Russian musician Yuri Shatunov can rightfully be called a mega-star. And hardly anyone can confuse his voice with another singer. In the late 90s, millions admired his work. And the hit "White Roses" seems to remain popular at all times. He was an idol that young fans literally prayed for. And the first in the Soviet Union boy band "Tender May", where Yuri Shatunov participated as a vocalist, was named the legendary group. But Shatunov's work was not limited only to the performance of songs - he is a composer and author of most of his songs. For the work of the artist, he was repeatedly awarded the most prestigious awards. He is the symbol and unchanging voice of a bygone era.
The childhood of the singer
Years of Yuri Shatunov's childhood cannot be called happy and carefree. He was born in the small Bashkir town of Kumertau in 1973. The child did not become a reason for joy for the parents. On the contrary, the relationship between father and mother only worsened. For unknown reasons, the father did not even give his son his last name, and the boy remained Shatunov by his mother.
After some time, the child was given to be raised by his grandmother and he spent his first three years of his life in the village. At that time, her mother divorced her father and remarried. Yura decided to take him to her, but relations with her stepfather did not work out from the first day. The boy often stayed with his mother's sister, Aunt Nina. She often took him with her to rehearsals at the House of Culture, where she sang in a local ensemble. There, the boy learned the basics of playing the guitar and harmonica.
Yuri Shatunov in the boarding school
At the age of 9, Yuri ends up in a boarding school. The mother arranged her personal life and she did not have time for her son. Abusing alcohol, she often forgot about his existence, not to mention the care and upbringing. On the advice of boyfriends, Vera Shatunova placed little Yura in an orphanage, and died two years later. The father refused to take his son to him. He has long acquired a new family and children. The only person who cared about Yura was Aunt Nina. She often visited him in the boarding school and took him to her for the holidays.
The life of the orphanage had a bad effect on the guy, and he began to wander, engage in hooliganism and petty theft. At the age of 13, he first gets into the police, where the question of transferring Shatunov to a children's colony was already raised. But the head of the boarding school stood up for him and took him under her care. When she was transferred to a boarding school in the city of Orenburg, she took Yura with her. According to the singer himself, she replaced his mother and became a real guardian angel.
First musical steps
Despite his temper and bad behavior, many people in the boarding school loved Yura for his artistry and clear, sonorous head. The boy had absolute pitch, he could repeat any song without much effort, accompanying himself on the guitar. To direct the boy's energy in the right direction, he was attracted to all concerts and performances. He agreed with undisguised pleasure. Thus, he received the love that he so lacked. Plus, the guy began to think that he would not mind in the future to somehow connect his life with music.
The road to "Tender May"
Yura Shatunov got into the legendary group thanks to Vyacheslav Ponomarev. He was also a pupil of the Orenburg boarding school. When Vyacheslav, together with Sergei Kuznetsov (he worked in a boarding school in the late 80s and taught music at Shatunov) decided to create their own group, they decided to take Yura instead of the vocalist without further ado. The guy at that time was barely 14 years old.
According to Kuznetsov, Shatunov had not only a memorable voice and absolute pitch - he also had a good-looking appearance. That is, all the parameters of Yuri suited novice artists. Even the guy's lack of musical education did not frighten them.
Yuri Shatunov - the constant soloist of "Tender May"
According to official data, the groupTender Mayappeared in 1986. The team consisted of four members - Vyacheslav Ponomarev, Sergey Kuznetsov, Sergey Serkov and the youngest soloist on the stage - Yuri Shatunov. Their debut concert took place in Orenburg. The lyrical songs that Kuznetsov wrote and the sentimental notes in Yuri's voice did their job. In a short time, the group became the star of local clubs. Then the guys started recording their songs on cassettes. Everything was done, of course, in the artisanal conditions of local studios. And a mutual friend, Viktor Bakhtin, helped future stars sell cassettes.
Collaboration with Andrey Razin
Who knows what the fate of "Tender May" would have been if the cassette with the recording of the songs had not fallen into the hands of Andrei Razin. At that time he was the producer of the Mirage group. Razin felt that he could promote the group and make real stars out of guys. He made a bet on Shatunov. The orphanage boy, who did not know warmth and care, sings so piercingly sincerely about pure and bright feelings. Touching, with elements of tragedy, the music instantly found its listener. Yes, what's yours! The songs "White Roses", "Summer", "Gray Night" knew by heart absolutely everything from young to old. And by 1990, the group had about ten albums. And their tracks sounded without interruption on every radio station. Due to the frenzied demand, the guys had to give 2-3 concerts a day. Music critics have compared the group's popularity with that of the British band "The Beatles».
Yuri Shatunov - a favorite of the public
A native of a small town, who grew up in a boarding school, Yuri did not expect such attention to himself. The group collected concerts of 50 thousand people. Any artist could envy such popularity. Fans literally bombarded Shatunov with mountains of letters and declarations of love. Every evening, the most daring fans were waiting for him at the house to confess their feelings.
