It’s hard to believe, but today, August 26, Zemfira Ramazanova will turn 40 years old. The presentation of her first album took place in 1999. During this time, she turned into a musical legend, and her life was surrounded by all sorts of speculation. StarHit selected five myths and tested them.
Myth 1. The Uchpochmack group fell apart, and the singer’s nephews went abroad (True)
After the death of her parents and brothers, Zemfira has no one closer to her nephews, 26-year-old Arthur and Artem Ramazanov. Three years ago she sang with them in The group Uchpochmack. “Their album First and Last was the only one,” Dmitry Emelyanov, the band’s guitarist, told StarHit. – We performed together, but the group did not last long. IN last time I saw the guys in 2014.”
After touring with their aunt for a year, the nephews returned to their native Ufa. “Artem and Arthur are still making music, writing songs in their studio, but few people are allowed to listen to them,” Evgenia Ostapenko, the Ramazanovs’ cousin, shared with StarHit. – They sing for friends or for relatives at home gatherings. They are not thinking about getting married yet, although there are many fans. And the guys have other thoughts now. At the end of August they fly to London to study at the faculty pop vocals. Several years ago they were already in England, just learning how to direct. Zemfira helped them then.”
In the meantime, the guys are in Ufa, Artem is helping his mother Natalya Vladimirovna. She is a businesswoman and is the founder of Forward CJSC, which supplies products to a chain of supermarkets.
MYTH 2. ZEMFIRA’S FIRST LOVE IS A MUSICIAN FROM UFA (FICTION)
They have written more than once that the star’s first love was Vladislav Kolchin; they performed in the Ufa restaurant “Jespar” in the mid-90s. IN autobiographical book“Music as a chance to defeat multiple sclerosis” - its presentation will take place on September 14 - Vlad spoke about the fight against the disease and dedicated an entire chapter to the singer. In it, he revealed the truth about their relationship - the future star was just a cover for Kolchin. A long-time friend writes the following: “...The owner of the establishment showed interest in me... Just in case, Zemfira, fearing for my safety, played the role of my girlfriend as best she could.”
MYTH 3. RAISED HAND ON A MAN (TRUE)
// Photo: From the personal archive of Leonid Burlakov
“Zemfira found herself at the center of a scandal...” - such headlines can often be found in the press. Even friends know that it is better for the singer not to fall under the hot hand.
“He can slap anyone in the face,” recalls musician Vlad Kolchin. – Bandits often gathered at the Jespar restaurant. One day they got tipsy and started ordering songs. Zemfira flatly refused to perform one. Then one skinhead came up, bent over her and began to whisper something. Zemfira, as usual at such moments, fell silent and listened carefully. When the speech ended, she coolly slapped him in the face and rushed to the back room. A showdown began in the hall, noise, screams. The restaurant security guards protected us, and in order to hush up the conflict, I had to call bandits I knew.”
Why the singer behaves this way, her first producer Leonid Burlakov explained: “Insolence and rudeness are a common defense against people. In fact, Zemfira is sincere and attentive person. A year and a half ago she called me to find out how things were going. She said that she was in Ufa with her mother. She handed the phone to Florida Khakievna. She thanked me for helping my daughter with musical career. And I said thank you for Zemfira. She also adores children and turns into a child around them. One day my daughter Masha and I stopped by to visit her. She not only greeted us cordially, but also fried us some very tasty cheesecakes.”
MYTH 4. THE SINGER HAS A SERIOUS ILLNESS (FICTION)
“To work like Zemfira, you need a lot of strength,” shares producer Leonid Burlakov. – No amount of doping will help, but will only hinder. Zemfira understands this. She has been performing concerts for almost 20 years.”
But the star does have health problems.
“She has a chronic disease, she constantly complained of pain in her left ear,” recalls journalist and producer Alexander Kushnir. “I remember that when she first moved to Moscow, she had no money or registration. I helped her with doctors. Among my friends there were highly qualified specialists.”
Several years ago, an old disease - chronic otitis media - worsened, and the singer even ended up in the hospital.
