Zemfira biography personal life
The personal life of the Russian singer Zemfira is shrouded in mystery. Few people know, but she (daring, strange and talented) was credited with a relationship with billionaire Roman Abramovich. She sings passionately about love. Her poems are filled with love. And it seems that Zemfira's songs are a cry from the soul, confessions, revelations. Perhaps the recording studio is the only place where she does not speak, but screams about her feelings. In other places, with other people and under other circumstances, she cannot be forced to speak out loud about personal things.
Zemfira also became a producer of a musical film Green theater in Zemfira(2008), which received many positive reviews from critics. Together with director Renata Litvinova, Zemfira became a co-producer of the film Rita's last story(2012), for which she wrote music. The film took part in the competition program of the 3rd Odessa International Film Festival and the 34th Moscow International Film Festival. She also wrote music for the films of Renata Litvinova “Goddess: How I fell in love” and others. Several songs by Zemfira from the album “Thank you” are heard in Kira Muratova’s film “Melody for a barrel organ”, and in the film “Eternal Return” a concert recording repeatedly appears in the frame “ Songs of the Duke" from the opera "Rigoletto" performed by the singer.
Since her appearance in show business in 1999, Zemfira has undergone numerous changes in appearance, demeanor on stage and communication with journalists. Her behavior in public was often outrageous and caused rejection by the press.
Zemfira is also distinguished by perfectionism in work, tough disagreements with music producers. Therefore, she often produces her albums herself. Zemfira's musical style is classified as rock and pop rock. Her music is influenced by both guitar pop and jazz harmonies and bossa nova.
In 2004, a reference to Zemfira as the founder of a “completely different” musical youth culture was included in the “Spiritual Life” section of the Russian history textbook for grade 9 (the author of the manual is Alexander Danilov, professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University). Zemfira had a great influence on the work of young bands of the 2000s and on the younger generation as a whole. In November 2010, her debut album was included by Afisha magazine in the list of "The 50 Best Russian Albums of All Time. Choice of young musicians”, where he took the fifth line. The rating was compiled according to a survey among representatives of several dozen young musical groups in Russia. The list also included the album "Forgive me, my love" (43rd place).
In 2012, 2013 and 2014, the singer was included in the "One Hundred Most Influential Women of Russia" rating, compiled by the Ekho Moskvy radio station, RIA Novosti news agencies, Interfax and Ogonyok magazine.
Biography
1976-1995: Childhood and adolescence
Zemfira went to Ufa kindergarten No. 267. From the age of five she studied at a music school, in the piano class, where she was accepted into the choir as a soloist. At the same time, the singer's television debut took place: she sang a solo song about a worm on local television: “There lived a worm in the world, a lazy worm. I lay down to sleep on a barrel ... ". At the age of seven, she wrote the first song that she sang with her mother at work.
Already at preschool age, Zemfira became interested in music. At school, Zemfira managed to study simultaneously in 7 circles, but made the main emphasis on music and basketball; she graduated from music school with honors, and in early 1990 she became the captain of the Russian women's junior basketball team, despite the fact that she was not tall (Zemfira's height is 172 cm). “I was a point guard. I was the smallest, but the most important, ”said the singer, adding that she had been involved in this sport since the third grade. Team coach Yuri Maksimov recalled: “Zemfira was very passionate about basketball, she was the best player and team captain. In 1990-1991, we won the youth championship of Russia, and, of course, I was a little upset when she decided to quit the sport. ”
In parallel, Zemfira learned to play the guitar and, according to one version, performed the songs “Kino”, “Aquarium”, “Nautilus Pompilius” right on the street. According to another version, she performed hits by foreign artists in the original language, in particular, George Michael and Freddie Mercury. After graduating from school, Zemfira faced a very difficult choice for herself: music or basketball. The girl chose music and immediately entered the second year at the Ufa School of Arts, which she graduated in 1997 (class of A.K. Masalimova) with a red diploma in pop vocals. After college, she worked part-time in Ufa restaurants, singing songs to the accompaniment of her classmate saxophonist Vlad Kolchin. A year later, Zemfira got tired of it, and she stopped performing.
