Ana Popovic
Ana Popovic
(February 21, 2026 at 7pm)
Bruce Springsteen called her “One helluva guitar player.” She was the only female guitar player invited to play in the All-Star Hendrix Experience, a national tour celebrating the music and legacy of another helluva guitar player, Jimi Hendrix. She is Ana Popovic, a Lyric favorite and fiery performer who didn’t come to the blues in an ordinary way.
Popovic grew up in Belgrade, Serbia, in the former Yugoslavia. Music was an important part of her life as her father was a musician and often invited friends to jam. Although she grew up under the oppressive Milosevic regime, she was able to study guitar privately and before she was 20, had started her own band, Hush. They performed all over Yugoslavia, and with the fall of Communism, she was able to travel throughout Europe. She studied at the Conservatory in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and eventually signed a record deal with a German company.
In 1999, Popovic formed the Anna Popovic Band and began gaining international attention with her blend of electric funk and slide guitar, jazzy instrumental and soulful blues. By 2009, two of her albums reached the Billboard Blues Chart.
Popovic is very aware of her role as an international artist and a representative of women. “I grew up in Serbia, but my childhood was nice,” she said. “Later on, by the time I left, it was a difficult time for the family I left behind. I left at the right moment. I moved to Holland and studied jazz and world music. I was traveling to both sides of the ocean and was the first international, central European artist to be nominated for an American Blues Award. That’s when my career really started. I’m very fortunate and thankful to the audience. It’s wonderful to be acknowledged for this work, and it’s a huge honor to represent women and Europeans
who come here to play.”
The Hendrix tour was another outlet for her representation of women. “I’m representing women and it’s a great thing,” she said. “I’m hoping they’ll include more women. I’m here to open doors. There were women before me, and it got easier with time. I wanted to play and have my own sound, not male or female. Younger women come to my shows and want to do what I do. That’s wonderful. The guitar is becoming a female instrument, and women are taking the lead. I think they can be as successful as men, being business ladies and taking their careers into their own hands.”
Popovic practices what she preaches. She released her album Trilogy on her own label, and it was in the Top 10 alongside Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt.
The musician stressed that no two shows of hers are the same. “Trilogy has 23 songs to choose from,” she said. “There’s everything from funk to soul to rock and blues and jazz. There’s lots of guitar, melodies, jazzy standards, funk and soul. There’s a little bit for everyone. If you’ve seen other shows before, it’s not the same show. That’s not how we roll. It’s fun for the band and me.”
In 2022, Popovic was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a difficult time, personally and professionally, as she told Guitar World in 2023. “I wasn’t sure of anything,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if the Power record (released in 2023), was gonna be the last record I was gonna make, if I was taking a break, if I was physically able to tour and record. Those were the most challenging few years of my life. The future was unsure.”
As the fear subsided, Popovic dug in harder than ever before. She balanced her treatment with her music, allowing herself to burst forward with empowering and inspirational music. “I found strength I never knew I had,” she said. “And that’s the point of Power as an album, to inspire people. It can be easy to give up in those moments, but if you hold on, it can help guide you. Whatever you’re going through might change you, but if you hold onto that passion, it’ll still be there and change with you.”
She was nowhere near finished. In 2025, she announced the birth of her new album, Dance to the Rhythm, written with her music director, Buthel Burns. “It sums up my life, my affection towards this incredible path of music that I chose, my perseverance, and joy of being who I am, musically and in every other way. People write to satisfy the critics, to cross over, to satisfy ‘the blues police,’ ‘the rock police’ ‘the any other police,’ to satisfy egos, to break through. We write to accommodate our live show, to inspire the band, because the live show is where it’s at, for us. That’s my passion and my quest in music. It will, as with every other record I ever made, let you discover a new Ana, simultaneously reminding you who Ana really is. My dear fans and friends, you haven’t heard it all yet.”
Bring it on. We want to hear a lot more.
(February 21, 2026 at 7pm)
Bruce Springsteen called her “One helluva guitar player.” She was the only female guitar player invited to play in the All-Star Hendrix Experience, a national tour celebrating the music and legacy of another helluva guitar player, Jimi Hendrix. She is Ana Popovic, a Lyric favorite and fiery performer who didn’t come to the blues in an ordinary way.
Popovic grew up in Belgrade, Serbia, in the former Yugoslavia. Music was an important part of her life as her father was a musician and often invited friends to jam. Although she grew up under the oppressive Milosevic regime, she was able to study guitar privately and before she was 20, had started her own band, Hush. They performed all over Yugoslavia, and with the fall of Communism, she was able to travel throughout Europe. She studied at the Conservatory in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and eventually signed a record deal with a German company.
In 1999, Popovic formed the Anna Popovic Band and began gaining international attention with her blend of electric funk and slide guitar, jazzy instrumental and soulful blues. By 2009, two of her albums reached the Billboard Blues Chart.
Popovic is very aware of her role as an international artist and a representative of women. “I grew up in Serbia, but my childhood was nice,” she said. “Later on, by the time I left, it was a difficult time for the family I left behind. I left at the right moment. I moved to Holland and studied jazz and world music. I was traveling to both sides of the ocean and was the first international, central European artist to be nominated for an American Blues Award. That’s when my career really started. I’m very fortunate and thankful to the audience. It’s wonderful to be acknowledged for this work, and it’s a huge honor to represent women and Europeans
who come here to play.”
The Hendrix tour was another outlet for her representation of women. “I’m representing women and it’s a great thing,” she said. “I’m hoping they’ll include more women. I’m here to open doors. There were women before me, and it got easier with time. I wanted to play and have my own sound, not male or female. Younger women come to my shows and want to do what I do. That’s wonderful. The guitar is becoming a female instrument, and women are taking the lead. I think they can be as successful as men, being business ladies and taking their careers into their own hands.”
Popovic practices what she preaches. She released her album Trilogy on her own label, and it was in the Top 10 alongside Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt.
The musician stressed that no two shows of hers are the same. “Trilogy has 23 songs to choose from,” she said. “There’s everything from funk to soul to rock and blues and jazz. There’s lots of guitar, melodies, jazzy standards, funk and soul. There’s a little bit for everyone. If you’ve seen other shows before, it’s not the same show. That’s not how we roll. It’s fun for the band and me.”
In 2022, Popovic was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a difficult time, personally and professionally, as she told Guitar World in 2023. “I wasn’t sure of anything,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if the Power record (released in 2023), was gonna be the last record I was gonna make, if I was taking a break, if I was physically able to tour and record. Those were the most challenging few years of my life. The future was unsure.”
As the fear subsided, Popovic dug in harder than ever before. She balanced her treatment with her music, allowing herself to burst forward with empowering and inspirational music. “I found strength I never knew I had,” she said. “And that’s the point of Power as an album, to inspire people. It can be easy to give up in those moments, but if you hold on, it can help guide you. Whatever you’re going through might change you, but if you hold onto that passion, it’ll still be there and change with you.”
She was nowhere near finished. In 2025, she announced the birth of her new album, Dance to the Rhythm, written with her music director, Buthel Burns. “It sums up my life, my affection towards this incredible path of music that I chose, my perseverance, and joy of being who I am, musically and in every other way. People write to satisfy the critics, to cross over, to satisfy ‘the blues police,’ ‘the rock police’ ‘the any other police,’ to satisfy egos, to break through. We write to accommodate our live show, to inspire the band, because the live show is where it’s at, for us. That’s my passion and my quest in music. It will, as with every other record I ever made, let you discover a new Ana, simultaneously reminding you who Ana really is. My dear fans and friends, you haven’t heard it all yet.”
Bring it on. We want to hear a lot more.
