In 2000, the continuation of the legendary film "Brother" was released. And from all the receivers of the country the lines sounded: "Big cities, empty trains ...". That's how effectively the group "Bi-2" "burst" onto the stage. And for almost 20 years she has been pleasing with her hits. The history of the band began long before the track “No one writes to the Colonel”, namely in the late 1980s in Belarus.
The beginning of the career of the Bi-2 group
Alexander Uman и Egor Bortnik first met in 1985 at the Minsk theater studio "Rond". The interests of the guys coincided, despite the difference in age (Shura was two years older than Yegor). Together with like-minded people, they began to stage performances in the genre of the absurd. Thus, the musicians constantly shocked the local audience and soon the studio was closed.
Egor Bortnik is now known as Leva Bi-2. He was nicknamed the lion in Africa when Yegor's father (radio physicist) left with his family to work as a teacher.
Peers then gave the "pale-faced" lion's fang, which became the boy's talisman, and called him the same - Leo. Egor liked it very much. The nickname stuck to him so much that even the mother began to call her son Lyova.
After the closing of the studio, joint work did not stop, in 1988 the guys decided to create a musical group. Shura then studied at a music school - he played the double bass, and Lyova wrote good poetry.
They invited members from the local group "Chance", renamed themselves "Band of Brothers" and began to sing. At that time, Alexander Sergeev, nicknamed Kostyl, became the vocalist. They were not popular. They even changed the name to "Coast of Truth", but there was no development, the team broke up.
1989 - the official beginning of the creative path of the Bi-2 group. In the Bobruisk House of Culture, the guys resumed rehearsals. Leva became the vocalist, shocking performances began. Each time at the beginning of the concert, a coffin was brought onto the stage, from which the Lion rose, and the show began.
The audience was delighted, popularity increased. At this time, the famous composition "Barbara" was recorded, which the audience fell in love with only 10 years later. And also the first disc "Traitors to the Motherland".
Shura and Lyova did not see the further development of the group in Belarus, especially since the USSR collapsed. The Bi-2 team took a break. In 1991, Alexander first moved to Israel, and a few months later, Yegor too.
Break in the work of the group
At first, during the period of getting used to life abroad, it was difficult to continue creativity. But this did not stop the musicians. They completely changed the style of performance, in the first place were arrangements and acoustic sound. In 1992, the team took 1st place at the Israeli rock festival.
The longest break in the history of the Bi-2 group has come. In 1993, Shura moved to live with relatives in Australia. And Leva remained in Jerusalem to serve in the army. And they reunited only in 1998.
All this time, work on the Bi-2 group continued in absentia. On the phone, we constantly discussed lyrics, created songs and constantly sent audio letters to each other.
In Melbourne, Shura plunged into the world of music. He played in the band Shiron and opened the solo project Shura B2 Band. During this time, he met pianist Victoria "Victory" Bilogan. His solo project lasted from 1994 to 1997. The most striking event was the recording of the single "Slow Star". After the closure of the band, Shura resumed the work of the Bi-2 group with Victoria. He became a vocalist, and the texts were now sent by Yegor. In Australia, Sasha and Vika recorded the album Sad and Asexual Love.
In February 1998 Lyova arrived in Melbourne with new lyrics. The Bi-2 group was reborn like a phoenix from the ashes. Bortnik and Usman recorded the album "And the ship is sailing" and sent it to the Extraphone label. But he refused to release the disc. Some songs from the unreleased album appeared on the Nashe Radio radio station. And then - and on the radio MAXIMUM. The first single was the composition "Heart". Thus began the runway of a career.
The success of the Bi-2 group
In 1999, after the group received virtual success in Russia, the musicians also arrived there. But during the move, difficulties arose - the Australian team did not go along with the creators. And at home I had to urgently create a new team.
The updated line-up looked like this: Lyova, Shura, bass guitarist Vadim Yermolov (who was “stolen” from the Zhuki group), Nikolai Plyavin played the keys, and Grigory Gaberman played the drums. The “promotion” of the group was taken up by Alexander Ponomarev (Hip), who had already glorified the Splin group. Despite this, the album was never recorded - all the studios refused.
On December 10, 1999, the first festival "Invasion" took place. There, with significant success, the musicians made their debut in the new line-up. A month later, they already appeared on television in Dmitry Dibrov's Anthropology program.
After the successful appearance of the song “No one writes to the Colonel” as the main soundtrack for the film “Brother-2”, the Sony Music label signed a contract with the band. In May 2000, the first album was released in Russia with the name "Bi-2". It was the same "And the Ship Sails", only with the order of the songs changed.
The musicians made a very interesting presentation. Instead of traditional performances in the club, they announced a competition between Moscow schools. Since the release of the album came just at the last call. School No. 600 won, the group held their performance there and simply presented their discs to the audience.
The band's first solo concert
On November 12, 2000, the first official solo concert in Russia took place. In early 2001, the musicians recorded the song "Fellini" with the Spleen group. The arrangement in the composition belongs to the Bi-2 group, and the words to Sasha Vasiliev. The name of this composition later served as the name of the joint tour of these two bands.
Since then, the popularity of the Bi-2 group has only increased. At the moment they have 10 studio albums, more than 20 awards in various music competitions.
They are also closely related to cinema. Their songs are heard in almost 30 Russian films. And in some (“Election Day”, “What Men Talk About”, etc.), singers are also filmed.
In 2010, serious changes began in the arrangements of songs, and concerts began to take place with a symphony orchestra.
Every year the creativity of the Bi-2 group is constantly developing. The musicians continue to delight their fans with high-quality compositions.
Group Bi-2 in 2021
At the beginning of the first summer month of 2021, the rock band presented to the “fans” the video “Closing Your Eyes” for one of the tracks of their project “Odd Warrior”. The musicians of the so-called "golden composition" of "Pesnyarov" took part in the recording of the work.
In July 2021, the premiere of the track "Light fell" took place. Note that he entered as a b-side to the single "We don't need a hero." Shura and Lyova Bi-2 timed the My Michel band and several other musicians of Russian rock bands to create the track. An animated video was presented for the song. The artist E. Bloomfield worked on the creation of the video sequence.
Bi-2 team now
At the beginning of February 2022, a maxi-single from one of the most successful Russian rock bands premiered. The work was called "I do not trust anyone." The maxi-single consists of 9 different versions of the title track edited as "Bi-2" and other famous artists.
