Usnija Redzepova
Usnija Redžepova (Serbian Cyrillic: Уснија Реџепова, pronounced [ˈusnija reˈd͡ʒepova]; 4 February 1946 – 1 October 2015) was a Macedonian-Serbian singer of Romani and Turkish origin. She was born in Skopje, but spent the majority of her life in Belgrade, where she died.
At the beginning of her career, she used the stage name Usnija Jašarova (Serbian Cyrillic: Уснија Јашарова) to avoid being confused with Esma Redžepova, another Romani singer from Macedonia. The two had no familial relation, but did collaborate musically.
Usnija Redžepova started her singing career in the mid-1960s and went on to release 15 singles and EPs and 9 albums. Her prolific repertoire mainly includes folk songs from the Balkans sung in Serbian, Romani, Macedonian, and Turkish.
Throughout her career, Redžepova enjoyed great popularity in Yugoslavia and its successor states. Apart from her records, she is also known for playing the leading role in Koštana, a Serbian play by Borisav Stanković, which she performed 150 times on stage at the National Theatre in Belgrade.
Redžepova died of lung cancer on 1 October 2015 at the age of 69.
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