Igor Nikolaev spoke about Alexander Shirvindt’s alcoholism

Biography

Igor Nikolaev is loved by millions of listeners. Performers who choose his songs become stars. The author of the hits is appreciated by his colleagues, calling him the pride of Russia, like Larisa Dolina, a unique phenomenon in art, like Alla Pugacheva, and simply a genius, according to Philip Kirkorov.

Singer and composer Igor Nikolaev

The composer's life is devoted to music; it reflects his thoughts, experiences and contrasts.

Childhood and youth

Russian singer and composer Igor Yuryevich Nikolaev was born on Sakhalin, in the provincial town of Kholmsk, on January 17, 1960. Igor’s father was a marine poet and a member of the USSR Writers’ Union, while at the same time acting as captain of a ship transporting cargo over long distances.

Igor Nikolaev in childhood

Young Nikolaev spent most of his time with his mother, who worked as an accountant. The salary was barely enough for food, but Igor was not afraid of the poverty line, he read a lot, played sports and gravitated toward music.

In his youth, Igor discovered creative abilities. Mom sent her son to the Sakhalin music school, where he first learned to play the violin. After graduating from school, Igor Nikolaev entered the South Sakhalin Music College, but a year later he left his hometown to conquer Moscow.

Igor Nikolaev in his youth without a mustache

Music

After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Culture, the talented musician was noticed by Alla Pugacheva, who invited him to work as a keyboard player in the vocal and instrumental ensemble “Recital”, where he quickly retrained as an arranger. The first songs written by Igor Nikolaev for the Diva of Russian pop music became hits, and, as they would say now, blew up the chart ratings.

Igor Nikolaev as part of the Recital ensemble

The hits of the 1980s were the musical compositions “Iceberg” and “Tell Me, Birds,” which brought Igor all-Russian fame as a young, but already well-known and respected composer. The whole country sang them. Nikolaev’s great composing career began with these songs.

A turning point in the creative biography of Igor Nikolaev was participation in the music competition “Song of the Year - 1985”, where new songs by the young composer were performed: “The Ferryman” performed by Alla Pugacheva and “Komarovo” performed by Igor Sklyar. The debut turned out to be a resounding success for Igor, firmly securing him at the top of the Olympus of the Soviet stage.

Igor Nikolaev – “Mill”

Igor Nikolaev himself sings wonderfully. The singer’s solo career started in 1986 with his own song “Mill,” which was included in the album of the same name, which gained unprecedented popularity. This was followed by “Raspberry Wine”, “Birthday”, “Let’s Drink to Love”, “Congratulations”.

Soon the musician, together with Alla Borisovna, will tour Japan. In 1988, Igor Nikolaev first appeared at the annual music festival “Song of the Year” with his own composition “The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors,” which also unconditionally became a popular hit and was the single of the album of the same name.

Igor Nikolaev – “Raspberry Wine”

After 2 years, Igor Nikolaev meets the aspiring singer Natasha Koroleva, with whom he begins to collaborate fruitfully. The creative union quickly develops into a duet. Popular compositions “Taxi”, “Dolphin and Mermaid”, “Winter Months” are sung by the whole country. The joint project of Nikolaev and Koroleva was highly appreciated not only by Russian, but also by Western listeners. The duo performed the program “Dolphin and Mermaid” within the walls of the legendary Madison Square Garden concert hall in the American city of New York.

The musician’s creative biography is developing exponentially. Each new song by Igor Yuryevich Nikolaev and new album is a hit in the top ten. Since 1998, the composer has been organizing recitals at the Rossiya Concert Hall. They are invariably a great success and are broadcast by the country's central channels.

Igor Nikolaev – “Five Reasons”

At the beginning of the millennium, Igor Nikolaev releases a new disc called “Broken Cup of Love.” A year later, in 2001, he received the title of Honored Worker of Culture and Arts of the Russian Federation. In the same year, Igor Yuryevich was awarded the Golden Gramophone Prize for his new music album “Five Reasons”.

Almost every year Nikolaev is blessed with a new wave of success in the form of another award in his impressive treasury of achievements. In 2006, the popular singer and composer received 2 orders: Peter the Great, first degree, and the Golden Order of Service to Art. In the same year, Igor Nikolaev launched the creative project “Two Stars” on Channel One, which aroused great interest and sympathy from viewers who were eagerly awaiting the release of the new episode.

