The death of a musical legend in Zagreb.
Famous Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić has died at the age of 78 in a hospital in Zagreb suffering from the effects of sepsis. The great songwriter was admitted to hospital on July 29. The situation had gradually worsened. As in all cases of sepsis, organs started shutting down one by one. Unfortunately, after several weeks of treatment, he died yesterday reports Vecernji List on August 18, 2015.
During his stay in the hospital, Arsen was joined by his wife Gabi Novak, with whom he was in a harmonious marriage for 42 years. Messages of support were sent to him by his son Matija, daughter in law Marina and granddaughter Lu.
Serious health problems began in 2004 when Dedić was treated in Padua, where he received a successful liver transplant. However, more than a year ago he suffered a fall, which was followed by serious hip problems. In mid-July he underwent a hip operation in the Special Hospital for Orthopedics and Traumatology in Krapinske Toplice.
Arsen’s musical journey began in 1959 when he started studying at the Music Academy in Zagreb. At first, he worked as a music score copier and a music adviser for the Croatian Radio-Television. He also played a flute and wrote songs for other singers. Occasionally, he published poems in literary magazines. Magazines Polet, Prisutnost, Književne Novine and Književnik soon started to regularly publish his poems. He has sung in several vocal groups (Prima, Zagreb Vocal Quartet, Melos …), and played in bands of popular and jazz music.
He successfully combined his two talents: music and poetry. At the Split Festival in 1963, he performed for the first time as a singer-songwriter. One year later, songs “Kuća Pored Mora” and “Moderato Cantabile” paved the way for his singer-songwriter career. The collection of poems “Brod u Boci” (1971) has been sold to date in over sixty thousand copies. Many other collections of poems followed.
Immediately upon the arrival in Zagreb in 1959, Arsen met Gabi Novak whom he married 15 years later. Their great love was immortalized in 1973 with the birth of their son Matija who follows the musical footsteps of his parents.
