He is known for his charismatic stage performances and inspiring song lyrics that often combined rock poetry with a strong sense for social commentary, which is the cause for him becoming a cult figure.
[1] Štulić was born on April 11, 1953, in Skopje, where his mother Slavica (née Milovac) and father Ivan Štulić–an officer in the Yugoslav People's Army–were stationed at the time.
The initial line up, which included Jura Stublić, Marino Pelajić and Mladen Juričić, soon dissolved, and the other members formed another popular band, Film.
[4] From 1989, he performed under his name with live support of "Sevdah Shuttle Band", and released the solo studio albums Balkanska rapsodija (1989) and Balegari ne vjeruju sreći (1990).
[9] Hrvoje Horvat, a Croatian journalist, wrote a biography of Johnny Štulić titled Fantom slobode ("The Phantom of Freedom"), published in 2006.
[10] Ines Pletikos directed a documentary film Kad Miki kaže da se boji (2004), and Kruno Petrinović wrote a book, Prilozi za biografiju Johnnyja B. Štulića (2006), about the heroes of Johnny's poems.
[2][14] In 2012 he initiated a lawsuit against Croatia Records from Zagreb, the direct successor of Jugoton, over royalty rights,[15] as well book publisher from Belgrade, for copyright infringement.