Yulia Proskuryakova and Igor Nikolaev - “SMS”

In the summer of 2008, as part of the All-Russian competition “New Wave”, held in Jurmala, Igor Nikolaev organized a creative evening concert. At his own benefit performance, the singer performs the new hit “There’s Something in This” in a duet with the young singer Yulia Proskuryakova, who later became his third wife.

Songwriter, singer, composer and arranger Igor Yuryevich Nikolaev productively collaborates with prominent figures in the field of Russian and foreign pop music. His hits are performed by artists Alla Pugacheva, Valery Leontyev, Larisa Dolina, Irina Allegrova, Alexander Buinov, the group “Accident” and Alexey Kortnev.

Igor Nikolaev and Irina Allegrova

On the Russian stage, especially among artists of the USSR era, there are almost no musicians who have not collaborated with Nikolaev. Among the foreign pop stars performing songs commissioned or purchased from the Russian composer are the sisters Rose and Cyndi Lauper (USA), Swedish singer Liz Nilsson, Japanese musician Tokiko Kato and others.

Igor Yuryevich also has contracts with popular Russian songwriters. He wrote music for poems by Nikolai Zinoviev, Leonid Derbenev, Mikhail Tanich, Vladimir Matetsky, Andrei Makarevich, Igor Kokhanovsky and even Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

Igor Nikolaev – “Birthday”

Along with this, Igor Nikolaev more than once served as a member of the jury of music festivals and competitions, people from which – Lyudmila Sokolova and Diana Gurtskaya – subsequently also performed Nikolaev’s compositions.

Creative career

After studying at the institute, he received an invitation to work in the team of Primadona “Recital” . There he played keyboards. Subsequently, he took the position of arranger. Initially, his songs caused a sensation among the artist’s fans; they quickly became hits, reaching the top of the ratings.

These were the compositions “Tell me, birds”, “Iceberg”. They glorified Nikolaev as an excellent composer who was respected by colleagues and appreciated by music lovers.

In 1985, Igor took part in the “Song of the Year” competition. Alla Pugacheva performed his songs “The Ferryman”, and “Komarovo” was performed by I. Sklyar. Since then, Igor has been exclusively successful on the Russian stage.

In addition, Nikolaev delighted with his solo work. In 1986, he presented the composition “Mill,” which was included in the album. This is where his tours around Japan began. In 1988, Nikolaev performed for the first time as part of the annual festival “Song of the Year” and presented the song “Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors,” which became a popular hit. A record of the same name was released in her honor.

In 1990, Igor Nikolaev began collaborating with the aspiring singer Natasha Koroleva. This is how the duet “Dolphin and Mermaid” appeared.

Since 1998, the artist began organizing creative evenings, which took place in the Rossiya hall. They were famous for their success, and therefore they were shown on the country's television channels. At the same time, Igor released the disc “Broken Cup of Love.”

For his work in 2001, Nikolaev received the title of Honored Worker of Culture and Arts of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the singer was awarded the Golden Gramophone Award for the album “Five Reasons”.

Since 2003, Nikolaev has been actively involved in politics and is a member of the United Russia party.

In 2006, the singer was awarded two orders: “Service to Art” and Peter the Great, first degree. At the same time, Nikolaev’s project started on Channel One under the name “Two Stars”. In 2008, Igor organized a creative evening as part of the “New Wave” in Jurmala. He presented a new song with Yu. Proskuryaeva “There’s Something in This.”

Igor Yuryevich actively collaborates with Russian and foreign pop figures. Songs based on Nikolaev's original music are successfully performed by the sisters Rose and Cyndi Lauper, Liz Nilsson from Sweden, musician Tokiko Kato, representing Japan, etc.

In 2020, he organized the concert “A poet in Russia is more than a poet.” Nowadays, the singer actively collaborates with pop stars of Russian show business and takes the place of a jury member at the New Wave.

Personal life

For the first time, composer Igor Nikolaev got married while still studying at the Sakhalin Music School. In 1978, Igor Nikolaev became a father for the first time. His first wife, Elena Kudryasheva, gave birth to his daughter Yulia. At the time of the birth of their daughter, the young life partners were 18 years old.

