by Marisa BrownAlthough he was born in 1939 in Yugoslavia (now present-day Serbia), it wasn't until the mid-'60s, after he had already started a teaching career, that Bata Illic first began singing. He managed to catch the ear of the American embassy official in Belgrade, who then arranged for Illic to perform in American clubs in Germany. In 1968 his debut full-length, Mit Verbundeden Augen, was released, followed by albums like Michaela (his most successful record) and Meisterstücke. Though Illic stayed out of the spotlight for most of the 1980s, he began to make a resurgence as the new millennium approached, appearing on German television shows and releasing a number of greatest-hits compilations.