1996-1997: Early career
I sat myself in Ufa, worked for four years in restaurants and got tired. I went to the radio station "Europe plus Ufa" ... Then there was a love for the computer and the opportunity arose at night to sing some songs. I mastered a couple of musical programs and forward ... I wrote at night, went home in the morning, listened ... I sat like that for nine months, thirty or forty songs accumulated. Then I went to Moscow - just to relax, to visit. And I took these songs with me on CDR, as they say, just in case of a fire. The friend I stayed with liked it, she asked me to rewrite it. I made a trip to the Fili record company, but they told me that they would not take the CDR, I needed a cassette. I left. I didn't go anywhere else - I didn't like it. And my friend handed over the cassette she had rewritten at Maksidrome to the producer of Mumiy Troll, Leonid Burlak. Lenya on the same day called me in Ufa. I hardly scraped together money for a ticket and returned to Moscow.
Zemfira talks about the first stage of her career
Since 1996, Zemfira worked as a sound engineer at the Ufa radio station Europe Plus - she recorded commercials (jingles). At the same time, she tries to write songs in the Cakewalk program, which will later be included in her first album (Snow, Why, Weatherman, Rockets). Participates as the second vocalist in the Spectrum Ace group, popular at that time. Zemfira's backing vocals can be heard in the song "What a pity that he is not a black man."
At the studio of the radio station, sound engineer Arkady Mukhtarov worked on his material. Together with him, Zemfira recorded his first demo disc. Arkady was determined to record his own songs, but the performer convinced him to record her material: “Of course, I was sure that my own work was much more important ... but [her] rock-hard character ... did its job. And we, with hassle, but still recorded the first demo disc, ”the musician later said. In parallel, Zemfira collects her own group. The first musician with whom she began to work was bass player Rinat Akhmadiev. Together they decide to record a program minimum of songs. Rinat brings drummer Sergei Sozinov, and they begin rehearsals together, in which Zemfira alternately plays the guitar and keyboards. Zemfira persuades the director of the teenage club "Apelsin" Lilia Khrabrina to provide the group with a room for rehearsals.
In 1997, the press writes about the group for the first time. Journalist Svetlana Rutskaya wrote an article about the team for a regional newspaper and later recalled: “It was 1997, two years were left before the release of her first album, and the future celebrity was then just a talented Ufa girl, unknown to anyone even in her hometown. But you can’t hide charisma, and the songs that the heroine of the material gave me to listen to were attractive. That's when we decided to tell the whole republic about it. I remember that even then Zemfira made a policy statement: “I have so much music in my head that I have nowhere to go.”
Zemfira continues to recruit musicians for the team. With the arrival of keyboardist Sergei Mirolyubov, the group is almost completely assembled, only a solo guitarist is missing. They become Vadim Solovyov, who joins the group after one of the concerts. Zemfira borrows money for a trip to Moscow and begins to engage in the "promotion" of the team. At the annual Maksidrome festival, a cassette on which three songs were recorded ("Snow", "-140" and "Scandal"), through journalists to whom Zemfira gave demo recordings to listen, falls into the hands of the producer of the Mumiy Troll group Leonid Burlakov. He decides to take a chance and record an album.
In parallel with her studies at the university, the girl began to earn extra money, performing popular songs in Ufa restaurants. However, she quickly got bored with such activities, and in 1996 Zemfira got a job on the radio: she recorded commercials for the Bashkir branch of the Europa Plus radio station. Then she records her first demos.
Zemfira: music
Zemfira's biography changed dramatically in 1997, when at the annual rock festival "Maksidrom" a cassette with her songs fell into the hands of Leonid Burlakov, then producer of the Mumiy Troll group, through acquaintances of journalists. Leonid decides to give the talented performer a chance, and at the end of 1998 Zemfira records her first album at the Mosfilm studio "Zemfira".