The rapid fading of relationships that began in youth was a completely natural development of events. Igor's first family fell apart. Later, the composer married for the second time, choosing Natasha Koroleva as his life partner.

Igor Nikolaev and Natasha Koroleva

This happened in the early 1990s, when the media wrote about the open romance of the brilliant Russian composer and the young but promising Ukrainian singer Natalya Poryvay, who later received the creative pseudonym Korolev from her patron.

A bright and rich wedding for those times took place in 1994. The marriage was officially registered by employees of the Moscow registry office at Igor’s house. However, this union was not destined to last forever. In 2001, the couple broke up.

Igor Nikolaev and Natasha Koroleva broke up

The reason for the divorce, as the singer herself later said, was Nikolaev’s interest in other women. After the first betrayal, the Queen gave her husband time to understand the situation and make a decision. A year has passed, but nothing has changed. Natasha initiated the divorce process, which took place before the eyes of the whole country. The musician tried to bring his wife back and made loud statements from the stage, but the Queen remained adamant.

5 years after the breakup, in an interview, Igor admits that the women he met during that period “were a kind of similarity to Natasha. The desire to repeat that strong feeling and that emotion leads to an unconscious search for one similar to that one. Of course, there are no cloned people, but some similarities can be found.”

After another 4 years, the artist had a third wife, Yulia Proskuryakova, whose resemblance to Natasha Koroleva was noted by both fans and reporters.

Lyudmila Poryvay revealed the secrets of her sons-in-law - Nikolaev and Tarzan

The host of the show “Time to Lunch” Lyudmila Poryvai said that she was happy with her second son-in-law. Although when I found out that he was a stripper, I was in shock for a long time. “After the composer, there’s a stripper!” recalls Luda’s mother in horror.

Lyudmila Poryvay loved Igor Nikolaev very much. Although he has a rather complex character. However, it was he who suggested that his mother-in-law go to Miami and look after his daughter Yulia. At that time she was receiving her education in the USA. Lyudmila agreed to the proposal. There the woman became engaged to Igor Alperin and found her feminine happiness. By the way, my husband runs a food company in Russia and owns several restaurants in the USA. “There are no ideal sons-in-law. And I am a mother-in-law with great experience. Igor Nikolaev has been given talent by God. I couldn't even look at him wrong. It will immediately be “Let mom go to the hotel.” Nikolaev left everything he had to his family. She and Natasha lived in a one-room apartment. But my daughter insisted on painting. And they got married. And Tarzan did what good money is paid for. As a mother-in-law, I fainted when I found out that he was a stripper. From famous composer to stripper. But Natasha insisted that he graduate from GITIS and brought him into the public eye,” admitted Lyudmila Poryvay.

• Fans admire how Igor Nikolaev and Natasha Koroleva maintained their relationship after the divorce
• Koroleva told what joke there was about her and her stripper husband
• Publicist Lato Lapsa about the President of Latvia: “He is lying about his citizenship. Lies about his parents. About my ancestors"
• Igor Nikolaev enjoys his holiday in Latvia
• Clash of Civilizations
• Natasha Koroleva's enlarged lips are being discussed online
• Natasha Koroleva was criticized for an expensive mask
• Igor Nikolaev hopes that he will receive a pension with a large increase
• Natasha Koroleva shared what business she and her husband lost due to coronavirus
• Avia.pro: Russian “Krasukha” intimidated a French ship trying to interfere with the S-400 in Crimea
• Who has the right to kill with impunity?
• Igor Nikolaev is having a wonderful time in Jurmala
• Natasha Koroleva remembers for 20 years how Pugacheva supported her during her divorce from Nikolaev
• Leps called on artists not to complain about the “difficult situation”, advised them to work and offered his help

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Igor Nikolaev now

A composer and performer on the stage for many years, favored by the attention of the press and the love of fans - sit back and rest on your laurels. But Igor Nikolaev is not one of those. The musician is interested in modern trends. In 2020, the main lyricist of the Russian stage surprised the audience with a collaboration with a young singer from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Emma Blinkova. The girl is known in the online community as Emma M. The new duet recorded a cover version of the hit “Let’s Drink to Love.”

