Milanče Radosavljević Finally Explains the Rumor That He Was Buried Alive

For years, an unsettling story has followed folk singer Milanče Radosavljević: that he was declared dead as a child, placed in a coffin and nearly buried alive. Now, he has rejected the tale and described how he believes it began. According to the account, the singer says the story is false and grew out of rumors spread in his village. When he was young, he suffered a serious illness that left his hands stiff and kept him in bed. Word wrongly spread that he had died, and people came to his family home to offer condolences while he was still alive. That mistaken report, he explained, was later transformed into a much more dramatic legend involving a coffin, a last-minute rescue and even a lightning strike at the cemetery. Radosavljević said none of those details happened. He blamed the enduring tale on people repeating an invented version of events, rather than on any burial or clinical-death episode. The article says his illness also affected his hands, and doctors reportedly doubted he would be able to pursue music. He kept practicing, gradually regained use of his fingers and became an accomplished accordion player. His career went on to include songs such as “Anđelije,” which remain associated with his name. Rather than move to a city, the singer has continued living in his village, according to the source, where he is devoted to rural life and farming. The story that once suggested he had been buried alive, he says, began with a false announcement of his death—not a coffin or a miraculous return from the grave.