Thompson

Thompson is a Croatian heavy metal band, founded by Marko Perković aka "Thompson", often identified with the band itself."Thompson" is Perković's stage name.He is the songwriter and lead vocalist.The lineup consists of Tomislav Mandarić, Ivan Ivanković, Duje Ivić, and Ivica Bilić Ike. The band name originates from the Thompson submachine gun, a nickname given to Perković while he fought in the Croatian War of Independence.Although predominantly formed in Čavoglave, Thompson is currently based in Zagreb.Thompson came to prominence during the Croatian war in 1991, with the release of the first single "Bojna Čavoglave", which proclaims the Croatian resistance to the Serb intervention and was included in the compilation album Rock za Hrvatsku.This song, with slightly modified lyrics, named "Branitelji Sarajeva", was sung by the BiH Army during the Siege of Sarajevo (Sarajevo zaboravit neće nikada). During the 1990s Thompson gained popularity in Croatia with the release of the first album Moli mala in 1992.They later regained popularity with the popular hit "Prijatelji" in 1998. In 2002, Thompson began their first major tour to promote the album E, moj narode.This tour continued sporadically until 2005, and included concerts at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and Melbourne's Vodafone Arena.In May 2005, the album was declared a Diamond Record with more than 60,000 copies sold.Touring continued in 2006 with Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj, again performing internationally with concerts in Germany, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Thompson features annually at the Homeland Victory celebrations in their hometown of Čavoglave.These performances are attended by as many as 60,000 to 100,000 spectators, and feature Croatian singers like Mate Bulić, Dražen Zečić, Ivan Mikulić, and Baruni. Controversy regarding the alleged promotion of the fascist Ustaše regime led to a number of banned performances, including the band's concert in the Netherlands in 2003.