Milena Plavšić, born February 28, 1956 in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a folk singer. Growing up in a poor, patriarchal family, she pursued her singing dreams despite parental opposition. Plavšić's professional career began in 1981 with the release of "Ti ne znaš a ja te volim" ("You do not know, but I love you"), written by boxer Marijan Beneš. The same year, she released a revised version of "Banja Luka", which gained popularity. In 1987, she won the annual showbiz award of the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Just before the start of the war in Yugoslavia, Plavšić performed at Dvorana sportova in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1991. In the early 1990s, she held a large concert for the Serbian diaspora in Germany.