Sofia Rotaru is an icon of the Soviet stage. She has a rich stage image, so at the moment she is not only an honored artist of the Russian Federation, but also an actress, composer and teacher.
The songs of the performer organically fit into the work of almost all nationalities.
But, especially, the songs of Sofia Rotaru are popular with music lovers in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Fans of these countries consider Sofia to be “their” singer, despite the fact that the performer lives on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Childhood and youth of Sofia Rotaru
Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru was born back in 1947, in the small village of Marshintsy, Chernihiv region. Sofia was brought up in an ordinary family.
The girl's parents had nothing to do with creativity. Mom worked in the market, and her father was a foreman of winegrowers. In addition to Sofia, the parents raised six more children.
Sophia has always had a lively character. She always achieved her goals.
At school, the girl was actively involved in sports. In particular, she won the all-around victory among school students. In addition, she was fond of music and theater.
But the main place in the life of Sofia Rotaru was, of course, music. It seems that little Rotaru knew how to play all kinds of musical instruments.
The girl played the guitar, button accordion, domra, sang in the school choir, and also participated in amateur art circles.
Teachers constantly praised Rotaru. It was obvious that Sophia had natural vocal abilities.
As a child, the girl already had a contralto approaching a soprano. On her debut performances in neighboring villages, she received the nickname Bukovinian Nightingale, which suited her.
Rotaru almost graduated from high school with honors. In her school years, she decided on her future profession - she wanted to perform on stage.
Mom and dad were not happy with the plans of their daughter. Mom, for example, dreamed that Sofia went to the Pedagogical University. Mother, believed that her daughter would make an excellent teacher.
But, Rotaru was already unstoppable. Starting to tour the neighboring villages, Sofia won the first fans. Her accomplishments motivated her to push herself further as a singer.
Creative career of Sofia Rotaru
In the first years of performances, Rotaru breaks the first places. The future star easily became the laureate of regional and republican music competitions.
In 1964, real luck smiled at her. Rotaru performs at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. After the performance, her photo is published in the prestigious Ukrainian magazine "Ukraine".
In 1968, the aspiring singer reached a completely new level. Rotaru won the IX World Festival of Creative Youth, which was held in Bulgaria.
Three years later, the musical compositions of Sofia Rotaru were included in the Chervona Ruta musical tape, which belonged to Roman Alekseev.
This opened up new opportunities for Rotaru. A little later, she will become part of the ensemble from the Chernivtsi Philharmonic.
1973 brought Rotaru victory in the prestigious Golden Orpheus competition. In addition, Sofia for the first time became the laureate of the Song of the Year.
After this victory, the singer was a participant in the music festival every year. The only exception was 2002. It was this year that Rotaru lost her husband.
1986 was not the most favorable period. The fact is that "Chervona Ruta" broke up. The musical group decided that they did not need a soloist as Sofia. Rotaru goes in search of himself.
She changes the direction of her work. This is largely due to the name of the composer Vladimir Matetsky. The composer begins to actively write songs in the style of rock and euro-pop for the singer.
New items quickly became hits.
In 1991, the performer released her debut disc, called "Caravan of Love".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rotaru did not lose its popularity. Rotaru's records were scattered in large numbers. We are talking about the albums "Farmer", and "Night of Love", and "Love Me".
In the new century, the work of Sofia Mikhailovna did not fall into the abyss.
More than 12 times the singer became the winner of the Golden Gramophone award.
Sofia Mikhailovna was not only successful as a solo performer. She created many successful "pair" works.
We are talking about work with Nikolai Rastorguev and Nikolai Baskov. In the mid-90s, Rotaru sang the song Zasentyabrilo with the lead singer of the Lube group, and in 2005 and 2012, with Baskov, the musical compositions Raspberry Blooms and I Will Find My Love.
The last album in the work of Sofia Rotaru was a disc called "Time to Love".
In 2014, the singer recorded another album. However, the record never went on sale. The disc was distributed exclusively at Rotaru concerts.