MYTH 5. LIVING IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT (TRUE)
“If you ever find yourself visiting her, you will see that the singer uses only three objects,” says Leonid Burlakov. - This is a sofa - she sits on it, a table - for work, a piano - for writing music. Zemfira is not a fan of things, and by and large she doesn’t care what she’s wearing. Yes, and there’s a problem with taste. Outwardly, she was transformed under Nastya Kalmanovich and Renata Litvinova, who had a hand in her style. She is more concerned about other things. I remember with what enthusiasm Zemfira was looking for a bass amplifier. I ordered it from London, and when I received it, I was as happy as a child.”
By the way, on the cover of the singer’s first album “Zemfira” there is also nothing superfluous - only floral wallpaper from her first rented apartment. “She lived in Peredelkino then,” recalls journalist and producer Alexander Kushnir. “That’s where they took this photo.” And when it became clear that the album had exploded, they made a witty gift for the initiates - they released a limited edition of CDs, only 999 pieces. A beautiful brown chair was painted on the cover - as a sign that before there was only wallpaper, but now there was money for furniture. Now this record costs incredible money, and I have it.”
// Photo: Personal archive Leonid Burlakov
Zemfira's ten-month tour of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic countries and Europe turned out to be exciting and full of unpredictable events. During the tour, she partially changed the line-up and shuffled the set list, which had rarely happened to her before. And she added two compositions that she had not intended to sing back in February: “Love is like accidental death" and "It's Crying (Kisses)."
She also fell in love with performing in dark dresses, which suited her very well, and continued to ignore press conferences, although she more often communicated with the audience from the stage. In Rostov-on-Don, in her usual uncompromising manner, she was offended by phrases from the audience and, covering her face with her hands, ran away from the stage. Then she returned and in the song “Arividerchi”, changing the words, she sang: “I will never return to Rostov!” Then she really apologized. In addition, during the tour, Zemfira convinced the famous sound producer from Kyiv Pavlo Shevchuk to ensure her communication with the press (and he ingeniously did not respond to requests and suggestions). And almost for the first time she spoke out about something other than music, speaking out against the demolition of the buildings of the former Red October factory, which have now become the main new cultural platform in Moscow. By the way, Zemfira’s studio is also located there (it is planned to build a residential quarter on the site of the factory)... And for Moscow concerts she invited her from Germany large group specialists to organize a live broadcast of the final program on the Internet. Also for the first time.
Spectators were also greeted with gifts upon entering the concert. Depending on the seats indicated on the tickets, some were given colored heart lanterns, while others were given white or red sheets of paper. And also instructions on how to handle them: Zemfira always loved and knew how to organize flash mobs at concerts. And the singer’s fan club (some of the most devoted ones got tickets for free), together with the directors of the show, gladly contributed to the creation of an emotional and spectacular show. I was especially impressed when the stands laid out the letter Z, an infinity sign and a huge heart from white and red sheets of paper.
Despite the warning not to bring photos and video equipment (printed even on the tickets!), many filmed the concert on Cell phones. Security did not interfere (and how could this be done in a crowded hall?!). Moreover, the instructions for the flash mob indicated in which songs to turn on the flashlights on mobile phones. As a rule - in slow ballads. Therefore, those who were worried that they would have to hand over even their phones to the storage room (doesn’t Zemfira like the paparazzi?!) were afraid in vain.
The stage was impressive with three screens. The larger one is in the center: video art was broadcast on it, and Renata Litvinova was in charge of everything, emotionally giving instructions to the operator. Some shots seemed controversial: for example, to the song “The Seagull,” there was a video of this bird pecking out its eyes dead man. Although this track is not about that at all, and its mood is completely different. But it seemed more profitable to the director to give a shocking shot... It is unlikely that sensitive viewers will love seagulls after it as before.
Two screens at the edges broadcast what was happening on stage into the hall: approximately seven thousand spectators came to both concerts and, of course, it was difficult to see what was happening on stage from distant sectors, without screens. Although the sound was excellent almost at any point, which does not often happen at performances held in stadiums (and the Luzhniki sports complex was built for playing hockey).