In 1996, Zemfira went to visit her friend in Moscow, where she met Leonid Burlak, who was the producer of the Mumiy Troll group. At the same time, the singer begins to record her first demo disc and at the same time gathers her group.
In 1997, the new group was first mentioned in the newspapers. In 1998, the recording of the first album began at the Mosfilm studio, Vladimir Ovchinnikov became a sound engineer, and singer Ilya Lagutenko from the Mumiy Troll group became a sound producer.
and finally -
For some time the couple lived together, and when Zemfira moved to Moscow, Mukhtarov followed. Arkady was engaged in the official website of Zemfira, and later starred in the video "Macho".
In 1999, Zemfira and her colleague Vyacheslav Petkun decided to promote themselves and even shared their plans for the upcoming wedding with the press. However, after 5 months, the inept PR move was revealed by journalists.
Zemfira: biography - on the wave of fame
May 10, 2005 started a tour in support of the fourth album "Vendetta", which included 15 tracks. With a new program and an updated line-up represented by session musicians Boris Livshits, Andrey Zvonkov and her protégé Vladimir Kornienko, Zemfira visited a number of cities near and far abroad. The final point was a concert on December 23 in Moscow, in the Gorbunov Palace of Culture, where Zemfira jumped from the stage into the crowd.
On February 14, on St. Valentine's Day, a DVD with clips "Zemfira.DVD" was released, which included most of the singer's videos released at that time, except for the clips for the songs Speed (the singer does not like this clip) and Traffic (due to disagreements Zemfira with the director of the video Irina Mironova). The deluxe version of the collection also included a video for the song Itogi, shot by Renata Litvinova.
After a short break, in the spring of 2007, Zemfira again delights fans with new concerts. The tour, called "De Javu", features well-known compositions from previously released albums, but in a new arrangement. Songs changed beyond recognition are performed again by session musicians: Dmitry Shurov, Konstantin Kulikov, Alexei Belyaev, Denis Marinkin. The tour ends with a concert in Moscow, at the Green Theater on Pushkinskaya Embankment, whose visitors could see fireworks in honor of the performer at the end of the concert.
In recent years, the press has hinted in every possible way at Zemfira's unconventional orientation and writes about her special friendship with actress and director Renata Litvinova. Zemfira and Renata Litvinova are connected by a number of common creative projects - films Goddess, Green Theater in Zemfira, clips.
Discography
She sings her songs like that and writes her music like that, while she loves so much.
The founder of "female rock" in Russian music, poetess and soloist Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova was born on August 26, 1976, a native of Ufa. She grew up in a prosperous enlightened family. Mom is a doctor of special physical education, dad is a history teacher. At the age of 4, the baby took up music, at 5 she began studying at a music school. While still a preschooler, the future rock star performed on a local TV channel. The first TV broadcast, in which the song about the worm sounded, was very exciting. At the age of 7, little Zemfira managed to write her first song and perform at her mother's job.First steps
The passion for rock music for young Zemfira passed from her brother Ramil. He often listened to Queen and Black Sabbath. The teachers praised Zemfira, because she excelled in the class. In the seventh grade, the girl studied in parallel in some sections and circles, giving her preference to music and basketball. Maintaining restraint and training with diligence, Zemfira has achieved significant success in the sports section.Professional sports
In 1990, she led the Russian junior women's basketball team, although she had never been taller among her peers in her life (172). In one of the interviews, the singer noticed that she took up her favorite sport in the 3rd grade. After a while, music lessons got tired. The question of further education and development of musical abilities became acute. Mom insisted, and Zemfira continued her studies. At the same time, the passion for rock - music grew into a serious occupation. Playing the guitar in the underground passages of Ufa, and Peter, Zemfira chose to perform songs known and loved at that time "Cinema" (read), "Aquarium", and many others. Thus, the first income appeared. In the 11th grade, the future rock star left the sport. She graduated from music school with excellent marks. There was a desire to become a writer after graduation, to enter the Faculty of Philology, but the class teacher insisted on a music school. Zemfira was enrolled in the second year of the department. After graduation, she became a certified pop vocalist.In an interview, the girl admitted that her first love was fellow saxophonist Vlad Kolchin, with whom they performed together in cafes and nightclubs.
