Valery Leontiev | |
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Валерий Леонтьев | |
Born | |
Alma mater | Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1972–present |
Title | People's Artist of Russia (1996) |
Awards |
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Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) |
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Website | leontiev |
Signature | |
Valery Yakovlevich Leontiev[a] (Russian: Валерий Яковлевич Леонтьев; born 19 March 1949) is a Soviet and Russian pop singer, sometimes songwriter and actor whose popularity peaked in the early 1980s. He was titled a People's Artist of Russia in 1996.[1] He is known as one of the most prominent artists of Soviet and Russian music.[2] Over the course of his decades-long career, he has recorded more than 30 albums, many of which sold millions of copies. The media refers to Leontiev as a megastar and a legend of the Russian stage.[3][4][5]
Valery Yakovlevich Leontiev was born on 19 March 1949, in Ust-Usa, a village in what is now Russia's Komi Republic. In 1961 the family moved to the city Yuryevets in Ivanovo Oblast.
Leontiev's first performance on the big stage took place in 1971, during the Vorkuta regional competition "Song-71". There, Leontiev took second place with the song "Carnaval".
In 1980 Leontiev sang in various concerts, including the Moscow Variety Theatre, Oktyabrsky and Luzhniki. In 1981, the artist won the popularity prize at the prestigious music festival Yerevan-81. American journalists who attended the event noted the expressive manner of performing of the singer and compared him to Mick Jagger.[6] In 1982, Leontiev underwent a serious operation to remove a tumor from his throat, which jeopardized his further singing career.
In 1983, the singer moves to work in the Voroshilovgrad Philharmonic (now Luhansk Philharmonic) in the Ukrainian SSR. A year later, he was given a whole section in the author's evening "Holy love of music" by composer Raimond Pauls in Moscow.[7]
In 1985, Leontiev received the Lenin Komsomol Prize. And after that he went to Afghanistan together with a group of artists. 1986 was marked by a trip to Chernobyl, where the singer performed. And in 1987 Leontiev already became Merited Artist of Ukrainian SSR.
The beginning of the 90s was marked for Leontiev splash touring. His concerts were held in Germany, Israel, USA, Canada, India and other countries. In 1991 Leontiev was named the "Best Selling Soviet Artist" at the World Music Awards ceremony in Monte Carlo.[8] In 1994 he performed on stage with Gina Lollobrigida[9] in Saint-Petersburg concert hall "Oktyabrskiy", and in 1996 he was awarded the title People's Artist of Russia. in March 1998 а nominal star of Valery Leontiev was opened on the Star Square in Moscow.[10] in 1999 Leontiev was awarded the "Living Legend Award" at the Russian national music award "Ovation".[11]
External images | |
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Image Valery Leontiev receives the Order of Merit for the Fatherland 4th class from Vladimir Putin, 2005 | |
Image President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko present Through Art - to Peace and Understanding award to Valery Leontiev in Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, 2009 [33] |
See Valery Leontiev discography
Year (P) | Number | Original title | Title in English | Format | Label, country |
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1983 | С60—19873-4 | Муза | Muse | LP | Melodiya, USSR |
1984 | С60—21271-2 | Диалог | Dialogue | LP | |
1984 | С60—21545-6 | Премьера | Premiere | LP | |
1986 | С60—23753-4 | Дискоклуб 16(Б) | Disco club 16 B | LP | |
1986 | С60—24623-4 | Бархатный сезон | Velvet season | LP | |
1988 | С60—26737-8 | Я – просто певец | I am – just a singer | LP | |
1990 | С60 30317 006 | Дело вкуса | A matter of taste | LP, CD | |
1990 | С60—30317-8 | Грешный путь | Wicked Way | LP, CD | |
1993 | SNCD – 3013 | Ночь | Night | LP, CD | SNC records, Russia |
1993 | R90 02179-80 | Полнолуние | Full Moon | LP, CD | Аprelevka Sound Inc, Russia |
1994 | R90 01913 | У ворот Господних | At the gate of the Lord | LP | Aprelevka Sound, Russia |
1995 | AXMC 3-0038 | По дороге в Голливуд | On the road to Hollywood | CD | APEX Records, Russia |
1998 | AXCD5-0054 | Санта-Барбара | Santa Barbara | CD | DANA Music, Russia |
1999 | АРС027-99 | Канатный плясун | Rope-Dancer | CD | АРС Records, Russia |
1999 | VL042/99-2 | Каждый хочет любить | Everyone wants to love | CD | VL-Studio, Russia |
2001 | VL043/01-2 | Августин | Augustine | CD | |
2003 | VL 045-02 | Кленовый лист | Maple Leaf | CD | |
2004 | GR CD – 387 | Ночной звонок | Night Call | CD | Grand Records, Russia |
2005 | GR CD – 433 | Падаю в небеса | I fall into the heavens | CD | |
2009 | МТ 1000294-230-1 | Годы странствий | The years of wandering | CD | Monolit Records, Russia |
2011 | МТ 000410-738-1 | Художник | Painter | CD | |
2014 | МТ 001091-383-1 | Любовь-капкан | Love-Trap | CD | |
2017 | Это любовь | This is Love | CD | Gamma Music, Russia | |
2019 | Я вернусь | I'll Be Back | CD |
All songs composed with Yuri Varum.
Valery Leontiev is married to bass guitarist Lyudmila Isakovich.[46][47] The couple have been together since 1972. However, officially their marriage was registered only in 1998. The artist's wife lives in Miami.
The Soviet Union never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, as no Soviet broadcasters were members of the EBU. In 2009 Eduard Fomin, a former employee of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, revealed that in 1987 George Veselov, the Minister of Education for the Soviet Union, brought forward the idea of Soviet participation in the EBU and the Eurovision Song Contest due to the number of political reforms made by the Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. The idea was mainly a political one, with the thought that a win in the contest for the Soviet Union would impact on the relationships between the Soviet Union and the capitalist countries of the west. Valery Leontiev was suggested as a singer for the Soviet Union's first entry into the contest, but Veselov's ideas were not shared by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or by Gorbachev himself, believing it to be too radical a step to take, and so the Soviet Union never entered the contest before dissolving.[48]