Želimir "Željko" Bebek (born 16 December 1945) is a Bosnian-Croatian[1] vocalist and musician most notable for being the lead singer of the Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme from 1974 until 1984.

At age sixteen, Bebek began taking the stage at Eho 61, an open mic club-like school activity for the musically inclined students of Sarajevo's Second Gymnasium.

As Kodeksi experienced persistent problems filling the bass guitar spot, Bebek recommended eighteen-year-old Goran Bregović after seeing the teenager play with Beštije in 1969.

In December 1971, Bebek received a notice from the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to report for his mandatory military service and Novi Kodeksi played their last gig at Sarajevo's Dom Mladih.

Just as he was about to report for the obligatory army duty in early 1972, twenty-six-year-old Bebek received an invitation from Bregović—whom he hadn't spoken to in a year-and-a-half at that point, ever since their split in Italy—to record "Patim, evo, deset dana" song with Jutro, a new band Bregović formed with Nuno Arnautalić.

Discharged from the army in March 1973 and returning home, Bebek joined Jutro in earnest, but also took a clerk job as a protective measure due to not being certain about the band's creative and commercial potential.

He ended up spending a full decade and recording six studio albums with the band before eventually leaving in April 1984 to fully pursue a solo career.

In 1978, while Bijelo Dugme bandleader Bregović was away serving his Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) stint that forced the band on hiatus, Bebek decided to use the time off to record a solo album, Skoro da smo isti, with drummer Điđi Jankelić [bs], old friend Edo Bogeljić on guitar, and Neven Pocrnjić on keyboards.

Most of his hits had a strong commercial folk influence, including "Oprosti mi što te volim", "Da je sreće bilo", "Laku noć svirači", "Jabuke i vino" (duet with Zana Nimani), "Sinoć sam pola kafane popio" (with lyrics by Bora Đorđević), "Da zna zora" (duet with Halid Bešlić)", "Čaša otrova", "Gdje će ti duša", and others.

In 2005 he took part in three large reunion concerts of Bijelo dugme, in Zagreb, Sarajevo and Belgrade, performing alongside most of the musicians that passed through the band, including the other two vocalists (Alen Islamović and Tifa).

Their 2006 "Kad Bi' Bio Bijelo Dugme" North American tour (together with Okus Meda and Tifa Band), was featured in a documentary titled "B.A.T.

[7][8] With the disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia and outbreak of the Bosnian War in 1992, forty-six-year-old Bebek and his wife and daughter fled their hometown Sarajevo for Zagreb, Croatia and remained living there.

[1] From the mid-1990s onwards, Bebek has applied several times for the samostalni umjetnik (cultural worker) status in Croatia, a legal provision for country's prominent artists entitling them to various financial benefits from the state budget.