Monteno's father Osvaldo was an Italian from Monfalcone. During World War II, he was drafted and deployed to Yugoslavia in 1945 where he met a Bosniak woman named Bahrija in Sarajevo and fell in love. Osvaldo left his pregnant wife in Italy to marry Bahrija. Osvaldo's Italian wife gave birth in 1946 to a daughter named Daniela, Kemal's half-sister. Kemal was born to Osvaldo and Bahrija two years later in Sarajevo. Although his father was Catholic and his mother was a Muslim, Kemal was given a Muslim name. Osvaldo only spoke Italian and sang canzones to Kemal when he was a child, while his mother sang him Bosnian sevdalinkas. Both Osvaldo and Bahrija were employed at Sarajevo's Koševo stadium.
Career
He recorded his first song "Lidija" in 1967 and enjoyed a prosperous career in Yugoslavia. He is perhaps best known for "Sarajevo ljubavi moja", a tribute to his home town. Many of his songs have also been performed by others. For instance, "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" was a hit not only for him, but for Toše Proeski, Crvena Jabuka and Indexi. Similarly, others had success performing "Nekako s' proljeća" and "Nije htjela". In a February 2014 interview, Monteno said that "Nije htjela" was written about a famous Yugoslav musician's wife, who was in love with another singer. Over the years, due to his style of music, he became known as the "Bosnian Roy Orbison", and even the "Bosnian Neil Diamond."
Monteno was diagnosed with diabetes in the late 1990s and received three-hour dialysis twice a week at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb. Diabetes weakened his heart and Monteno felt that the stress of the war in his country also contributed to his illness. Monteno suffered a heart attack on 30 December 2011 and had bypass surgery in January 2012. A performance at the 2012 Split Festival that summer was cancelled due to health issues and rumors of his death circled the internet on 10 October 2012, even being picked up as fact by media in the region. On 15 November 2014, after nearly three years of waiting, Monteno received a phone call that a kidney was available for transplant. He received the transplant the following morning in Zagreb. He was again hospitalized in December 2014 and doctors believed that his "body did not accept the kidney that was transplanted in November." Monteno died at Zagreb hospital "Rebro" of pneumonia and sepsis on 21 January 2015 due to complications after the kidney transplant. He was buried in his hometown of Sarajevo at the "Bare" Cemetery on 28 January 2015, seven days after his death.