Emma M and Igor Nikolaev - “Let's Drink to Love” (premiere 2018)

At the same time, the media space was stirred up by the message that Igor refuses to compose new compositions for Irina Allegrova. For the “empress” of the Russian stage, Nikolaev wrote two dozen songs, and each found a response in the hearts of listeners, including “The Wanderer,” with which the artist’s ascent to Olympus began.

The musician emphasized that it is the old material that is of interest, and if people suddenly became new, then new hits would appear. As it is, he has already said everything he wanted, and at concerts they ask him to sing “from the old days.” In addition, Irina collaborates with young authors who have something to offer.

Igor Nikolaev with his daughter

At Allegrova’s creative evening in the New Wave Hall, the same “old” Nikolaev “Wedding Flowers”, “Junior Lieutenant”, “Stupid Boy”, “Photography 9x12” were performed.

In the fall, a new book of poems by Igor Nikolaev entitled “Songs and Artists” was published. This is not the first publication of the composer's poetic works. The collection “I Love You to Tears,” published in 2015, is dedicated to Igor’s parents. The book includes 200 song lyrics, rare photographs of the artist and family photographs.

Writer Igor Nikolaev

In December, Avtoradio presented the holiday song “New Year,” which Igor Nikolaev had the opportunity to record in the company of Katya Lel, Denis Klyaver, Alexander Marshal and Viktor Rybin. In the show “In Full Voice”, organized for talented young performers from the CIS countries by the MIR 24 TV channel, a creative evening of the Russian composer was held.

Nikolaev intrigued fans with the news that he was preparing a surprise for the New Year holidays with his friend and colleague Yuri Antonov. Fans immediately assumed that this would apparently be a duet.

Igor Nikolaev with his wife at the premiere of the film “Unforgiven” in 2020

Igor’s official website outlines the tour schedule for the first half of 2020. The tour “BEST AND NEW SONGS #LEM'S DRINK FOR LOVE” takes place in cities of Russia and Belarus. However, Nikolaev found time to attend Alla Pugacheva’s anniversary concert. The media has already dubbed the event the return of the Diva to the stage.

Igor Nikolaev: “Pugacheva and I often went to Africa”

Singer-songwriter Igor Nikolaev , who wrote dozens of popular songs and is celebrating his 60th birthday on January 17, spoke in an interview with AiF.ru about what New Year's gift Putin , why he flies to Miami and what factors influence songwriting, and also about the fact that he began to sing out of great need, and about what they did during joint trips to “Africa” with Alla Pugacheva , Vladimir Kuzmin and Alexander Kalyanov .

Vladimir Polupanov, AiF.ru: Igor, before the New Year you were awarded the title of People's Artist. Does this mean anything to you?

Igor Nikolaev: There are a lot of similar comments from different people on my Instagram. "How?! - people are surprised. “We thought you were given the title of people’s title 20 years ago.” Even at concerts in the Kremlin Palace, the presenters announced me several times: “People’s Artist of Russia Igor Nikolaev.” "For what? - I was indignant. “They could at least clarify.” When at 60 he is assigned, it is rather a curious case. It's still incredibly nice though. Many people submit documents, but not everyone is awarded them. For me, this is a sign of the attention of the person who signed this decree. Artists sometimes share memories with each other about which head of state they received their titles under: some under Yeltsin, some under Gorbachev. And I am very pleased that under Putin.

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"Let's drink to love!" Continue the song by Igor Nikolaev

I usually don’t pick up the phone when they call from unknown numbers. On New Year's Eve, the phone rang right at the airport and an unknown number was displayed. I asked the driver: “Ask: ‘Who?’” He tells me: “Minister of Culture.” I took the phone, however, it turned out to be Medinsky, who congratulated me and read out the decree. “Great New Year’s gift, thank you very much,” I said. It's nice to know that on the entire Sakhalin Island, where I come from, I am the only people's artist. Now even in my small homeland they will stop asking why I am still not a people’s person.

— Last November you visited your native Kholmsk. You usually come to such places with two feelings: joy from contact with your native places, familiar from childhood, and a feeling of bitterness, because little has changed there for decades. This is true?

- Usually in such cases they quote a poem by Gennady Shpalikov : “Unfortunately or fortunately, the truth is simple: never return to your former places. Even if the ashes look quite good, neither you nor I will find what we are looking for.”

