After being involved in a traffic accident in the village of Stari Laz on 29th of July 2020 when he lost control over his vehicle and landed in an abyss Rajko was placed in the intensive care unit of the Rijeka Clinical Hospital Center. Doctors fought for his life but unfortunately Dujmić couldn’t recover from the head injuries and he died at the age of 65.
Rajko was born on August 7, 1954. He finished high school in Zagreb, majoring in violin, and then graduated from the Pedagogical Academy. Instead of becoming a teacher of musical education, he dedicated himself to music and became one of the most prolific composers of popular music in the history of Croatian discography. He is known best for being a member of the pop group Novi fosili. Rajko was playing the keyboards and was a vocalist from 1976. The first song he wrote for Novi fosili was “Sanjaj me” in 1978, after that he was the author of many songs five of which include all of the entries with which Novi fosili took part at Jugovizija (Yugoslavian national selection for Eurovision).
- Jugovizija 1981 – “Oko moje” – 2nd place just 4 points behind “Lejla” by Vajta
- Jugovizija 1982 – “Vikend tata, vikend mama” – 4th place
- Jugovizija 1983 – “Volim te od 9 do 2” – 2nd place
- Jugovizija 1986 – “Boby No.1” – 2nd place just 5 points behind “Željo Moja” by Doris Dragović
- Jugovizija 1987 – “Ja sam za ples” – Yugoslavian representative at Eurovision reaching 4th place
Rajko’s biggest Eurovision success as a composer came in 1989 after the entry he composed “Rock me” performed by Riva won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, he also composed the two previous Yugoslavian entries, “Ja sam za ples“, by Novi fosili, and “Mangup“, by Srebrna Krila.
In 2013 Rajko Dujmić received Croatian music award Porin for lifetime achievement. Some of the most famous songs he composed include “Šuti moj dječače plavi“; “Za dobra stara vremena“; “E moj Saša“; “Najdraže moje”; “Tonka“; “Milena” and a lot of others.
Our deepest condolences go out to Rajko’s friends and family for their loss. May he rest in peace.
