Alla Borisovna Pugacheva (
Russian: А́лла Бори́совна Пугачёва, Russian pronunciation:['alːɐbɐ'rʲisəvnɐpʊgɐˈt͡ɕɵvɐ]; sometimes Pugachova; born 15 April 1949) is a Soviet and Russian singer-songwriter. Her career started in 1965 and continues to this day, even though she has retired from performing. For her "clear
mezzo-soprano and a full display of sincere emotions",[1] she enjoys an iconic status across the former
Soviet Union as the most successful Soviet performer[2][3] in terms of record sales and popularity.[a]
Pugacheva was born to Boris Mikhailovich Pugachyov and Zinaida Arkhipovna (née Odegova) Pugachyova in Moscow, on 15 April 1949.[7] In 1956, she enrolled in music school No.31, and attended the
Ippolitov-Ivanov music college. She went on to study at school No.496, finishing her studies there in 1964. She then studied in the choral-conducting department of the college. Pugacheva recorded her first track "Robot" in 1965, for a morning programme on
Radio Yunost.[8]
Career
Pugacheva finished college in 1966 and subsequently toured with the group Yunost' (Youth) in western
Siberia. The following year she began working as a piano accompanist at the State Circus Musical college. She provided the leading vocals to a number of bands, including Novy Elektron (New Electron), part of the
Lipetsk State Philharmonic Society, in 1966, Moskvichi (Muscovites) in 1971,
Oleg Lundstrem's band in 1972–73, and
Vesyolye Rebyata (Merry Folks) in 1974–75. She recorded songs throughout that period for numerous movies.[9]
In 1974, she came in 3rd place in the All-Union competition of musicians. In 1975, she received the Grand Prix of the
Golden Orpheus international singing contest in Bulgaria, performing the song "Harlequin" by
Emil Dimitrov. The
Amiga label released her winning song as a single in
East Germany. Subsequently, in Bulgaria, the
Balkanton label released the live recording of "Harlequin" from the festival as a single. A year later, Pugacheva returned to the Golden Orpheus to perform a concert outside the competition. The Balkanton released the live tracks as Pugacheva's first album Zolotoy Orfey 76. In that same year, Pugacheva recorded a number of songs for the musical drama-comedy The Irony of Fate as the singing voice of Nadja, the female protagonist.
Pugacheva went on to work on the
musical filmThe Woman who Sings in cooperation with the band Ritm (Rhythm) in 1977. She played the leading lady, a famous pop singer who sacrifices her personal life for her career. The soundtrack, which was co-written by Pugacheva and composed of pop songs, culminated with the dramatic title
ballad "Zhenshchina, kotoraya poyot". The Soviet audience, regarding the film as autobiographical,[10] brought the soundtrack to reach
record audience of the year in 1979, as it was bought by 55 million people.[11] The soundtrack was first released in 1977 as part of the double album Zerkalo dushi (Mirror of the Soul), which was a collection of her songs from 1975 to 1977. The
Victor label released a collection album Alla Pugacheva in the same year in Japan. In 1978, performing the song "Vsyo mogut koroli" ("Kings Can Do Anything"), Pugacheva received the Amber Nightingale prize at the
Sopot International Song Festival which at the time meant automatically winning the Grand Prix of the
Intervision Song Contest.[12] In 1980, the Kansan label of Finland released her above-listed works as the compilation album Huipulla (At the Top). Tonbandausnahmenkompanie Bayer GmbH did the same in West Germany, releasing Alla Pugachova.
Her work in 1980–2000
During the 1980s, Pugacheva was a frequent visitor to
Stockholm. She started out with multiple guest appearances on the popular Swedish radio show Galaxen (April 1980 year) conducted by
Jacob Dahlin, and later frequently appeared on his TV show Jacobs Stege (Jacob's Ladder). Dahlin and Pugacheva used to perform duets, such as "Superman" where Dahlin sings as the title character. In Stockholm, Pugacheva recorded an album in English, released by the World Record Music label in Sweden as
Watch Out and by the
Melodiya label in the Soviet Union as Alla Pugacheva in Stockholm.[citation needed]
Pugacheva had sold a quarter of a billion records by 2000, in 2023 one of her songs were used for
Atomic Heart for the intro.[14]
Private life
In 1969, she married Lithuanian circus performer
Mykolas Orbakas [
lt], and on 25 May 1971 she gave birth to a daughter,
Kristina Orbakaitė, who is also a popular singer.[15] Pugacheva divorced Orbakas after four years of marriage in 1973. She married film director
Alexander Stefanovich (1945–2021) in 1976 and starred in several of his movies. The union was dissolved in 1980.