Very often, the girls just fainted from an excess of feelings in the middle of a concert. There were even cases when fans cut their veins out of unrequited love for Yura. And of course they did it to his songs. But the singer's heart remained closed. Perhaps because of her young age, perhaps for other reasons.
Departure from "Tender May"
Constant concerts, a super-dense work schedule did not allow Shatunov to look at himself as a person. He was constantly under the supervision of Razin and did not leave the image of an orphanage boy, a star and a favorite of the public. He was not even taken into the army due to the fact that he spoiled his stomach with snacks between tours and suffered from terrible gastritis. In addition, Yuri increasingly had nervous breakdowns and suspicions of depression.
In the summer of 1991, "Tender May" went on a big tour of America. After graduating at the end of autumn, Yuri Shatunov put an end to it and decided to leave the group. At that moment, he absolutely did not understand what he would do next, but he could no longer live in such a rhythm and be constantly in the spotlight.
Yuri Shatunov: life after popularity
After leaving the group, Shatunov settled in Sochi for some time. He wanted to literally hide from everyone and relax. Fortunately, the funds allowed him, and he lived almost a recluse in one of the villas. "Tender May" without his favorite soloist lost its popularity and in a short time simply fell apart. A few months later, Shatunov returned to Moscow and settled in a huge apartment in the center - a gift from Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
Assassination attempt on Yuri Shatunov
Although Yuri was invited to speak at Alla Pugacheva's Christmas meetings in 1992, the reception of the audience was far from what Shatunov expected. The singer realized that he had fallen out of this bright and attractive world of show business. And he clearly understood that the old days could not be returned. I had to start swimming on my own. But the plans were thwarted by a tragedy that drove the singer into a deep depression.
When he, along with his friend and colleague at Laskovy May, Mikhail Sukhomlinov, were leaving the entrance of his house, a shot rang out from the car opposite. Sukhomlinov was killed in front of Yuri. It was his only close person at that time. And for a long time Shatunov could not come to terms with this loss. As it turned out later, they shot at Yuri himself. This was done by a mentally ill fan.
Moving to Germany
Yuri Shatunov spends the next few years in a creative search. It seemed to him that everyone forgot about his existence. Many colleagues in the shop simply turned their backs on him. After the scandalous departure from the group, Andrei Razin did not even pick up the phone from Shatunov. Several projects failed miserably. Again, everything was decided by luck.
An agency that organizes performances of Russian stars abroad offered him a job in Germany. Shatunov agreed, and for good reason. Concerts abroad were held with great success. And in 1997 the musician finally moved and settled in Germany. The very next year, he completed courses in the specialty of a sound engineer.
Solo career
Abroad, the solo career of Yuri Shatunov also developed rapidly. From 2002 to 2013, the musician released five discs and starred in many videos. During performances, he performed both former hits and his new songs - deeper and more meaningful. The song "Childhood", the words and music for which Yuri himself wrote, received the "Song of the Year" award (2009). And in 2015 he was awarded a diploma for the contribution and development of national music.
In recent years, he has focused more on his personal life. Yuri realized that it was time to move creativity into the background, devoting most of his time to his family. In 2018, Yuri Razin filed a lawsuit against Yuri Shatunov and accused him of using songs the rights to which belong to the producer. According to the court decision, since 2020 Shatunov has been forbidden to perform the songs of the Laskovy May group.
Personal life of Yuri Shatunov
As the singer himself says, he never had a lack of female attention. He just bathed in the love of his fans. But, as it turns out, he opened his heart for love only once - for his current wife Svetlana. It was for her sake that he changed his habits in addressing women, learned to make signs of attention and compliment. He met a girl in Germany in 2004, and a year later their son Denis was born. The couple decided not to raise a child in a civil marriage, and in 2007 Yuri and Svetlana signed. In 2010, the couple had a daughter, Stella.
The couple instilled in their children a love of music. Due to frequent joint trips to their homeland, the son and daughter are fluent in Russian. The musician does not advertise particularly personal life. It is known that his wife is a very successful lawyer and works for a large German company. The family travels in their free time. Yuri, in addition to music, is seriously interested in hockey, and also likes to spend the evening playing computer games. The singer promotes a healthy lifestyle, does not drink alcohol, does not smoke, and considers sleep to be the best relaxation.
Death of Yuri Shatunov
On June 23, 2022, the artist died. The cause of death was a massive heart attack. The next day, a video of the last minutes of the singer's life was published.
On the eve of death, nothing foreshadowed trouble. According to the artist's friends, Yura felt great. The guys had a rest, and in the evening they planned to go fishing. Everything changed in a matter of minutes. During the feast - he complained of pain in his heart. Friends called an ambulance, but the resuscitation measures taken did not make the artist's heart beat.
Fans, friends, colleagues in the musical "workshop" said goodbye to the artist in the ritual hall of the Troekurovsky cemetery on June 26. On June 27, a farewell to Shatunov took place already in a close circle of relatives and closest people. Yuri's body was cremated. Part of the ashes were buried by relatives in Moscow, and part - the wife took to Germany to scatter over a lake in Bavaria. The widow reported that the late husband loved to fish on the lake.