Career start
Since 1996, Zemfira got a job as an operator in her hometown on the Europa Plus radio channel. During the daytime, she recorded short advertising slogans, experimented with sound, and at night she was engaged in writing. There were more and more serious songs. The young performer and her work aroused interest among professional musicians. So in 1998 the Zemfira group appeared. The first performances began.
A trip to friends in the Russian capital brought unexpected success. A cassette with 15 songs by a little-known singer was listened to by the producer of the Mumiy Troll group, Leonid Burlakov. He liked the records. A talented author and performer is invited to Moscow. Producer Ilya Lagutenko and sound engineer Vladimir Ovchinnikov actively participated in the creation of the 1st album "Zemfira". The final version of the first audio album was made by sound engineer Chris Bendy in London.
In February 1999, the radio version of the song "AIDS" broke into the top songs of many Russian radio stations ("Nashe Radio", "Russian Radio"). Then her song creations "Rockets" and "Arivederchi" became hits. In mid-March, Zemfira released the first video clip for the song "AIDS".
The first solo tour in the cities of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the Baltic States began in September and lasted 5 months.
In the spring of 2000, another collection of the singer "Forgive me, my love" was presented, which won the recognition of listeners (1.5 million copies). The first performance of the artist in the Olimpiysky Sports Complex in Moscow turned out to be very significant. Admirers stubbornly did not want to disperse, having received a lot of emotions after a two-hour concert.
On August 26, 2000, in Bashkortostan, Zemfira was awarded the State Youth Prize in the field of culture. Sh. Babich.
In 2002, the third album of the group "14 weeks of silence" was completed (number of songs -13).
At a concert in Ufa on August 26, fellow rock stars saw a new video for the song "Macho". According to the results of the musical 2003, Zemfira's third album becomes a bestseller, and the singer received the title of laureate of the Russian Triumph Award for her work in the field of culture and art.
On October 16, 2004, the musical dream of a girl from Ufa came true. She sang a duet with the Queen group of the song "We are the champions." In 2004, Ramazanova was a student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. Takes academic leave to record the next album. As a result, student Ramazanova was expelled in 2006.
Creative achievements of the past decade
In the spring of 2005, the album "Vendetta" appeared. A month after the release of the collection, a new tour began.
According to its results, in the fall of 2006, a concert version of the collection “Zemfira. Live" (number of songs -10).
On February 14, 2007, a collection of clips “Zemfira. DVD". The limited edition of the disc included a video for the song "Itogi", shot by Renata Litvinova.
In 2008, Zemfira earned a music award in the field of rock and roll in two categories: "Soloist of the Year" and "Music" (the song "We Break" from the audio collection "Thank you" was awarded).
The premiere of the film-concert "Green Theater in Zemfira" took place on February 19, 2008, the director of the film, Renata Litvinova, said. "It's an audacious act to capture an outstanding performer in outstanding form," the director said.
In the summer of 2008, the singer became the winner of the Stepnoy Volk award twice.
In 2010, she received the title of laureate of the honorary award "For contribution to the development of science, culture and art" of the Russian Authors' Society.
In 2010, Ramazanova's debut album became one of the "Top 50 Russian Albums of All Time".
In 2011, several media outlets included Zemfira in the "100 Super Influential Women of Russia".
In 2012, Zemfira and Renata Litvinova are working on the film "Rita's Last Tale". The girls have known each other for a long time and filmed Zemfira's videos together, a concert film about her, and Zemfira herself was the composer of Litvinova's paintings. Here is what the performer said about her friend: “Renata is an extraordinary person, but it is very easy to communicate with her. There are people who think she's weird, but nothing like that."
