Zarko Dancuo was born in Zagreb (now Croatia) in 1945. He is the son of Dušan Dančuo (Karlovac (now Croatia), August 11, 1923 - Belgrade, 2009) who was a popular Croatian performer of old-town songs, romances and hits of the second half of the 20th century, and whose father was a tailor in Zagreb. Zarko started singing in children's choirs in Zagreb and then joined Croatian Beat band Roboti in 1963 for two years before going solo where he had several popular Yugoslav language covers of English hits, before moving into cabaret pop. He met his wife, Serbian singer Daliborka Stojsic, and moved to Belgrade in 1968. He was drafted for military service and when completed he joined the Belgrade show group One i Oni until 1975. He studied singing and started singing the old town songs in the style of his father to much success. He retired in 2005.