Hanka Paldum (born 28 April 1956) is a Bosnian sevdalinka singer and co-founder of the record label Sarajevo Disk.

Hanka Paldum was born in the eastern Bosnian town of Čajniče to Muslim Bosniak parents Mujo and Pemba.

When Paldum was seven years of age, her parents moved the family from Čajniče to the Vratnik neighbourhood within the Sarajevo municipality of Stari Grad.

She would continue singing throughout her childhood and recalled in an interview: "We went by train to my aunt's home, my mother's sister in Rudo.

The director of the House of Culture named Marijan Ravlić, asked her parents to allow her to sing at some local events.

Then Hanka began to sing in amateur contests, which she often won, with the award being chocolate with rice or ten tickets for the cinema.

Her father told her she must enroll in a school that would lead to a secure career with which she could find a job that would earn her money.

Paldum recorded and released her first extended play (EP) in 1973, at the age of seventeen, when producer and composer Mijat Božović offered her his partnership in recording two singles "Ljubav žene" (The Love of a Woman) and "Burmu ću tvoju nositi" (I Will Wear Your Wedding Ring) alongside the big folk orchestra Radio-TV Sarajevo.

She recorded five more EP's in two years before releasing her debut studio album, I Loved Unfaithful Eyes on 13 February 1974 Also in 1975, Hanka won top prize at the festival of amateur singers called "Pjevamo danu mladosti" (Sing for the Youth Day), with the song "Pokraj puta rodila jabuka" (On the Roadside, a Tree Bore an Apple), written by Mijat Božović.

Shortly thereafter, he went to the mandatory service in the Yugoslav People's Army, and Hanka started her first big Yugoslavian tour with Meho Puzić.

[7] Hanka started singing in Sarajevo alongside Omer Pobrić, a gifted and popular accordion player, and by doing so gained vocal and performing experience.

She also won many awards and much recognition, including the "Oscar of Popularity", three "Golden Stars", as well as being named the female artist of the year.

At the same time she was preparing a full-length studio album, called Srebro i zlato (Silver and Gold"), named after the song.

Along with Milić Vukašinović as the main songwriter, other recognized names from the world of Yugoslav folk, pop and rock music were present: Goran Bregović, Nikola Borota – Radovan, Bodo Kovačević, Mijat Božović, Blagoje Kosanin.

Hanka started her tour, and for the first time in folk music, held concerts in big sporting arenas across Yugoslavia.

Hanka has performed at the arenas "Lisinski," in Zagreb, Croatia, "Sava Center," in Belgrade, Serbia, and "Zetra," in Sarajevo, the capital of her home country Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1985, with composer Miodrag Ilić and ensemble Južni Vetar (Southern Wind) she recorded the album Nema kajanja (No Regrets).

On this album she also recorded a sevdalinka called "Sjećaš li se djevo bajna" (Do You Remember the Stellar Maiden) with accordion player, Milorad Todorović.

The ballad "Svaka rijeka moru stići će" (Every River Will Reach the Sea) was called the 'best song of the year' by radio stations.

Guests included Halid Bešlić, Alka Vuica, Josipa Lisac, Esma Redžepova, Saša Matić and Milić Vukašinović.

On 7 November 2012, during a humanitarian concert in Zenica, Paldum and Serbian singer Dragana Mirković first publicly sang their duet "Kad nas vide zagrljene" (When They See Us Embrace.

[15] Paldum's first marriage was to Muradif Brkić (nicknamed Mufta), director of the record label Sarajevo Disk.

[24] In January 2013, Goran Golub, a Serb former captive in the Silos concentration camp accused Paldum of torturing him on 10 February 1993 during the Bosnian War.

[25] Golub said that while he was a prisoner in the camp, Paldum and fellow Bosnian singer Dino Merlin were to perform for the soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Igman mountain, where Silos was located.

When he didn't reply again, he alleges that Paldum ordered him to sit down and spread his legs, then he claims that she stepped on his genitals with all her strength.

[29] Paldum filed a lawsuit against Golub's lawyer Duško Tomić in March 2013 for false accusations of war crimes and torture.

[30] That same month she was quoted as saying: "As for me, I cannot wait for an investigation to be launched into the allegations that the media highlighted and I wish to clear this stain off my name and prove that I am innocent.