Films with the participation of Sofia Rotaru
In the early 1980s, Sofia Mikhailovna made her debut as an actress. She played a close role for herself - the role of a provincial singer who wanted to conquer millions of music lovers with her unique voice.
Movie "Where are you love?" gave her immense popularity. Immediately after the film presented, Rotaru takes part in the filming of the autobiographical drama film Soul.
In the mid-80s, the performer took part in the filming of "You are invited by Sofia Rotaru", in 1986 - in the romantic musical television film "Monologue of Love".
Interestingly, despite the fact that there are dangerous scenes in the film, Sofia Mikhailovna is filmed without an understudy.
In 2004, the singer tried on one of the main roles in the New Year's musical "Sorochinsky Fair", directed by Konstantin Meladze. Rotaru performed the top song "But I loved him."
An interesting experience was participation in the filming of "The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors", where Sofia Mikhailovna played the role of the Queen.
The last role played by the singer was the Sorceress in the 2009 film Little Red Riding Hood.
The media have been discussing for a long time that Sofia Mikhailovna and Alla Borisovna Pugacheva are two competitors who cannot equally share the “throne”.
However, Russian singers decided to upset their envious people.
In 2006, Alla Borisovna and Sofia Mikhailovna performed the song "They Won't Catch Us" at the New Wave festival.
Sofia Rotaru's personal life
Sofia Rotaru's husband was Anatoly Evdokimenko, who for a long time was the head of the Chervona Ruta ensemble.
For the first time, he saw Rotaru in the magazine "Ukraine", back in 1964.
In 1968, Sofia Mikhailovna received a marriage proposal. In the same year, young people signed and went to practice in Novosibirsk. There, Rotaru worked as a teacher, and Anatoly performed at the Otdykh club.
A few years later, the couple had a son, who was named Ruslan.
Rotaru remembers Evdokimenko as a wonderful husband, friend and father. Many said that they have an ideal family.
Sofia spent all her free time with her family. The house was a real idyll, comfort and coziness.
In 2002 Anatoly died of a stroke. The singer was very upset by the loss of her beloved husband. This year, Rotaru canceled all scheduled performances. She did not appear on programs and did not attend parties.
The only son of Rotaru, Ruslan works as a music producer. He brings up two children who were named after the famous grandparents - Sofia and Anatoly.
Sofia Rotaru, despite her age, looks great. The singer does not deny that she resorted to the help of plastic surgeons. The singer did not discover another way to preserve youth and beauty.
Sofia Mikhailovna is an active user of Instagram. Her profile contains many personal photos with friends, family and her favorite, granddaughter Sonya.
Rotaru uses bright makeup, but sometimes photos without make-up appear on her profile.
Sofia Rotaru is quite a media personality. Over the past couple of years, with her participation, many interesting programs have been released that were broadcast on the federal channels of the Russian Federation.
Sofia Rotaru now
Some time ago, there was a lull in the creative career of Sofia Rotaru. Many said that the singer decided to go into the sunset and devote her old age to the family.
However, in 2018, Sofya Mikhailovna pleased the fans of her work with the release of a video clip for the song “Love is alive!”. The video came out just before Christmas.
Therefore, the singer said that she gives this modest gift in the form of a video clip to her fans.
In 2019, Sofia Mikhailovna decided not to change her traditions. The Russian singer performed at the Song of the Year festival with the musical compositions Music of My Love and New Year's Eve.
Now Rotaru gives concerts in major cities of the Russian Federation, among which are performances in Sochi at the New Wave festival.
Rotaru says that she is not going to take a well-deserved rest yet.
Moreover, she is preparing a worthy replacement for herself.
The fact is that Rotaru is trying in every possible way to push his granddaughter Sofia. So far, the star is doing it poorly. But, who knows, perhaps it is Rotaru's granddaughter who will replace her grandmother when she goes on a well-deserved rest.