This is all clear. But on the other hand, there is warmth there that is not found anywhere else. The feeling of your street, the river in which you fished as a child, the smell is incomparable. I have smelled all sorts of seas and oceans in my life. But Kholmsk has a special smell of the sea.

When I wrote the first song about my native place - “A Man in Love with Sakhalin” - I was surprised at how quickly it became a total Sakhalin hit, although it describes my personal drama. “Everyone loved him, and then they forgot, he was left alone on earth,” there is nothing funny in these lines. Or: “Even though there is bad weather in the soul, a person in love with Sakhalin still believes in happiness.” That's why my fellow countrymen asked me to write a light song. And recently, the poet Alexander Vulykh wrote “Under the Sakhalin Sky,” which instantly became popular on the island. I am very glad that now Sakhalin residents can not be sad, but sing a positive song.

— What songs have become iconic in your life?

— Each of the first songs turned my life upside down. Each in its own way. “Iceberg” was one of the first to be published in the magazine “Krugozor” under the heading “According to requests from listeners.” “12 Days”, performed by Sasha Abdulov , was also published in Krugozor and became iconic. “Let Them Talk” is the debut song of Kristina Orbakaite , performed by her at the age of 14. With her, Christina began as a singer. The first EP, where “Iceberg” and “Tell Me, Birds” were released, also belongs to the iconic category. Oddly enough, both of these songs were never released on any of Pugacheva’s albums, only in collections. The big giant record “Happiness in Personal Life”, which contained “One Hundred Friends”, “Two Stars”, “Ferryman”, also became fateful.

— There were only hits on this album. Did his exit make you a wealthy person?

- Of course not. For the record “Happiness in Personal Life”, the circulation of which amounted to tens of millions of copies, I received 167 rubles. Then it seemed to me that this was decent money. My senior colleagues, who received good copyrights in Soviet times, Yuri Antonov and Mikhail Tanich, told me: “Wait, old man, the tap is about to open. And a golden shower of royalties will fall on you.” But the tap still did not open. There used to be a proverb: “Ask the VAAP accountant about whether your dad is talented.” VAAP (All-Union Copyright Agency - Ed.) died in 1991, and the “accountant” disappeared along with the agency. RAO began to handle copyright, but the situation did not change for the better. All my savings that were in the savings book disappeared somewhere.

Igor Nikolaev. 1988 Photo: www.globallookpress.com

I saw with my own eyes how gray-haired, venerable authors sadly approached the RAO cash register window, cursed, and moaned. And, having achieved nothing, they left. With the collapse of the USSR, traditional institutions for making money also changed. I continued to write songs that became popular: “Komarovo”, “Ferryman”... But there was still no money. As part of the Recital group, he continued to go on tour with Alla Pugacheva. And one day trumpeter Pavel Zhagun , whose lyrics were written “Glass Flowers” ​​and “One Hundred Friends,” told me: “Igor, we need to do something. This can’t go on any longer.”

It was obvious that only solo performers received good fees for concerts. And I suggested to Zhagun: “Let’s write a song for an unknown artist, like me. Kabatskaya, folk one.” The first two pages of my work book are stamps from Sakhalin restaurants: “Cosmos”, “Ocean”, “Evening”, “Sakhalin”. I knew what song people needed to give you an A or a T.

— And “Melnitsa” became such a song?

- Yes! The day after the first broadcast, I could not leave the entrance unrecognized. I didn’t have a car, and people on public transport avoided me like the plague. How is it possible that he is on the same bus with us?!

— “Mill” is one of the simplest songs you have written. How do you feel about her?

- Try to write such a simple song that the audience will reflexively pick it up from the first lines. “Steppe and steppe all around”, “There was a birch tree in the field” - complex or simple songs? Rather simple. But they coincide with the genetic code of the people, appear naturally and live among the people for decades. Pasha Zhagun, who composes the most complex poetry, can also write such a simple song, in which the story of a person is schematically laid out: childhood, departure from his native land and return to the old mill. Your whole life is before your eyes in three verses written in simple words. This song and the subsequent “Birthday” and “Stranger” turned my life 180 degrees. Thanks to them, I got to the top of the charts not as a composer, but as a performer, and earned my first decent money.

Alla Pugacheva and Igor Nikolaev. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

— You worked with Alla Pugacheva for 7 years as part of Recital, you have been friends for many years. When you are in such close proximity to a great woman, does the “edge of greatness” in a relationship level out?

