Bora Djordjevic: Son Absent Two Years After His Death
Friends and fans gathered at Bora Djordjevic's grave in Cacak on the second anniversary of his death, but his family did not appear. The city's cultural center now bears his name.
The second anniversary of Bora Djordjevic’s death was marked on September 4, 2026, at the City Cemetery in Cacak. Friends, acquaintances and fans of the Riblja Corba frontman gathered by his grave, marked with two crossed guitars, laid flowers, lit candles and sang his songs.
Djordjevic died on September 4, 2024, in Ljubljana, at age 72, after a short illness. His hometown of Cacak still hasn’t forgotten him even two years on, according to the people who were closest to him.
Among those who came to the cemetery that day were musician Nenad Kresojevic, Tatjana Batak Petrovic from Belgrade, Bora’s childhood friend Dr. Prvoslav “Prle” Savic, along with Aco Dimitrijevic and Milan Cakajac. Cacak professor Stojan Guzina was there too, and he played Bora’s songs on guitar beside the grave.
Friends remember decades of friendship
Nenad Kresojevic, Djordjevic’s friend from Belgrade, recalled their first meeting and the decades of friendship that followed.
I’ve been friends with him since 1982, when his wife Dragana actually took a photo of us. We met to arrange the recording of an album in London. We stayed in touch later at his book promotions, and again after I moved to Belgrade. Bora was an extraordinary person, a lot of us came from Belgrade today because Bora earned that, said Kresojevic.
Tatjana Batak Petrovic, who met Bora through her brother, a former boxer, remembers him in a similar way.
When I was 12, I won the winter culture festival in Belgrade with his song “Lutka sa naslovne strane” (Cover Girl), back in 1981. I met him later, through my brother, who was a boxer. People like Bora must never be forgotten, because he was a great artist, musician and patriot, said Tatjana Batak Petrovic.
Did the family visit the grave?
This was the part of the story that drew the most attention at the memorial. Dr. Prvoslav “Prle” Savic, Djordjevic’s childhood friend, said none of the immediate family came to the cemetery that day.
We gathered again today, and we came early to lay out refreshments for Bora’s fans who showed up, the way it’s done around here. None of his immediate family visited Bora’s grave today. His son Boris always lets me know when he’s coming, but he didn’t come this time. I spoke with his wife, she said she came to Cacak for the anniversary, but nobody here saw her today. She asked that no reporters be around when she arrived this morning. Today I hear she was apparently here last night, and that the wreath on Bora’s grave is from her. We played and sang at Bora’s grave today, and we’ll keep doing that for as long as we can, keeping alive the memory of him and the youth we spent together, said Savic.
Most of Bora’s friends from Cacak, according to Savic, visit his grave almost every week, at a set time.
Cultural center now carries his name
The city paid its own tribute to the rocker as well. The Cacak House of Culture has been renamed the “Bora Djordjevic” Cultural Center Cacak, city officials confirmed at the memorial, adding that Cacak would not forget its native son.
Riblja Corba, meanwhile, continues to perform according to Bora’s wishes, with Jova Jeftic as its singer. At the anniversary event in Cacak, he also announced upcoming posthumous releases.
It’s a great honor to keep carrying on Bora’s musical legacy, and this is also an opportunity to say that his songs, that is, the album Bora recorded during his lifetime, will be released soon, said Jova Jeftic, singer of Riblja Corba, speaking to the Regional Information News Agency, RINA.
A particular moment at the memorial came when professor Stojan Guzina picked up a guitar and played Bora’s songs, bringing back, through music, the memory of a man whose lyrics have long been part of Cacak, and of Serbia as a whole.
Riblja Corba performs tonight by the dam on the West Morava River in Cacak, with free admission for all of Bora’s admirers. As Bora used to say, being from Cacak is a state of mind, and his city, friends say, still isn’t talking about him only in the past tense, two years on.
