Crvena Jabuka () is a pop rock band originally formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia in 1985, and since 1994 based in Zagreb, Croatia. The group gained nationwide popularity during its initial run, and has continued to enjoy success in former Yugoslav republics since the band's 1994 reformation.
The band's forming members, vocalist and guitarist Dražen Ričl "Para" and guitarist Zlatko Arslanagić "Zlaja", were in the early 1980s involved in the Sarajevo-based New Primitivism subcultural movement. Influenced by the 1960s British rock, the two formed Crvena Jabuka with keyboardist Dražen Žerić "Žera", drummer Darko Jelčić "Cunja" and bass guitarist Aljoša Buha. The band's self-titled debut album, released in 1986, was an instant commercial success, bringing large attention of the public and the media to the band. On 18 September 1986, while on their way to Mostar to hold the first concert on the album promotional tour, the members of the group were involved in a traffic accident, in which Ričl and Buha lost their lives.
After the accident, the remaining three members, Arslanagić, Žerić and Jelčić, decided to continue as Crvena Jabuka, releasing the band's second album Za sve ove godine in 1987, but without giving interviews or holding promotional performances. They made a full-scale comeback to the scene with the 1988 album Sanjati, Žerić taking over the vocal duties and Arslanagić taking over the role of the band's leader and songwriter. The album was recorded with a new member, multi-instrumentalist Nikša Bratoš, who would in the following years also be in charge of album production. The group released two more highly successful studio albums, enjoying large popularity on the late 1980s Yugoslav rock scene, before the outbreak of the Bosnian War forced them to end their activity in 1992.
In 1994, Žerić, Jelčić and Bratoš reformed Crvena Jabuka in Zagreb. The group continued their career collaborating with external songwriters, most prominently Zlatan Fazlić, Saša Lošić, Miroslav Drljača "Rus" and Dino Šaran, scoring a number of hits during the following years and renewing their popularity in former Yugoslav republics. On their later releases, the band made a shift to more pop-oriented sound, recording a number of duets with prominent acts from former Yugoslav republics. Since Jelčić's departure in 2017, Žerić has remained the only original member of the band.
History
Origins (1981–1985)
The band's origins can be tracked back to 1981, when guitarist Zlatko "Zlaja" Arslanagić and guitarist and vocalist Dražen "Para" Ričl, both high school students at the time, formed the power pop band Ozbiljno Pitanje (Serious Question) in Sarajevo. Beside Arslanagić and Ričl, the band featured vocalist Saša Kontić, bass guitarist Benjamin Levi, drummer Radmilo "Hare" Gavrilović and keyboardist Dražen Janković. They decided upon the name Jabuka (Apple) as a homage to the Beatles' Apple Records – the Beatles being Arslanagić's biggest idols. On the day of the concert, the band members and their small entourage left Sarajevo on their way to Mostar in three cars: Ričl, Arslanagić and Buha were in Arslanagić's Zastava 750, keyboardist Žerić and drummer Jelčić were in Žerić's Volkswagen Golf Mk1, while employees of the Zenica-based Atlas company, the organizers of the tour, were in a Zastava 1500.
In the spring of 1989, the band released the album Tamo gdje ljubav počinje (Where Love Begins).
In 2000, Crvena Jabuka released the album Sve što sanjam (Everything I Dream Of).
In 2016, the band released the double studio album 2016. He would later state that he left the band out of financial disagreements with Žerić and that he was dissatisfied with Žerić's decision to turn to more folk-oriented sound. Žerić himself refused to comment on Jelčić's statements. Adrian Borić, drummer for the hard rock band Divlje Jagode, stepped in as the replacement for Jelčić. Jelčić would continued his career as the leader of his band Cunja Crvena Jabuka, formed in 2023, based in Toronto, Canada and performing only Crvena Jabuka songs from the 1985–1991 period.
In 2019, Crvena Jabuka released the album Nokturno (Nocturne), with most of the album songs authored by Mirko Šenkovski "Geronimo". who also co-produced the album with Žerić. Alongside new songs, the album also features a cover of Alen Slavica song "Dao sam ti dušu" ("I Gave You My Soul"). The band's song "Ostani" ("Stay") was covered in 2005 by Bosnian pop singer Selma Muhedinović on her album Moje Sarajevo (My Sarajevo).
In 2000, Crvena Jabuka song "Sa tvojih usana" was polled No.90 on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list.
The lyrics of the songs "Za sve ove godine" and "Ima nešto od srca do srca", both authored by Arslanagić, were featured in Petar Janjatović's book Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 – 2007).
The Dražen Ričl Award is awarded to young composers by the Association of Composers and Music Creators of Bosnia and Herzegovina.