he was born in županja, croatia, on 10 june 1943. as a six-year-old boy, he played tamburitza in a school show. his family moved to osijek in 1956, where he attended osijek's reputable music school, “franjo kuhač”, along with primary school. in 1958, before he was fully fifteen, he became a member of radio osijek's tamburitza orchestra, led by the giant of tamburitza music, julije njikoš, until 1964. in this orchestra nikolić played all of the tamburitza instruments. there his successful music work started, not only with folk significance, but also with a cultural and social dimension.