Ana Nikolić to retire after final album and farewell tour

Ana Nikolić has announced she will step away from the stage after releasing what she calls her next — and final — studio album, followed by a farewell tour across Serbia.

The pop star says the new record will be accompanied by a series of large concerts designed as a parting gift for her long-time fans. Nikolić told the television show that she plans “maybe two or three” big shows in Belgrade and further major dates around the country.

Reasons behind the decision

Nikolić explained that age is one of the decisive factors: she does not imagine herself still performing in the way she used to once she passes fifty. "I don't see myself on stage after my fiftieth year, jumping on stages and falling. I'm fed up with everything, everything annoys me because it's not the way I want it. Either I work something as it should be done, or I won't do it at all," she said.

The other, and she stresses the most important, motive is the loss of longtime hitmaker Marina Tucaković, who wrote many of Nikolić's biggest songs and helped shape her sound. Nikolić spoke emotionally about Tucaković's absence and how much she misses her.

The singer's private life has also featured recent turbulence. In August she publicly cut ties with composer Goran Ratković – Rale and blocked him after a public dispute; according to reports the break lasted a little more than a month. The two later reconciled, he promised to change the behavior that upset her, and reportedly moved back into her apartment.

Nikolić offered no precise release date for the album or fixed timetable for the farewell concerts, but says she is currently preparing the material and staging for what she intends to be a carefully planned exit from an almost decades-long career.

Photo: Instagram\/Ana Nikolikj