ZRINKO TUTIĆ

BIOGRAPHY

Singer-Songwriter, Composer, and Producer, born March 2, 1955, in Banja Luka.

In 1973, Zrinko Tutić moved to Zagreb to study at the Faculty of Economics, where he has lived and worked ever since. He was a member of the pop group "Selekcija," contributing as a composer of music, lyrics, and arrangements. In late 1973, Jugoton released their single featuring the songs "Stari kovači" (Old Blacksmiths) and "Magle" (Fogs). Tutić's first appearance as a composer at the Zagreb Festival was in 1974, when Ksenija Erker performed his song "Doći će dan" (The Day Will Come). He debuted as a singer-songwriter in 1977 with the song "Nepoznata, tako ću te zvati" (Unknown, That's What I'll Call You). Between 1977 and 1980, he wrote over a hundred songs for children, culminating in the TV musical "Bajka o maslačku" (The Dandelion's Tale) with lyrics by Sunčana Škrinjarić and the music for the series "Marko Marulić."

In 1981, he participated in Zagrebfest with the song "Doris," marking the beginning of a series of four singer-songwriter albums ("Doris," "Plavi leptir" [Blue Butterfly], "Pola jabuke" [Half an Apple], "Zrinko Tutić") through to 1985. In 1997, Croatia Records released a double compilation album "Dnevne temperature" (Daily Temperatures) featuring selected songs from these albums.

Three of his songs represented Yugoslavia and Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest. The first was in Bergen in 1986 with the song "Željo moja" (My Wish) performed by Doris Dragović. Then, in Zagreb in 1990, Tajči performed "Hajde da ludujemo" (Let's Go Crazy), and in 1996, Tutić went to Oslo with the song "Sveta ljubav" (Holy Love), performed by Maja Blagdan, which achieved fourth place.

In 1991, he wrote "Moja domovina" (My Homeland) and, as an author and producer, signed eight projects for Croatian Band Aid, including "Za djecu Hrvatske" (For the Children of Croatia) and "Kad bi svi" (If Everyone...).

He composed music for five feature films: "Zlatne godine" (Golden Years), "Putovanje tamnom polutkom" (Journey Through the Dark Half), "Nausikaja," "Kad mrtvi zapjevaju" (When the Dead Start Singing), and "Garcia." For "Putovanje tamnom polutkom" in 1995 and "Kad mrtvi zapjevaju" in 1998, he won Golden Arenas at the Pula Film Festival.

Until 2000, Zrinko Tutić was the author of the television musical identity (intro) for Croatian Radio Television. He also created the audio identity for the 2000 European Men's Handball Championship held in Zagreb and Rijeka.

As a producer, he has worked on more than 30 high-selling albums, including works by artists such as Bebek, Davor Radolfi, Doris Dragović, Ivan Mikulić, Maja Blagdan, Massimo, Mate Mišo Kovač, Matteo, Sanja Doležal, Sergio Pavat, Severina, Miroslav Škoro, Tereza, and Tajči.

After a twenty-year hiatus, Tutić returned to Zagrebfest in 2001 as a singer-songwriter with the song "Moja ljubavi" (My Love).

Discography:

Doris (Diskoton, 1982)
Plavi leptir (Diskoton, 1983)
Pola jabuke (Jugoton, 1984)
Jugoton Express (2xLP, Promo, with Srebrna krila, Jugoton, 1984)
Jugoton Express (2xLP, Mixed, Promo, with Ljupka Dimitrovska, Jugoton, 1985)
Zrinko Tutić (LP, Album, Jugoton, 1985)
Putovanje tamnom polutkom (CD, Album, Croatia Records, Tutico, 1995)
Dnevne temperature (Croatia Records, Tutico, 1997)
Kad mrtvi zapjevaju (CD, Album, Croatia Records, 1998)
Garcia (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (CD, Album, Menart, Tutico, 1999)
Musica documentarica (CD, Album, Croatia Records, 2018)
Zlatne godine / Originalna filmska glazba (CD, Croatia Records, Unknown)

Throughout his long career, Tutić has also left a significant mark in other areas. Although not widely known, those familiar with his creative work recognize that he has created substantial contributions in the field of music for documentary films. Composing a song is not simple, and composing a musical theme for a film, whether it is a documentary or a feature film, is an even greater challenge for any composer—a challenge that Tutić embraced as another valuable experience. Selected works from this body of work, specifically for documentaries produced by Croatian Radiotelevision, were compiled in the album Musica documentarica released by Croatia Records.

Documentaries include:

"5 poslije 12" (5 Past 12, 2014)
"Agroturizam Konavle, Istra, Baranja" (2013)
"Kad žena kaže pozor" (When a Woman Says Attention, 2014)
"Miro Gavran" (2017)
"Priče o blatu" (Stories About Mud, 2015)
"X=0,37?" (2015)
"Susret" (Encounter) from the documentary "Susret za oprost" (Encounter for Forgiveness, 2011).

Awards: He has received numerous awards at pop music festivals in Croatia and the former Yugoslavia. These include representing Yugoslavia at Jugovizija in 1986 and 1990, winning the Golden Arena for the music in the films Putovanje tamnom polutkom by D. Žmegač at the Pula Film Festival in 1995, and Kad mrtvi zapjevaju by K. Papić at the same festival in 1998. He achieved first place at Dora, the Croatian selection for Eurovision, with the song "Sveta ljubav" (Holy Love) and fourth place at the Eurovision contest in Oslo (1996). He received the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Marko Marulić for outstanding contributions to culture (1995 and 1996), the Porin Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, the Milevoj Körbler Award in 2019 for his overall artistic work, and the Nova ploča Award (2024) presented by the Croatian Phonographic Association for exceptional contribution and promotion of the significance of the Croatian music industry, as well as for significant and recognizable success in achieving the goals of the Croatian Phonographic Association.

Tutić is the owner and chief producer of Tutico, a publishing house and concert agency established in 1992. He is also a founder and a member of the Board of Directors of the Porin Music Awards (since 1993), served as chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Croatian Phonographic Association from 2000 to 2004, and has been the Secretary-General and Director of the awards of the Croatian Music Industry Institute since 2004.