For the sake of these concerts, a continuation of it was built in front of the stage, which professionals call “tongue.” Zemfira began with an emotional song on the verge of a nervous breakdown, “No Chance,” and continued with another track from the album “Live in Your Head” - “Money,” which she sang briskly, smartly and sarcastically, gradually switching to an almost tongue twister and, it seems, driving yourself in a trance. And some of her hits now sound a little different. The song "Macho" really benefited from additional guitar passages and a nervous-atmospheric solo in the spirit of U2 and Killers. And in general, guitarist Dmitry Emelyanov, who went through the entire tour with Zemfira, was very organic for her music. In the hit “Walk” (which is invariably included in the tour program and is a rare thing for the singer: “almost danceable”), the emphasis was previously placed on electronic beats. Now everything was played on guitars, following the orchestration traditions of the Kino group (which Zemfira loves very much). But the weathervane player Konstantin Kulikov is in its lineup for the first time: on the album “Live in Your Head” there are enough mid-tempo songs-reflections and the flagerhorn dramatically adds light, air, significance and depth to them...
Towards the middle of the concert, Zemfira increasingly ran out to the “tongue” and clapped the outstretched palms of the audience. And then she completely jumped into the hall, towards the fans, riding several meters in their arms.
As a result, the show reached such an emotional intensity that the singer gave three encores, and after the third she thanked the audience, said goodbye and promised to “go to the dressing room and die.” But no one left and the screen lit up again - this time with the logo of the new project Uchpochmack, all the participants of which, except David Brown, had previously preferred to hide their names.
What, no one doubted? - The singer responded to the enthusiastic reaction of the audience. And she sang two songs already recorded with this mysterious line-up: Someday and Lightbulbs... Leaving the audience to guess: when and with which musicians Zemfira will return to the stage in the next tour...
Everything that happened in my life for the last six months was for the sake of this concert. A 16-year-old concept - who can boast about that? Hard times, difficult circumstances. But I came up with this tour, and it randomly turned out to be a happy one. Everything that happened during these six months was so cool! And now I don’t understand what is more important? I stand on this stage on April 1 for the third time. On April Fool's Day. I'm afraid to even think about the fourth one. “I’m happy,” Zemfira said then.
On the occasion of the upcoming television premiere, HELLO.RU is publishing an original material by Kommersant Publishing House correspondent Boris Barabanov, made at the request of HELLO! and published in the magazine for Zemfira’s birthday, which she celebrated on August 26.
Moscow, 2007, autumn. The wedding procession stops on Frunzenskaya Embankment near the entrance to Andreevsky Bridge. The newlyweds and their friends go to take pictures on the bridge. The drivers are having a smoke break. Against the backdrop of a noisy company, it’s easy to miss the figure of a girl in black. She often walks here alone, this is her area. Stopping at the wedding limousine, decorated with bouquets and garlands, she takes a closer look at the flowers and suddenly says: “Are they kidding me?”
Artificial flowers. The girl's name is Zemfira Ramazanova. In her ideal world, real feelings should correspond to real flowers. And if they are made of paper, then the feelings are fake. Which means real world once again did not live up to her expectations.
If I were writing the script for a future Zemfira biopic, I would definitely start it with this scene. Even if this didn't actually happen. But that's exactly how it happened.
In 2007, Zemfira released the album “Thank You”, for the first time - on her own, without help record companies, that is, I came up with a risky adventure for myself. There was a lot of things, but this particular episode that I spied was an unexpected intrusion into the everyday life of poetry, which previously I could only judge by the lines of its songs. Natural instant reaction. Another evidence of the imperfection of the universe. Zemfira is convinced of this imperfection every day. And every day he tries to fix at least something, realizing in advance that he will never be able to do it completely.
I remembered the scene with artificial flowers many years later, when Vladimir Pozner asked her in a television interview: “If you met God, what would you tell him?” “That he is not fair,” answered Zem-fi-ra. It is strange that she later called this interview a failure. This answer alone puts her on a par with the biggest characters sitting in the chair opposite the host. However, Zemfira always places the highest demands on herself. And when presenting them to herself, she seems to still be sincerely perplexed why so often people around her do not show the same passion in their work, do not polish their work to brilliance.
I once watched an amazing conversation between Zemfira and the organizer of a private party in honor of the birthday of a major cultural figure. Zemfira's performance was the main gift. She spent the whole day adjusting the sound in a room poorly suited for concerts, took a short time out, and then showed up at the venue exactly in accordance with the event schedule. And I was very surprised when the schedule began to shift: first by half an hour, then by an hour, then again... Finally, Zemfira got up and headed to her car. For her, the holiday was over. The organizer of the evening began to beg her to stay, explaining the delay by the fact that dinner was delayed: “In my world, Zemfira cannot perform in front of chewing people.” In response, the singer laughed: “What do you know about my world?”
