she spent the next several years, performing in clubs with the band Baby Sister, also working in a marketing agency and as stock broker. During these several years, she organized several charity actions for the victims of Yugoslav Wars. During the years she spent in Los Angeles, she worked on improving her guitar skills, studying with Hollywood's MIT instructors like Scott Henderson, Bruce Bouillet, Scott Van Zen, James Hagadone and others.
Back in Serbia (1995–2024)