She had everything an artist could wish for: fame, fortune, success, dedicated fans, media attention or didn't she? Tajči or Tatiana Cameron as she is known today was a Balkan superstar at the age of 19, when she participated in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest for Jugoslavia. A year later she decided to leave it all behind and reinvent herself somewhere in the world seeking anonymity and inner peace. Today, Tatiana sings in churches all over the US with a list of requests stretching to almost a thousand.

Tatjana Matejaš aka Tajči has been performing since the age of 4. By the time she was 20 years old she had achieved stardom in former Yugoslavia, playing packed arenas and seeing her albums go platinum. Her popularity just grew out of control, every move she made was followed by the press and fans andthe youngpop star feltoverwhelmed and empty.

Although she knew she was ready as a performer to be a star she wasn't ready as a person " What it was, when I was on top, I was unhappy. I was a teenager, and I made all the mistakes that teenagers do who don't have guidance, the Ten Commandments. You don't know that you're making these mistakes. You don't see anything wrong with it, until you find yourself lonely and you feel dirty inside. You don't know why, because everyone around you is saying how great your life is. With all of that, I was confused. I was like, I have everything. I'm the most famous person in my country. I have money. I have whatever I want, and I still have these horrible feelings. What am I going to do for the rest of my life?" Tatiana said in a previous interview with Catholic New World.

So, one day she decided to turn her back to it all. She gave away most of the earnings from her career until then to peace efforts and landed in New York, a stranger among strangers. Determined not to be recognised, she avoided all contact with the Croatian diaspora in the States and refused to use her contacts in the American entertainment industry to get a job. Hardly speaking the language at all, she auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and got a scholarship having to do menial jobs to pay for her living and studies. She voluntarily went from being adored by hundreds of thousands of fans to cleaning dance studio floors but she felt happy and liberated.

Tatiana, a devout Christian today, states she found her answers and her inner peace in faith. Currently, together with husband, pianist, Matthew Cameron and her three boys, she tours the United States singing in churches ballads about love, faith and family. She has been receiving hundreds of requests from chrurches in the US as well as the Philippines, Latin America, Africa and Europe.

You can read more about Tajči's story and current work at her official site here.