Nadezhda Zaharieva, Lyricist of 'Luda po tebe', Dies at 82
Bulgarian poet and lyricist Nadezhda Zaharieva, who wrote the words to the Bulgarian version of the regional hit 'Luda po tebe', has died at 82. Singer Kamelia paid an emotional tribute.
- Bulgarian poet and lyricist Nadezhda Zaharieva has died at 82; she wrote the words to the Bulgarian version of the hit "Luda po tebe".
- The song traces back to a Greek ballad that swept the Balkans; Lepa Brena recorded the Serbian version, "Luda za tobom", two years before the Bulgarian one.
- The Bulgarian version was made famous by singer Kamelia, who bid an emotional farewell to the author.
- Zaharieva also wrote for Lili Ivanova and the rock band "Signal".
Bulgarian poet and lyricist Nadezhda Zaharieva died on July 9, 2026, at the age of 82, and the news quickly swept the music scene on both sides of the border. Born in 1944, Zaharieva left behind lyrics that whole generations sing by heart, often without knowing whose pen was behind them.
Audiences across the region know her best through a single song. Zaharieva wrote the words to the Bulgarian version of the hit “Luda po tebe”, a number made famous by singer Kamelia. For decades that chorus has connected the whole region, from Bulgarian clubs to Serbian weddings, and few people ever stopped to ask who wrote the lines everyone knows.
It was Kamelia who bid Zaharieva an emotional farewell. The singer who took the Bulgarian version to the top stressed how much she owed to the woman who put the words together, admitting that without her lyrics the song would have been only a melody.
How did a Greek ballad become a Balkan hit?
The story behind this song is longer and more interesting than most people realize. The melody comes from a Greek ballad that grew popular across the Balkans, and over time almost every country in the region got its own version and its own title for the same tune.
Serbian audiences came to know the song as “Luda za tobom”, performed by Lepa Brena. And here lies a detail few are aware of: Lepa Brena recorded the Serbian version two years before the Bulgarian one was made. That is why a debate flares up now and then over who “borrowed” the hit from whom, even though the roots reach back to the same Greek original.
In that story, Nadezhda Zaharieva is not the author of the melody but the person who gave the Bulgarian version its soul in the mother tongue. Her lyrics turned the number into something people do not just listen to, but sing, and that is why she is remembered today as the author of one of the region’s most recognizable choruses.
Who was Nadezhda Zaharieva
Zaharieva was not the author of a single song. Her body of work is far wider, and her lyrics accompanied the Bulgarian music scene for decades. She wrote for some of the biggest names on that scene, among them the legendary Lili Ivanova, the first lady of Bulgarian pop.
She also collaborated with the rock band “Signal”, which says a great deal about how varied her work as a lyricist was. From tender pop ballads to rock energy, Zaharieva knew how to find the word that suited both the singer and the audience, and it was precisely that versatility that etched her name into the history of Bulgarian music.
For Serbian audiences she remains the woman in the shadow of one great hit, an author whose name is now, sadly, spoken only alongside the news of her passing. Her lyrics, however, will keep ringing out wherever “Luda po tebe” is sung.
Did you know that behind the song you have been humming for years stands none other than Nadezhda Zaharieva?