— Despite the fact that we have known each other since 1979 (that is, two-thirds of my life), my attitude towards her has not changed. I am the godfather of her daughter, we are, one might say, related. But I never switch to “you”. It doesn’t work, I don’t want to, I don’t see the need for it. And it's not a matter of age. We are only 10 years apart. With my friend Sergei Shakurov , who is 18 years older than me, we are on first terms. But I can’t with Pugacheva. I still have the reflection of a 19-year-old boy who joined the team of Pugacheva, who was already a mega-popular artist. Before my eyes, at the end of 1979, a new program was being prepared for the 1980 Olympics. The repertoire changed. Such complex songs appeared as “Hush, please, hush” or “I’m no longer jealous” based on Mandelstam’s poems. I ended up in a creative team that not only performed songs by Soviet composers, but experimented.

I’m happy that I, essentially a kid, was entrusted with making an arrangement for Vysotsky’s “Trouble.” Performed by Marina Vladi, it was a waltz. And I made it into a slow bossa nova. I came up with a theme that sounded between each quatrain instead of a chorus. Vysotsky did not have this. During these losses, Pugacheva carefully moved around the stage, as if on ice.

— Did you manage to meet Vysotsky?

— I saw Vysotsky once in my life, the first and last time, when he came to a rehearsal at the Variety Theater. Absolutely different from all the stories about him and his last days of life: drunkenness and drug addiction. He looked good: stylishly and fashionably dressed, modest, sober. He really liked my arrangement and breakdown. Everyone was waiting for him at the concert, and he promised to come. But, by tragic coincidence, on July 25, 1980, on the day of the premiere, Vysotsky passed away. It was the height of the Olympics, people were having a holiday. Everyone knew about his death, but it was impossible to talk about it from the stage. There was no applause when his song was played. There was a spontaneous moment of silence.

—Have you ever caught yourself plagiarizing?

— Glinka caught himself plagiarizing. But at the same time, he had a famous aphorism that we memorized during our studies: music is composed by the people, composers only arrange it.

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Igor Nikolaev: an artist who visited the Prince of Monaco

— The bulk of your songs are one way or another about love...

— Whose “mainstream” is not about love?

- But you have rare exceptions. For example, “Afghan Wind” based on poems by Nikolai Zinoviev. A song on a topical social topic of the war in Afghanistan at the time. This is out of character for you.

— Why “unusual”? Everything that evokes a response in the soul is characteristic of me. “Tell Me, Birds” is also about a social theme. It is even more relevant now than when I wrote it. “Tell me, birds, the time has come that our planet is fragile glass. Pure birches, rivers and fields, from above all this is softer than crystal...” In 1983, Pugacheva sang it, after a while - Batyrkhan Shukenov , then - Dima Bilan . And every time it sounds new and relevant.

“Afghan Wind” appeared in 1988, when perestroika and supposedly “glasnost” already took place. But it was still impossible to write like that: “Not in the forty-first near Kaluga, where the hill is high, in the eightieth near Kabul - face down in the sand.” “A funnel... And another funnel... A rift through the years. Why are you knocking, funeral maid, on a panel house?” Or: “And then two shadows appeared among the rowan trees, in the new military cemetery, father and son. The father said: “You wanted to go into space, the door is open, they put you in a zinc spacesuit now.”

This song was performed in “Song of the Year-88”, and then it was banned. I know that Valera Leontyev went to the Ministry of Defense and the Central Committee of the Komsomol - the bodies on which the fate of the song depended. But this did not help, she was still banned. It seems to me because she opened the wounds of people who lost loved ones in this war. “Now put you in a zinc spacesuit,” these lines were seen as inappropriate irony.

— You once admitted that you were escaping bad weather in Miami, where you have an apartment. And it is there, looking at the ocean, that you write songs. Is it really better to work there than at home? How much does the view outside the window influence what song is born as a result?

— It’s not the view outside the window that influences me, but the climate and comfort within the family. Seeing the happy eyes of a little man (Veronica’s daughter - Ed.) is more important to me than any ocean. I almost stopped flying to Miami. I go there because my eldest daughter, Yulia, lives there. My daughters live in different countries and miss each other. I love all my girls: my wife Yulechka, daughter Veronichka and eldest daughter Yulenka. I want them all to spend as much time together as possible. But often it doesn't work out.

