A Year of Silence: Remembering Gabi Novak
On this day last year, legendary singer Gabi Novak passed away. We recall her rich career, her turbulent love with Arsen Dedić, and her sincere friendship with Tereza Kesovija.
On this day last year, legendary singer Gabi Novak passed away. We recall her rich career, her turbulent love with Arsen Dedić, and her sincere friendship with Tereza Kesovija.
It has been exactly one year since Croatia lost one of its most recognizable voices. Legendary singer Gabi Novak passed away on August 11 last year at the age of 89, leaving an indelible mark on the domestic music scene. Her career, which began in the late 1950s, is intertwined with the most beautiful and touching moments of Croatian pop music.
She was born on July 8, 1936 in Berlin, where she spent her early childhood before moving with her family to Hvar and then to Zagreb. In the capital, she completed the School of Applied Arts, majoring in graphic design, and briefly worked as a draftswoman at Zagreb Film. However, her exceptional vocal talent soon led her to the stage. Already during the 1960s, she gained immense popularity and critical acclaim, becoming one of the most beloved singers of her generation.
Over a career spanning decades, she recorded a series of albums and singles, collaborating with top composers. Her work was repeatedly awarded with Porin awards, with the pinnacle of recognition arriving in 2006 when she received the Porin for lifetime achievement.
Yet, alongside her music, the public was most fascinated by her life and love story with composer Arsen Dedić. Their first meeting took place in 1958 in Zagreb, in front of the then television studio. At that moment, both were in other marriages—Gabi with composer Stipica Kalođera, and Arsen with Vesna, the niece of writer Antun Gustav Matoš, with whom he had a daughter, Sandra. Arsen described his first marriage, which lasted only three years, as a marriage without prospects. Gabi's marriage to Stipica Kalođera lasted until 1970.
Although they felt an unbreakable connection, their love story developed gradually. Arsen Dedić described this dynamic with the words: "No, there was no thunder; everything went slowly. We walked the path of friendship, were brother and sister to each other... and one day we both realized we were meant for each other." They first appeared together in public in 1964, but the wedding only followed in 1973, after the birth of their son Matija Dedić.
The path to a shared life was also marked by difficult moments. It is less known that Gabi suffered a miscarriage before Matija's birth, triggered by shocking news. "That shock caused the miscarriage... and later she agreed to marry me, and Matija was born," Arsen recounted. Their relationship was built on complete honesty, as Gabi Novak herself confirmed: "You discover some things, but there were no secrets between the two of us."
A particularly touching thread in her biography is her relationship with her son Matija, a respected jazz pianist and composer who passed away in June last year at the age of 53, just two months before his mother. Gabi spent her final weeks without her only child, which further underscores the weight of those days. Matija rarely spoke publicly about his private life, but on several occasions he emphasized how much his mother's unconditional support meant to him, especially when he decided to dedicate himself to jazz. "Unlike him, Gabi had my back. Arsen was a man of strict artistic forms, with set and formed melodies, and he didn't understand why I was into jazz. He would say: 'Matija, what you're doing is great, but where's the melody in that?' And I chose jazz because I found a path there that would be the least comparable to him in life, and because I reached a point where I had to find it," Matija told Nacional in March 2016, adding that he was "somewhere between Gabi and Arsen."
On another occasion, he revealed that his mother always supported him, primarily his decision to study jazz in Graz. "After all, the first records I found in my room were hers. She is an exceptional singer who marked the history of music in these parts. Our joint concerts were always special because they possess incredible warmth, simplicity, and flexibility, which bring immense joy to my colleagues," he stated for tportal. His mother's favorite song was "Pamtim samo sretne dane" (I Only Remember Happy Days), with music composed by Kemal Monteno and lyrics by Arsen Dedić. That very song became her anthem of sorts, and today, a year after her passing, its lyrics carry an even stronger emotional weight.
She also left a great void in the heart of her longtime friend, singer Tereza Kesovija. Tereza spoke about the final months of Gabi's life, not hiding her bitterness over the conditions in which she spent her last days. "She could no longer speak; I sent her messages. I visited her in that facility. I'm actually bitter about all those eulogies. I called the Ministry of Culture and said, please, Nina, do something, let her be in a better place, on a better bed; she can't sleep on that awful bed, but no, nothing was done," Tereza Kesovija recounted.
Despite everything, the memory of Gabi Novak remains filled with warmth. "We talked so much while she was really ill; she would laugh so beautifully—no, she was, it's hard for me to say 'was,' she is here; someone you love so much cannot disappear," Tereza concluded, giving voice to the feeling of all who loved and respected the great artist.
