Alija "Alen" Islamović (; born 17 August 1957) is a Bosnian rock vocalist. He is best known as the lead singer of Bosnian and Yugoslav rock bands Divlje jagode from 1979 to 1986 and Bijelo Dugme from 1986 to 1989. Born Alija Islamović in Bihać into a Bosniak family from the nearby village of Sokolac where he'd spend the first two and a half years of his infancy, the youngster grew up with an older brother. Once their father found work in Bihać, the entire family relocated to the town proper. Islamović first accessed music in the late 1960s via his brother who brought home a turntable gramophone. Biography Early life Islamović learned to play guitar guided by his elder brother, and in 1974 he began playing bass guitar in a band called Bag. He started singing because his brother had many LP records, allowing him to learn the lyrics. Soon, Islamović's local popularity grew as did his band's gig activity and he performed many concerts in the local region. In addition to Bihać, Bag performed in Prijedor, Drvar, Sanski Most, and Banja Luka, earning decent money. He was inspired by the music of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Bijelo Dugme. Divlje jagode When his band dissolved, Islamović started playing football in Jedinstvo from Bihać, then a second league club. After he served the army, Sead Lipovača, lead guitarist and founder of Divlje jagode, invited him to join the band. The start with Divlje jagode was very difficult, but it eventually paid off as the band became a very successful hard rock act throughout many parts of Yugoslavia. They were so promising that in April 1984 (when Željko Bebek left Bijelo Dugme) Islamović turned down Goran Bregović's offer to sing in Bijelo Dugme (this was partly result of his fear that Bebek might return to Dugme). Eventually, when everything failed, Divlje jagode fell apart and Islamović returned to Bihać and decided to get a traditional job and quit music. But then came another offer from Goran Bregović (when Mladen Vojičić Tifa left Dugme) and this time he accepted. Bijelo Dugme At the time, the vocal capabilities of Islamović were questioned when it came to comparison with the former two singers. Bregović reportedly invited Islamović to join the band mainly for his healthy lifestyle (he allegedly stated that he had enough of drunkards and drug addicts). He was right, and Islamović