Alexander Gradsky is a versatile person. He is talented not only in music, but also in poetry.
Alexander Gradsky is, without exaggeration, the "father" of rock in Russia.
But among other things, this is a People's Artist of the Russian Federation, as well as the owner of a number of prestigious state awards that were awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of theatrical, musical and pop arts.
Modesty and unremarkable could set off another artist. But Alexander Gradsky, on the contrary, was calm.
Later, this will become the highlight of the artist. The fact that Gradsky's popularity has not faded over the years is confirmed by the fact that his name sounds on popular programs.
In particular, Ivan Urgant often recalls him in his show "Evening Urgant".
Childhood and youth of Alexander Gradsky
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky was born in 1949 in the small provincial town of Kopeysk.
Little Sasha is the only child in the family. Gradsky met the first years of his life beyond the Urals. In 1957, the family moved to the very heart of Russia - Moscow.
Gradsky says that Moscow made a very vivid impression on him. A beautiful square, rich shop windows, and eventually playgrounds.
The capital for little Sasha became the embodiment of his fantasies and desires. At the age of nine, he became a student of one of the music schools in Moscow.
Alexander says that studying at a music school did not give him great pleasure. Gradsky blames not his laziness, but the teacher, who made him almost memorize the notes.
Gradsky, mediocre studied in a comprehensive school. But, there were items that frankly liked Alexander. He was a humanitarian.
Already in adolescence, he began to write the first poems, which he even told his teacher in Russian literature.
In adolescence, Alexander begins to be actively interested in music. In particular, he is fond of foreign bands.
Already at the age of 15, he first heard the musical compositions of the Beatles, and fell in love with the work of the guys.
At the age of 16, the young man had already decided for sure that he wanted to connect his life with music and creativity. In the same period of time, Alexander "borrowed" his mother's maiden name, and became the soloist of the Polish musical group Tarakany.
Alexander Gradsky: the first song of the artist
The first track of the musician "The Best City of the Earth" at that time was performed at prestigious concerts of a regional scale.
In 1969, young Alexander became a student of the Russian Academy of Music. Gnesins.
In 1974, Gradsky received a diploma from a higher educational institution. During the training period, he already had experience of performing on the big stage.
Later, the young man attended the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with the Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov.
Creative career of Alexander Gradsky
After graduating from the Russian Academy of Music, the creative career of Alexander Gradsky began to gain momentum.
The young man became the first who, without fear, began to experiment in rock with Russian-language texts. While still a student, he became the founder of the Skomorokh musical group.
With his musical group, Alexander Gradsky toured the country. Despite the fact that Gradsky was a little-known singer, the halls were "crammed" with spectators.
The musician daily gave several solo concerts lasting 2 hours. The performances allowed Gradsky to acquire a whole army of grateful fans.
In the early 70s, the Skomorokha musical group became a participant in the prestigious Silver Strings music festival, where it made a splash in 20 minutes of performance and received 6 out of 8 prizes. Alexander Gradsky literally fell in popularity.
The most popular songs of Alexander Gradsky
In the same period of time, Alexander Gradsky releases, perhaps, the most recognizable musical compositions. We are talking about the songs "How beautiful this world is" and "How young we were."
Until 1990, the singer did not perform these musical compositions at his concerts.
The solo tracks of Alexander Gradsky are not the only thing that the Russian performer has become famous for. The singer is simultaneously working on creating songs for films.
Soon the "Romance of the Lovers" is released, written and performed personally by Alexander Borisovich in the film of the same name by Andrei Konchalovsky.
Alexander says that during his popularity he earned an order of magnitude more money than other stage colleagues. Therefore, he says that he had practically no friendly relations with anyone. But, he always tried to remain neutral in the relationship.
During his creative career, Gradsky wrote more than 50 songs for various films, as well as for several dozen cartoons and documentaries.
In addition, Alexander managed to prove himself as an actor.
Alexander Gradsky: rock opera "Stadium"
The rock opera "Stadium" (1973-1985) brought great popularity and good experience for Gradsky. Interestingly, the presented rock opera was based on real events: the military coup in Chile in 1973.
Pinochet, who came to power, began repressions aimed at civilians, which led to thousands of victims. From the "hands" of Pinochet, the famous singer Victor Hara died, whose fate formed the basis of the rock opera.
