Background
Izeta Selimović was born in Trebinje, located in the Herzegovina region of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, while it was a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Izeta Selimović was born in Trebinje, located in the Herzegovina region of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, while it was a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
At the age of four, Selimović moved to Sarajevo with her family in 1943, during World World War II, where she completed her schooling.
The Selimović family originally hails from Bileća. Aged 14, she was one of six people chosen out of 300 candidates to sing for Radio Sarajevo, which kicked off her professional career in 1954 as a soloist for the station. Her first single, Po mojoj bašti zumbuli cvjetaju (English: In My Garden Hyacinths Bloom), was released in 1958.
Selimović retired in 1988 following the release of her final studio album.
Although her recorded songs have appeared on many compilation albums since the late 1980s, she has not recorded any new music since then During her long career, she sang exclusively in two genres: Bosnian folk and sevdalinka.
She has recorded songs with multiple Bosnian sevdalinka singers such as Zaim Imamović, Zehra Deović, Nada Mamula, Safet Isović and Meho Puzić.
She was good friends with Isović and Puzić until their deaths in 2007.