In 1985, Pugacheva married producer Yevgeniy Boldin, with whom she had numerous professional collaborations. She had a working and romantic relationship with a young musician and singer,
Vladimir Kuzmin during this period. In 1993, she divorced Yevgeniy Boldin stating that their professional lives interfered too much with their personal life.
In 1994, she married a pop singer,
Philipp Kirkorov. Their divorce was announced in November 2005.
On 23 December 2011, Pugacheva married satirist
Maxim Galkin, who is 27 years younger.[16] The couple has twins delivered by a surrogate mother.
Political and social activities
From 1963 to 1977, starting when she was fourteen, Pugacheva was a member of the
Komsomol.[17]
In June 1996, Pugacheva actively participated in the pre-election tour of
Boris Yeltsin's presidential campaign "
Vote or lose."[19] Later, she did not hide that she had taken much money for her performances at concerts as part of this election campaign.[20] On 14 June 1996, two days before the vote, an interview with
Leonid Parfyonov was aired in the Hero of the Day program on the NTV channel, in which Pugacheva called on all Russians to vote for Yeltsin.[21][22]
In December 2005, Pugacheva became a member of the
Civic Chamber under the President of the Russian Federation, where she worked on social development issues until 2008.[24]
Since September 2011, Pugacheva has openly supported politician
Mikhail Prokhorov. She declared her readiness to join his party, then joined his Public Council; together with
Andrey Makarevich, she sang the song "Samy vysoky" (The Tallest) about him, and also took part in various press conferences of Prokhorov and congresses of the public council of the
Civic Platform party.[25] On 14 September, she took part in the party congress.[26][27] However, after the removal of its leader, the day after the congress at a meeting of supporters of Mikhail Prokhorov, she left the party, blaming
Vladislav Surkov for what happened.[28]
In 2012, Pugacheva supported the punk group
Pussy Riot.[29]
Pugacheva took second place in the ranking of "100 Most Influential Women of Russia" (Ogoniok, 2012)[35] and 4th in the ranking of "The Smartest Women of Russia" (
Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 2012).[36]
In March 2022, Pugacheva and Galkin, whose mother is Jewish,[38] left Russia for
Israel following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[39] In August 2022, Pugacheva returned to Russia hoping to clean up "the mess in people heads".[40] In September 2022, after her husband had been declared a "
foreign agent", she spoke out publicly condemning the war and useless deaths of Russian men who are forced to die for no reason. She also asked Ministry of Justice to declare her a foreign agent, too.[41][42]
Прошу зачислить меня в ряды иноагентов моей любимой страны, ибо я солидарна со своим мужем, честным, порядочным и искренним человеком, настоящим и неподкупным патриотом России, желающим Родине процветания, мирной жизни, свободы слова и прекращения гибели наших ребят за иллюзорные цели, делающие нашу страну изгоем и утяжеляющие жизнь наших граждан.
I ask to enlist me in the list of foreign agents of my beloved country, because I'm solidary with my husband, an honest, decent and sincere person, a true and incorruptible patriot of Russia which wishes the Motherland prosperity, peaceful life, freedom of speech and an end of the deaths of our men for the illusory goals that make our country an outcast and make life difficult for our citizens.
—Alla Pugacheva on War in Ukraine, September 18, 2022[43][44]
Russian authorities began investigating Pugacheva for "discrediting" the Russian military under
Russian 2022 war censorship laws.[45] In October 2022, Pugacheva revealed that she had left Russia again for Israel.[46][47][48] In November 2023, Pugacheva returned to Russia for a few days before leaving again for Latvia.[49]
The British pop group
Pet Shop Boys supported Pugacheva. The band members said they admired her courage and honesty.[50] German rock musician
Udo Lindenberg[51] and Ukrainian singer
Svetlana Loboda[52] also expressed words of support for Pugacheva.
Honours and awards
Pugacheva's most notable title is "
People's Artist of the USSR", the highest honor that could be bestowed to a musical artist in the state, awarded to her in 1991. While the lesser titles of "Accomplished Artist of the
Russian SFSR", and "People's Artist of the Russian SFSR" had been already awarded to her in 1980 and 1985 respectively, the government was hesitant to award her its highest honor, reportedly largely because of statements and actions on her part that were inconsistent with the
Party's agenda.[53] Pugacheva is listed in the
Russian Encyclopedia (2005).[54]
^Encyclopædia Britannica repeats a claim on its features website that Pugacheva has sold around 250 million records. Other internet sources claim figures from 75 million to 250 million records, though there is no official source for this information.
^"Алла Пугачёва призывает голосовать за Ельцина" [Alla Pugacheva calls for voting for Yeltsin] (in Russian). Расцвет российских СМИ (The rise of Russian media). 14 June 1996.
Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
^"Алле Пугачёвой исполняется 65 лет" [Alla Pugacheva turns 65]. NEWS.am Style (in Russian). 15 April 2014.
Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.