In this situation, it was worth remembering that even during her youth in Ufa, she sang for several years to the sound of forks and knives, and learned not to be shy about this page of her biography. “I played in restaurants,” Zemfira said in one of her interviews. “And here bandits are walking around, with whips, can you imagine? It’s terrible. The whips are whistling around the hall, touching my keys, I’m sitting - neither alive nor dead. And five days later they’re bankrupt.” "lawyers, some good lawyers city of Ufa... and the spectacle is much uglier." Singing for chewing people is no more criminal for her than deviation from the work schedule without apology or explanation. This is the same defect in the work of an organizer as a false note is in the work of a musician.
By the way, having explained herself to the manager, Zemfira returned and gave a full-fledged “gift” concert with several encores. Most of the guests had no time to eat. Zemfira reigned on stage and in the hall.
Zemfira is so confident in her fans filling the dance floor that she is ready to literally throw herself into their arms. But only if the mood is right, of course.
Perfectionism is a trait that is usually one of the first to be mentioned when talking about Zemfira Ramazanova. The other is the desire for complete independence. The first thing that a person who searches Wikipedia for the word “Zemfira” discovers is that translated from Arabic it means “rebellious.”
In the lexicon of show personalities there is a rather slippery term “doing an artist”. For many years now the question has been, “Who is working on Zemfira now?” sounds weird. Only Zemfira can deal with Zemfira. Only Zemfira can be Zemfira's producer. She herself hires musicians and managers, she decides who at this stage her story will be a business partner on a tour, and who will be involved in the distribution of songs.
Usually in such cases they say: “The only one on whom she depends is her public.” But even with the public - more precisely, with the legion of the most devoted fans - Zemfira develops a relationship that cannot be called addiction. This is a partnership with the maximum degree of mutual respect. Fans, for example, humbly wait for the new album as long as necessary, knowing that if the pause is prolonged, it is not because there are no new songs and the idol is in crisis, but because the songs are waiting in the wings, passing the only strict censorship - censorship the author himself.
The “fan base” knows how much Zemfira appreciates her devotion. The author of these lines witnessed how, while preparing a closed performance at Strelka, the singer personally made sure that one hundred of her most devoted fans got to the concert, regardless of any “closedness” of the event. At the same time, she allows herself to enter into controversy with the audience right during the concert if she considers their behavior unacceptable. Simply put, if they demand “Daisies” from the audience, she can besiege the screamer in the harshest form, as was the case on the sad famous concert in Rostov, about which there was even a trial.
The indifference of the audience may also make her nervous. In the early 2010s, when the sound of her then group acquired the dryish features of synth-pop, unusual for a conservative public, she could throw into the audience: “Why are they so lethargic?” - and make a few more comments addressed to the expensive parter in the spirit of the Beatles “The gallery can clap, the rest can shake their diamonds.” Zemfira’s vocabulary includes an excellent expression: “scratching the public’s heels.” This is exactly what she does not intend to do in any situation. Even in the pretentious Crocus City Hall, even at the party in honor of Troika Dialog’s IPO, at which Zemfira had a chance to play after Prince himself. The very arrangement of artists in the program indicated that Prince was for an advanced top-manager, and Zemfira was for “the people.” But even in this situation, another shout from the crowd ruined her mood.
It’s worth quoting again here. “I would like to be more restrained, really!” Zemfira said in an interview with the author of these lines. “But sometimes I follow my own reactions. After some time, they seem funny and exaggerated to me. I don’t think that the viewer owes me anything , like me to him. Initially, I am grateful to the person for taking the time and coming to the concert, that he listens to me. But a concert is a very moving substance, something very alive, sometimes I feel it very strongly. that you can touch them. And if it’s happiness, that’s one thing, but if it’s aggression, that’s another.”
Building your own fortress is a special emotional practice. It’s good to have someone to learn from along the way. In that part of Zemfira’s universe that is visible to us, teachers are, first of all, musicians. And if you look for the roots of her isolation, a kind of creative asceticism, then the first name that comes to mind is Viktor Tsoi.
