Alma Čardžić

Alma Čardžić is a Bosnian singer from Maglaj, known for a long career across pop and pop-folk in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She started recording in the early 1990s, and she later became widely recognised through studio albums, radio hits, and concerts. Alma Čardžić also built an uncommon second chapter in public life, because she worked in politics while keeping her artistic identity. Today, she still performs and records, yet she often chooses a quieter everyday rhythm away from the big city. 

arly life and first steps

Alma Čardžić was born on 10 March 1968 in Maglaj. Music entered her life early. As a child, she sang as a school-choir soloist, and she kept building her skills through her teens. At 15, she won the amateur festival “Studentsko ljeto”, which brought her early attention. Soon after, she moved to Sarajevo, where she sang with a local band and prepared for a professional career. 

In 1991, she recorded her first songs, including the peace-themed “Mi hoćemo mir” and “Ne daj se, Bosno”. Those recordings marked the start of her professional path. From there, Alma Čardžić built her profile step by step, even as the war years changed everyday life in the country. 

Breakthrough in the 1990s

In the early 1990s, Alma Čardžić took part in major song selections, and she gained momentum as a reliable live performer. In 1994, Bosnia and Herzegovina selected her and Dejan Lazarević for the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. They performed “Ostani kraj mene” and finished 15th. 

Three years later, Alma Čardžić returned to Dublin for Eurovision 1997. This time she performed alone with “Goodbye” and placed 18th. These appearances gave her international visibility. However, she kept her main focus on recording and touring at home, which helped her stay close to her core audience. 

Albums, hits, and awards

After Eurovision, Alma Čardžić strengthened her discography with studio albums. She released Plavo oko, then followed with Duša and Malo po malo. With these releases, she became associated with emotional ballads as well as modern pop arrangements. Therefore, songs from this era remained part of her concert repertoire for years. 

In January 2004, Alma Čardžić won two BH Oscar music awards: singer of the decade and single of the year for “Dva dana”. Around the same period, she released the compilation Moje pjesme, and later she added Navikla na ljubav to her catalogue. In 2010, her team also highlighted a sevdalinka project with large orchestras, because Alma Čardžić wanted to support Bosnian musical tradition while continuing her pop work. 

Politics, health, and life today

Alma Čardžić did not limit her public work to music. She entered politics with Narodna stranka Radom za boljitak and served two mandates as a representative in the Parlament Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine. During that period, she spoke publicly about women’s equality and social rights, so she used her profile for issues beyond entertainment. 

Meanwhile, her private life brought serious challenges. Doctors diagnosed her with a massive pulmonary embolism in 2010, and she needed hospital treatment. Soon after, she faced personal loss and stepped away from the spotlight for a time. Still, she returned gradually with new material, including Sjećanje and Fiesta Latina. 

From 2017 onward, Alma Čardžić spent much of her time in Salakovac, where she built a family home close to nature and rescued animals. Maglaj named her an honorary citizen in 2020 because she promoted the town wherever she performed. Furthermore, she began promoting Pozivnica in February 2021, but the pandemic disrupted concerts and media plans. Even so, she has not left music behind. In January 2025, she performed at a public New Year event in Zenica, and a January 2026 profile again described her choice: a quieter rhythm, yet a life still linked to music. Her husband, musician Damir Čardžić, has supported and supervised parts of her music work.