In the rock opera "Stadium" Gradsky did not name names, scenes, heroes. But all the actions that developed in the rock opera indicated that we were talking about the tragic events in Chile.
Gradsky in his rock opera played the main role of the Singer. In addition to Gradsky himself, such famous personalities as Alla Pugacheva, Mikhail Boyarsky, Joseph Kobzon, Andrei Makarevich и Elena Kamburova.
At the peak of 1970, Gradsky released several albums for admirers of his work, and plunged headlong into the teaching path. Now, Alexander took a position in a higher educational institution, in which he himself received an education. Yes, we are talking about the Gnessin Institute.
From the middle of the 80s, Gradsky began to work on music for the first Russian rock ballet, The Man.
Foreign tours of the artist
In the early 90s, Alexander Borisovich's cherished dream came true. Now, he has the opportunity to perform abroad.
In a short period, Gradsky becomes a recognizable person in foreign countries.
In addition, he managed to become a member of joint projects with John Denver, Liza Minnelli, Diana Warwick, Kris Christophersson and other world famous artists.
But, at the same time, Alexander Borisovich does not forget to develop the Theater of Contemporary Music.
Alexander Gradsky has come a long way in the world of music, and this could not go unnoticed.
In the mid-90s, he received the title of Honored Artist of Russia, and in 2000 he became the People's Artist of Russia. The last award was presented to the artist by the President of the Russian Federation - Putin.
The artist is not subject to time. Gradsky continues to make music to this day. Under the guidance of a talented musician, more than 15 records were released.
Gradsky's last work was the opera The Master and Margarita. It should be noted that Alexander Borisovich worked on this opera for more than 13 years.
From 2012 to 2015, Alexander Gradsky was able to prove himself as a jury in the Voice project. Alexander Borisovich also acted as a mentor.
In addition to Gradsky himself, the judging team included Dima Bilan, Leonid Agutin and Pelageya.
Interestingly, Gradsky worked on the project with his beloved daughter. He invited Masha to help him make the right choice regarding the repertoire that he selected for his wards.
Personal life of Alexander Gradsky
Gradsky's personal life is no less eventful than his creative life. Despite the fact that the artist looks modest, he was married three times.
For the first time he got into the registry office when he studied at the institute. Natalia Smirnova became his chosen one. He lived with the girl for only three months. Gradsky says that the first marriage was "youth", and then he did not think about what a family is and why it is worth fighting for.
The second time Gradsky married in 1976. This time, the beautiful actress Anastasia Vertinskaya became the chosen one of the star. However, Alexander Borisovich could not build family happiness with her either.
With his third wife Olga, Gradsky "stayed" the longest. The family lived together for 23 years. Olga bore Alexander two children.
But, in 2003, this marriage ceased to exist.
Since 2004, Alexander Gradsky has been living in a civil marriage with Ukrainian model Marina Kotashenko. Interestingly, the girl is 30 years younger than her chosen one.
According to Alexander himself, the young people met on the street. Kotashenko did not recognize the star of Soviet and Russian rock. Gradsky left her a phone number, and she called him two weeks later.
The young wife gave the Russian star a son, whom they named Alexander. The birth of his wife took place in one of the best clinics in New York. Gradsky looks quite a happy man.
Alexander Gradsky: return to the "Voice"
In the fall of 2017, after a creative break, Alexander Borisovich returned to the Voice project. He was able to bring his ward to victory. Selim Alakhyarov became the winner of the first place in the 6th season of the TV contest.
Fans expected to see Gradsky in the new season of the Voice project.
However, Alexander Borisovich let down the expectations of his fans. He did not take the judge's seat. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he decided to devote more time to his family.
In 2018, his wife Marina gave birth to their second child.
Death of Alexander Gradsky
November 28, 2021 it became known about the death of the Russian singer, musician and composer. On November 26, the celebrity was urgently hospitalized in the clinic. He complained of feeling unwell. A cerebral infarction took away from the life of the idol of Soviet youth and mentor of novice singers. Note that in September he was ill with covid.
At the end of last month, the artist called an ambulance to his house several times. He suffered from low blood pressure but refused hospital treatment. Alexander used an oxygen concentrator at home.
