Bio

Aleksandar "Sanja" Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Сања" Илић; 27 March 1951 – 7 March 2021) was a Serbian and Yugoslav musician and composer. Ilić started composing as a teenager. In 1971 he formed the rock band San, which disbanded in 1975, after the band's vocalist Predrag Jovičić died in concert from an electric shock. After this event Ilić decided not to perform live with a band again. He continued his career as a composer, composing several hit songs for Yugoslav pop and rock artists. He worked with composer and keyboardist Sloba Marković on the electronic music album Delta Project and actor and lyricist Irfan Mensur on the album Plava ptica. In 2000, Ilić formed the ethnic music ensemble Balkanika, with which he recorded five albums and had numerous performances across the world. During his career, Ilić wrote music for theatre, film, television shows and various performers. He died in 2021 in Belgrade. He was the brother of keyboardist and Generacija 5 leader Dragoljub Ilić.