Ivo Robic

Ivo Robić (January 29, 1923 - March 9, 2000) was a popular Croatian singer and songwritter.

Domestic career

Robić was born in Bjelovar. He began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb Orchestra, while studying at the same time in Zagreb.

During his career, which started in 1948 in what was then Yugoslavia, he made more than one hundred records, mostly singles. In his own country, the most memorable of his many songs might be Vraćam se Zagrebe tebi (Coming Back to You, My Zagreb), Ta tvoja ruka mala (That Little Hand of Yours), and Tiho plove moje čežnje (Silent Sail of My Yearnings).

International achievements

A pioneer of popular Yugoslavian music from the early 1950s on, Robić was an artist who successfully pursued both domestic and international careers for almost half a century. When he began, he was the only artist from Yugoslavia whose records were available in the record shops of Europe and the rest of the world.

Robić was nicknamed "Mister Morgen" following the success of his first international hit, Morgen, in 1959. That song was the first collaboration between Robić and Bert Kaempfert. Following its success in Germany, the German-language version became a #13 hit on the popular charts in the United States and earned both artists a Gold Record. An English version, One More Sunrise, sung by Leslie Uggams, reached #98 on the same charts. It has also been performed by many other artists.

Robić was very active in recording for Germany's Polydor label, selling millions of albums and singles. He performed and collaborated with well-known artists such as Kaempfert, Freddy Quinn, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra.

His other international hits are Muli-Song (1960), Mit 17 fängt das Leben erst an (1960), Ein ganzes Leben lang (1962), Rot ist der Wein (1966), and Ich zeig' dir den Sonnenschein (1971). Less known is the fact that he was the writer of the song that later became famous as - Strangers in the Night.