Zemfira has repeatedly turned to Tsoi's songs - just remember the first and best cover of "Cuckoo", which was released as part of the "FILM Test" project. It is known that her approach to the legacy of the Kino leader was unconditionally approved by the musician’s wife Maryana Tsoi, who oversaw the recording of the record. But she didn’t give the green light to everyone. Later, Zemfira turned to the Kino catalog regularly: she included the group’s songs in concert set lists, recorded “Legend” for Fyodor Bondarchuk’s film “Stalingrad” and even hinted at the possibility of an entire tribute album.
Film director Sergei Solovyov talked about one of his meetings with Zemfira, during which, among other things, they talked about possible joint work on a musical - however, this idea was never brought to life. Zemfira was getting ready to run errands and, literally at the door, suddenly stopped and said: “I just wanted to ask you one more question. Tell me, what was Tsoi like?” Suddenly all matters faded into the background, she took off her shoes, sat down at the table again and listened for a long time. According to Solovyov, it was extremely important for her to know everything about Tsoi, a closed Eastern man.
Tsoi was not only a musical authority for her. It is logical to assume that she is impressed by his very image, his style of relationship with outside world, starting with the black color in clothes and ending with extreme closeness. It seems that the longer she lives, the better she understands him. Probably because she simply has no one among her contemporaries to compare notes with, just like Tsoi in his last years, when he became the number one rock star in the country.
It's about these recent years Tsoi, by and large, is known to us the least. Natalya Razlogova, with whom he spent these years, does not give interviews on principle. Even people who knew the musician quite closely are often at a loss about his relationship with Kino producer Yuri Aizenshpis - they were completely different people. Having achieved absolute recognition of the mass audience, Tsoi seemed to have erased himself from any context except the musical one. Or, in the language of another of Zemfira’s favorites, Thom Yorke from Radiohead, “completely disappeared,” leaving people with only the hero of his songs.
Thom Yorke, especially revered by Zemfira - good example how a musician can achieve absolute creative freedom and at the same time remain a globally sought-after touring performer whose music is sought after like manna from heaven. Zemfira not only closely follows his meandering creative thoughts, which is clearly audible in her latest album “Live in your head.” It seems that York and Zemfira would easily agree on issues of the music industry as a whole. Zemfira’s first “independent” album, “Spasibo,” was released on October 1, 2007, and In Rainbows, Radiohead’s disc that revolutionized the recording market, appeared on the Internet only six days later. Or a more recent example. Ahead of the release of their album A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead have removed all possible signs of their existence from the Internet. In a world where you are not, if you are not on the Internet, it was The best way draw attention to a new stage of your career. Zemfira recently closed her Instagram account dedicated to her tour." Small man". She felt that the popular social network made her persona too media. At the same time, the second, international part of the tour, including concerts in legendary British and American halls, is on the agenda.
As in the case of Thom Yorke, the only completely acceptable channel for Zemfira’s relationship with the public is her music. But to enclose this communication only within her framework is a difficult task for Zemfira, the same as for York - to get rid of the trail of popularity of hated “radio hits” like Creep and focus the public’s attention on today’s material.
The main irritant for Zemfira is the tabloid press, for which the singer remains one of the most beloved characters. Sometimes it seems that the war with tabloids and “yellow” sites is her obsession. But you just have to imagine yourself in a situation where you can’t go out, say, to a morning race without getting caught by the paparazzi, or when any your word interpreted as a hundred different ways and you can’t do anything about it, not to mention the situations that the “moving substance of the concert” gives rise to, when the desire to be in its place disappears completely.
The English accompanists assembled for the “Little Man” tour are an ideal backing force at Zemfira’s concerts
"Little Man" - words from the song Lightbulbs ("Light Bulbs") by Zemfira's side project The Uchpochmack. The full chorus of this song goes like this: “And I live like I’m delirious. I’m just trying to be. I’m a small person, I need to float somewhere. I need some kind of light to at least see dreams.” Taking in his craft the most high bar, she struggles to maintain herself as a private person while being super popular, eliminate side effects glory.
The Little Man tour, which shook the country, came on the heels of a desperately bitter 2015. At the current stage of her biography, Zemfira has finally realized the idea to which life has been pushing her for a long time. It was strange, having duets with Patti Smith and by Queen, don’t try to work with Western pros over the long haul in the end. The concerts on the tour are performed entirely by a foreign team of musicians. In her endless quest for performing perfection, Zemfira seemed to go through all the worthy Russian accompanists and, before being disappointed in each, gave many of them brilliant career or, at the very least, a catchy line on your service record. Now the British are behind her. At concerts at the Moscow Olympic sports complex, she even introduced their families, who came to Russia for the occasion, but this fact, of course, remained out of sight of the sites that relished her squabbles with the audience.
