The band's history is divided into two distinct eras: between 1976 and 1981, when their name was spelled with a long "ó", Citrón, and they played mainly blues rock.
The second era, from 1982 until the present, signalled a change in musical style towards hard rock and heavy metal, with drummer Radim Pařízek as band leader and the group's name slightly altered to Citron.
[2] Citrón's inception dates back to 1976, when several musicians left the side of František Ringo Čech and founded an accompanying band for singer Aleš Ulm.
Their next single, "Až se vrátí rokenrol/Diskžokej", came out the following year, and Citrón found themselves at the top of the Czechoslovak rock scene alongside such acts as Katapult and Jiří Schelinger's band.
The same year, one major lineup change occurred: drummer Milan Tutsch left to join Katapult and was replaced by Radim Pařízek, who would later go on to lead the group.
They played a large number of concerts throughout Czechoslovakia, and released two more singles as they worked on their debut album, Obratník Raka, which was recorded in 1981.
The Czech version was never released, however; only the English one, titled Tropic of Cancer, was published, in 1983,[5] though by that point the band had mostly disintegrated: Michalík and Kubala, and later Benýšek, left the project.
The same year, Schmutz and Krejčí left the group and were replaced by guitarist Jaroslav Bartoň and bassist Václav Vlasák, both from the band Proto.
The Czech album was certified Gold, and Citron won a Zlatý slavík award,[7] taking second place after the Slovak band Elán.
Citron also made numerous television appearances, topped various music charts, and won Song of the Year with their single "Zase dál".
[11] Tanja also sang the successful 1988 duet "Kam jen jdou lásky mé" with Křížek,[12] which was later released on his debut solo album Zlatej Chlapec in 1991.
At the beginning of 1989, Citron began preparing their next studio album, Vypusťte psy!, but disagreements within the band led to Křížek's departure after the release of only one single, "Uragán/Svět patří nám", though the song became an immediate hit.
In this new lineup, the band completed a number of planned concerts in the fall and continued recording the new album, though Šándor would not end up singing on it.
The band continued to perform as a quartet for a while, but eventually hired guitarist Stanislav Balko, though he didn't stay long and was replaced by the returning Libor Kozelský.
[22] František Michalík, Jaroslav Bartoň, Jiří Šperl, and Václav Vlasák went on to found the group Limetal, leaving drummer Radim Pařízek as the only remaining member of Citron.
[23] He called on Ladislav Křížek to return to the band once more, and they were joined by Djordje Erič and Pavel Hanus on guitar, and Jiří "George" Rain (Kreyson) on bass.
[25] Radim Pařízek, the last remaining member of the band's original lineup, died on 2 March 2021 after complications from a recent surgery; he was 67 years old.