In general, Veronica was born in Jurmala. We spend almost the entire summer there, in a cool climate, on the seashore. From there I fly on tour in the summer. The organizers don’t care which tickets to buy: from Moscow or from Riga. There is no difference in money. What is important to me is not the ocean, sea or other body of water. And for the family to be happy.

— Are there any songs that make you sick? Our own, of course.

— Such songs can be found in every album. But I never regretted that they were recorded. I love all my songs. And each has a story and a reason why it was written. I never think: “Now I’m going to write a bad song.” Why write it if you know in advance that it is bad?

— Can you tell the story of the creation of the song “Two Stars”?

— In the 1980s, we had something like a secret society, which included Alla Pugacheva, Alexander Kalyanov, Vladimir Kuzmin and me. From time to time various invited guests joined us. But the core was like this. We spontaneously left in an unknown direction, most often it was the Moscow region. We called it “going to Africa.”

— Why to “Africa”?

- This means going somewhere, away from everyone. Each of us took turns finding such places. These could be holiday homes and boarding houses that closed for the winter. We agreed with the management, and a banquet hall was specially opened for us, where we brought equipment. You arrive at some snowy boarding house, where there is not a soul. And inside - the clearing is covered, the equipment is connected. We sat down, drank, ate, played, sang. And then we went somewhere for a ride. It's such a thrill! And everyone was really looking forward to the next “Africa”. By the way, the joint album of Pugacheva and Kuzmin “Two Stars” is the brainchild of “Africa”.

Alla and I could catch a truck on Tverskaya at 2-3 in the morning and go to a rented apartment on Altufevskoye Shosse, which we rented with our first wife. It was located on the first floor, and there was almost nothing in it: no telephone, no refrigerator. In winter, a net with food stuffed into several bags (to prevent birds from eating it) hung outside the window. And at the same time there was no complex of poverty and a feeling of hopelessness.

— Is that where the song “Two Stars” was born?

— No, in another rented apartment on Novatorov Street in Moscow. We had a tradition of celebrating my birthday according to Sakhalin time, that is, 8 hours earlier than in Moscow. We walked on the night of January 16-17 in an apartment where there was also sparse furniture. But there was a piano, which also served as a table for us, and a carpet on which everyone lay. Early on a hungover morning, I took a piece of paper and wrote the entire text completely, without any edits. Volodya Kuzmin and Alla visited me. And right at breakfast I played this song for them. And in the evening of the same day we went to Pugacheva’s studio at Olimpiysky and recorded it. The song was born in January. And in February, Pugacheva and Kuzmin went with her to the festival in San Remo.

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How well do you know Igor Nikolaev's songs? Test

— Who finds it easier to write: yourself or another performer?

— I’ve always been more interested in writing songs for someone than for myself. It has always been this way. For myself, I wrote last.

— How will you celebrate the anniversary?

Elton John’s 60th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. I looked and thought: “How can a person feel at 60 years old, continuing to “rock and roll” at concerts: jumping on the piano, putting on shiny jackets, etc.? Maybe it’s indecent to behave like that at this age? Perhaps we should put on a tuxedo and sit thoughtfully at the piano, playing with one finger?” This is a very good Elton John concert, but I still saw some age-related lethargy there. Age takes over the spirit.

My anniversary concert, which will take place on November 11, will feature 20 of the best songs made in new arrangements. Plus 8-10 completely new songs. To prove, first of all, to myself that I can still do this. And in order for new songs to be familiar, they need to be recorded and the public needs to start introducing them to them in the summer. I want to make them sound modern and uncompromising, without making any allowance for the fact that I’m 60. And ticket sales for this concert will start on January 17, my birthday.

— Have you formulated for yourself the basic rule of life?

— The main rule is that God is merciful. He will always lead you to the right path even from the most difficult situation. I have a song about this. “If you are unlucky in small things, don’t be offended, don’t cry. This will pass. And senseless fear, and a streak of failures. It's gonna be all right. Your lips will be hot with love. Everything is fine, everything will be fine. If only life could go on. If trouble suddenly knocks on your window like a black bird, don’t give in to fate, happiness will come anyway.”