Two concerts in Moscow attracted 60 thousand spectators - this is an unprecedented result, and in the coming years Zemfira will most likely have to compete only with herself. Next in line are stadiums, fortunately, on the eve of the World Cup, we will have a lot of them built, choose any one. True, before that we all have to go through another lull. Everything is going to the point that, after finishing the tour, she will still return to the studio, where unfinished songs from the new album have been waiting for her for a long time. And another question is whether Zemfira will perform so actively in the future.
During a concert in Nizhny Novgorod Zemfira announced that she would no longer tour, causing a predictable flurry of excited comments. The question "Is Zemfira leaving the stage?" is as paradoxical as the question “Who is involved with Zemfira?” Firstly, the cessation of touring, even if it takes place, does not at all exclude single big shows. If people can travel across the country to big festivals, why don't they go to Zemfira's stadium show somewhere in St. Petersburg, for example? Secondly, it doesn’t seem like anything in this life could seriously distract Zemfira from creating and performing music. Well, maybe the big ones sports like the Olympics or tennis matches. But in extreme cases, you can watch them in the recording after the concert.
2016, August. A slender girl leaves the house on the embankment and starts jogging. In her headphones are sketches for new songs. She knows for sure that autumn, which will soon come into its own, is not only the end of the tour, but also the beginning of something new and big. She knows and smiles to herself.
Text: Boris Barabanov, especially for HELLO!
It is unlikely that there is a person in our country who does not know at least one of its songs by heart (knowing the words, however, does not help to understand their meaning, but we are not talking about that). And while your hand reaches out to play “Arividerchi” on repeat, read these 17 facts.
Fact No. 1
Zemfira first appeared on television at the age of five. On a local Ufa channel she sang a song about a lazy worm. Unfortunately, the recording has not been preserved.
Fact No. 2
Zemfira was seriously involved in basketball and was even the captain of the Russian junior team. (Try to find her in the photo!)
Fact No. 3
During the preparation of the first album, producer Leonid Burlakov wanted to exclude the song “Forecaster”, and Zemfira herself was against the inclusion of “Arivederchi”. But as a result, both tracks ended up on the disc and became her main hits.
Fact No. 4
The song “Why” was composed of two others: the verses were taken from the first, and the chorus from the second.
Fact No. 5
The phrase “Hello, daisies!” Zemfira greeted her colleagues when she worked in the Ufa branch of the Europe+ radio station. Now the singer has stopped performing this song. “Everything is clear here: I have not been able to subscribe to this text for a long time. Once we made an arrangement that was quite successful - it worked for some time. But still, in those three minutes when I performed it, I hated myself. And, of course, I was waiting for the moment to stop singing it. Well, what kind of girl am I?! What player?!”
Fact No. 6
During a performance in one of the clubs, a visitor asked Zemfira to sing “Murka”. When the singer refused, he fired and hit her in the ear.
Fact No. 7
Zemfira performed the “Little Man” tour with a British team of musicians. The singer herself said: “They stupidly work harder. And they still don’t care about my status.”
Fact No. 8
In 2000, Zemfira won four nominations from OM magazine (yes, the same one “in the OM bedside table”): “Performer of the Year”, “Album of the Year”, “Breakthrough of the Year”, “Bandalasist of the Year” - and gets on the cover . And thanks to Zemfira, the magazine itself receives the “Cover of the Year” prize in the “Men’s Magazines” category.
Fact No. 9
In 2004, Zemfira entered the paid department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University and even began to study. But, having passed several tests, she took an academic leave, abandoned her studies, and was expelled in 2006.
Fact No. 10
The singer’s rider always included the “champagne and whiskey” item. But a few years ago Zemfira crossed him out.
Fact No. 11
In 2004, at the MTV Russia Music Awards, Zemfira performed We Are the Champions with the musicians of the group Queen.
Fact No. 12
Zemfira is mentioned in the textbook " Recent history"for 9th grade (paragraph "Spiritual life of Russia"). It is written about the singer that she is the founder of a new musical youth culture.