End of career?
On July 17, 2013, Zemfira sang the song “We are breaking up” at the closing of the XXVII World Summer Universiade in Kazan. In the fall of 2013, the girl was awarded the MTV Europe award in the Best Russian Performer nomination. In the ranking of highly paid people of the 2015-2016 season, according to the influential Russian magazine, the singer Zemfira took 9th place with a total profit of $ 6 million. On February 4, 2016, the singer began her last tour "Little Man", which she spoke about at a concert in Novgorod. The Zemfira group organized 20 concerts in the cities of Russia and abroad. In the fall, a concert was held in Yekaterinburg. Further, the touring part of the tour covered the cities of far abroad.
Many associate the end of a song career with personal tragedies in the Ramazanov family. Not so long ago, the girl's brother and father passed away. True fans of Zemfira are sure that the singer has temporarily retired from musical matters and will soon again delight her fans with another masterpiece.
The singer's musical career began in 1997, when she came to conquer the capital from Ufa. The public image of the artist regularly undergoes changes. Zemfira is constantly experimenting with her appearance. The manner of behavior and communication with the press is also subject to regular adjustments.
Buying your own home was not so easy for the singer. Prior to this, Zemfira spent four years wandering around rented apartments, she had to change a huge amount of housing.
Rented accommodation Zemfira
Upon arrival in the capital, the singer lived with her friends for some time, after which she was "sheltered" by the soloist of the Mumiy Troll group, Ilya Lagutenko. Zemfira lived together with Ilya's family in his house outside the city. The musicians of the group also lived there.
The next "refuge" for six months Ramazanova was a one-room apartment in Solntsevo. Her singer filmed together with a friend. At that time, Zema did not have a registration, so there were regular problems with law enforcement agencies.
The third housing that Zemfira rented is a two-room apartment with a European-style renovation on Berezhkovskaya embankment.
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The fourth apartment was not far from the Smolenskoye metro station, the fifth on Mira Avenue, the sixth on Makeeva Street, the seventh not far from the Ulitsa 1905 Goda metro station. But Zemfira did not stay in them for long.
The last rented apartment of the rock singer was a two-room apartment on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.
Zemfira's apartment on Frunzenskaya embankment
After long wanderings in rental housing, an apartment was bought in an elite Moscow area on Frunzenskaya Embankment. During this period, the scandalous rock diva mastered the rent of a country house. She lived in it for six months, while repair work was underway to equip her own living space.
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Zemfira preferred a two-room apartment to a standard three-room apartment in a Stalinist house. To do this, some walls were demolished, resulting in a bedroom and a spacious living room. The kitchen has a comfortable bar counter. There is a corner for audio-video equipment and a computer desk in the hall. Zemfira's roommate is a little chihuahua named Che.
It was rumored that Zemfira bought the apartment for US$100,000. However, real estate experts in Moscow stated that real estate in this area with a total area of 85 sq. m. cannot have such a low cost. Therefore, the approximate estimated value of the singer's apartment is about 250,000 US dollars.
Zemfira is a Russian rock singer, composer, producer and songwriter. Zemfira is called the founder of "female rock" and the "voice of a generation."Childhood and youth
Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova was born in Ufa in 1976. Already at the age of five, the future celebrity began to study music, enrolling in a music school in piano, where she was accepted into the choir. Already at the age of 7 she wrote her first works. 
During her studies at school, Zemfira tried herself in many ways, attending seven circles. For example, she was the captain of the junior women's basketball team of the Russian Federation, and in 1990 her team even won the youth championship of Russia.
However, Zemfira chose a musical career and immediately entered the second year of the Ufa College of Arts in the pop vocal department, which she graduated in 1997. During her studies, the future rock singer worked as a presenter in the Ufa branch of the famous Europa Plus radio channel.