Fact No. 13
In 2007, after a closed concert in Norilsk, Zemfira was supposed to return to Moscow on the organizers’ private plane together with the group “Zveri”, with which the singer has a strained relationship. But instead, Zemfira bought tickets and flew home in economy class.
Fact No. 14
In 2009, Russian publications published photographs of Zemfira and Renata Litvinova’s vacation in Tallinn and Stockholm. Some even claimed that the stars got engaged. In response to this, Zemfira posted on her website, which, by the way, was under reconstruction at that time, the inscription: “The yellow press is feces.”
Fact No. 15
At the anniversary of Vyacheslav Butusov in St. Petersburg in 2011, Zemfira performed two Nautilus songs: “View from the Screen” and “Casanova.”
Fact No. 16
In 2013, at a concert in Rostov, the audience persistently asked the singer to perform “Daisies.” Zemfira besieged the screamers several times, and at the end she came out for an encore and sang in the song “Arivederchi”: “I will never return to Rostov.”
Fact No. 17
Zemfira is a big sports fan and even dreamed of singing at the Olympics in Sochi. But the singer was not invited, but her song “Do You Want” was performed at the opening ceremony. Zemfira was indignant that she did not give permission for use, and wanted to sue the organizer Konstantin Ernst. He threatened her with a counterclaim because several years earlier she had violated an agreement with the Real Records label, which Ernst was heading at that time. As a result, Zemfira said that she did not intend to sort things out in court.
The other day, Zemfira, who is now traveling around the country on the “Little Man” tour, posted a photo online where she tenderly kisses a youthful lady, providing it with a laconic caption - “my first teacher.” The photo, which so touched the singer’s fans, was taken in Kaliningrad, where Maria Viktorovna Bulatova, that’s the lady’s name, now lives.
As it turned out, the “first teacher” once taught in one of the Ufa lyceums from fifth to ninth grade, taught the future star Russian language and literature, and was also her class teacher. Young Zemfira Ramazanova, they say, went to Bulatova’s lessons with great pleasure, who once admitted to Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents that her student was, as they say, a temperament - daring, independent, but smart. And only a complex character prevented future star to receive a gold medal - other teachers were not always eager to find an approach to the talented, but very stubborn girl.
It is obvious that Maria Viktorovna really wonderful person and a good teacher if after so many years the singer remembers her. Whenever he’s in Kaliningrad, he calls and always finds time to meet. And a few years ago I even gave my favorite teacher a bicycle as a gift - well, it’s just not a student, but a dream!
DOESN'T RESPOND TO CALLS AND EMAILS FROM UFA
But for some reason Zemfira chose to erase the names of the musicians of the first, Ufa composition of her group from her memory. But it was with them that she quickly burst into musical Olympus, recorded her first songs and traveled around the country, giving 28 concerts a month! This continued until 2001, when Zemfira completely changed the composition of the group.
Ufa musicians - bass guitarist Rinat Akhmadiev, drummer Sergei Sozinov, keyboardist Sergei Mirolyubov and guitarist Vadim Solovyov always stood behind Zemfira, as they say, like a mountain - she didn’t even need security! But the other day I met Sergei Sozinov, who now plays in Igor Sarukhanov’s team, and he admits that he has not seen his girlfriend from his youth for almost fifteen years! Although both still live in the same city - Sozinov moved to Moscow a long time ago.
The situation is the same with other fellow countrymen - the star does not deign them with attention, they even have to buy tickets for the singer’s concerts. On the eve of Zemfira's last visit to hometown Sergei Mirolyubov tried to meet with Ramazanova, but to no avail - the star, as usual, ignored calls and letters. By the way, it is worth noting that for all time former colleagues They didn’t say a single bad word about the singer in the press. The reason for such a disdainful attitude towards them can only be guessed at.
Of course, in Russia it is difficult to find rock bands capable, like Scorpions or Rolling Stones, to stay together for half a century. The same Yuri Shevchuk repeatedly changed the composition of DDT, but he never forgets the friends of his youth - there has never been a case where any of the former DDT members bought tickets to the group’s concert. And Yura the musician’s dressing room is always crowded - they sit for hours, smoke, remember the past. Zemfirin’s former colleagues probably also have something to remember. But the rock diva is unlikely to let them in.