Musical career
Zemfira wrote her first works, which made her famous throughout the country, in parallel with her work on the radio. In early 1997, she created the Zemfira musical group, and a year later she moved to Moscow. It was then, after listening to her songs by the producer of the Mumiy Troll group, Burlakov, that she was invited to record her debut album at the Mosfilm tone studio. Ilya Lagutenko volunteered to be the music producer for him, and Vladimir Ovchinnikov was the sound engineer. The music of the first record was unlike anything that existed in Russian rock at that time. At first glance, understandable themes of creativity, such as love, loneliness, nostalgia, were dressed in non-trivial texts and the original sound of the melody.Zemfira - "Arivederchi"
Already in February 1999, the song "Speed" broke into the rotation of the radio stations "Nashe Radio" and "M-radio". A month later, Zemfira filmed her first video in Prague for the song "Arivederchi". The girl's official first performance took place on March 24 at the Republic Beefeater club in Moscow, and six months later she left for her first concert tour of the CIS cities until 2000.
On March 28, 2000, the presentation of Zemfira's next album "Forgive me, my love" took place. During this year, the singer recorded a video for the song "Iskala", which will sound in the cult feature film of Alexei Balabanov "Brother 2" and received the first Shaikhzada Babich Prize in the field of culture, awarded in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Zemfira - "Looking for"
April 2002 began for the singer with the presentation of the new, third, album "Fourteen Minutes of Silence", for which Zemfira received the prestigious Russian Triumph Award in 2003.
On October 16, 2004, Zemfira was honored to perform the hit "We Are The Champions" together with the Queen group during the MTV Russia Awards ceremony. In the same year, Ramazanova entered the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, but after taking academic leave to write an album, she never recovered.
Queen & Zemfira - "We are the champions"
In 2005, a new album, Vendetta, was released, and a year and a half later, sales of a DVD with her clips called Zemfira.DVD started.
In July 2006, Zemfira performed on Lake Seliger at a rally of the Nashi political movement, which she later called her mistake.
By the end of the year, the singer released another album with concert recordings "Zemfira.Live", which included 10 hits from previous records.
October 2007 launched the sales of the singer's new album Thank You, which continued with a concert tour that ended at the Olympic. In March of the following year, Zemfira was awarded the famous "Chart Dozen" music award, where she won in the "Music" and "Soloist of the Year" nominations.
In 2008, the full-length musical film "Green Theater in Zemfira" by Renata Litvinova, the singer's closest friend, was released. The film revealed the theme of the uniqueness of Zemfira's work: a completely new image of a self-sufficient woman appeared on the Russian stage.
In 2011-2013, the singer worked on the album "Live in your head." Prior to its creation, an extraordinary collection of b-sides was released, called "Z-Sides". During this period, Zemfira gives concerts in the cities of the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany and other European cities, and also participates in the creation of soundtracks for the film "Rita's Last Tale" by Renata Litvinova.
Soundtrack to the film "Rita's Last Tale"
In April 2012, the singer for the first time in a long time appears on television with the presentation of the song "Money" on Ivan Urgant's show "Evening Urgant".
In 2013, she was awarded the most honorable MTV Europe Music Awards in the Best Russian Performer nomination, and by the end of the year, Zemfira's sixth album, Live in Your Head, was available on the Yandex.Music service. For a long time, the relationship between Renata Litvinova and Zemfira was discussed in the press. The girls were often seen together, and they often worked on joint projects. In 2017, information appeared in the media that Zemfira and Renata Litvinova got married in Stockholm, but both girls did not comment on this news.
Zemfira today
In 2018, the singer performed at the Live Fest Summer festival in Sochi and at the Afisha picnic in Moscow.Zemfira - "Non-vulgar" (2018)
In the summer of 2018, there was a conflict between Zemfira and the singers Monetochka and Grechka. It all started with the release of the show on the YouTube channel "Viska", where Liza Monetochka called Zemfira "a complex person, closed and incomprehensible." She, in turn, sharply criticized the work of young performers, saying that Grechka has a “terrible appearance”, and Monetochka has a “disgusting voice”.
