Valery Leontiev

Valery Yakovlevich Leontiev (Russian: Валерий Яковлевич Леонтьев; born 19 March 1949) is a Russian singer, songwriter and actor, whose popularity peaked in the 1980s and 1990s. He was titled a People's Artist of Russia in 1996. During his career, he achieved international success in Eastern Europe, has the status of a pop icon along with Alla Pugacheva, and is a winner of ZD Awards.

In 1993, Leontyev headlined the Voice of Asia festival, along with Boney M and Gloria Gaynor.

Over the course of his decades-long career, he has recorded more than 30 albums, many of which sold millions of copies. The media refers to Leontiev as a megastar and a legend of the Russian pop.

Valery Yakovlevich Leontiev was born on 19 March 1949, in Ust-Usa, a village in what is now Russia's Komi Republic. In 1961 the family moved to the city Yuryevets in Ivanovo Oblast.

Leontiev's first performance on the big stage took place in 1971, during the Vorkuta regional competition "Song-71". There, Leontiev took second place with the song "Carnaval".

In 1980 Leontiev sang in various concerts, including the Moscow Variety Theatre, Oktyabrsky and Luzhniki. In 1981, the artist won the popularity prize at the prestigious music festival Yerevan-81. American journalists who attended the event noted the expressive manner of performing of the singer and compared him to Mick Jagger. In 1982, Leontiev underwent a serious operation to remove a tumor from his throat, which jeopardized his further singing career.

In 1983, the singer moves to work in the Voroshilovgrad Philharmonic (now Luhansk Philharmonic) in the Ukrainian SSR. A year later, he was given a whole section in the author's evening "Holy love of music" by composer Raimond Pauls in Moscow.

In 1986 he performed in Chernobyl for the liquidators of the nuclear power plant accident. Alla Pugacheva also performed in Chernobyl. In 1987, Leontyev already became an Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

The beginning of the 90s was marked for Leontiev splash touring. His concerts were held in Germany, Israel, USA, Canada, India and other countries. In 1991 Leontiev was named the "Best Selling Soviet Artist" at the World Music Awards ceremony in Monte Carlo. In 1994 he performed on stage with Gina Lollobrigida in Saint-Petersburg concert hall "Oktyabrskiy", and in 1996 he was awarded the title People's Artist of Russia. in March 1998 а nominal star of Valery Leontiev was opened on the Star Square in Moscow. in 1999 Leontiev was awarded the "Living Legend Award" at the Russian national music award "Ovation".

1972 – First solo concert was in Vorkuta.

1981 – First solo concerts in Oktyabrskiy Big Concert Hall, Leningrad

1981 – First participation in the finale of the festival "Song of the Year "

1981 – participated in the competition – festival "Yerevan-81".

1983 – concert program, "I'm just a singer" (18 sold-out concerts in Leningrad)

1980 – First prize of the XVI International Festival "Golden Orpheus" in Bulgaria

1991 – "Best-selling soviet recording-artist of the year".

1996 – Best show of the year – "On the road to Hollywood"

1999 – Best show of the year – "Photographer of Dreams"

2001 – Best show of the year – "Nameless Planet"

2014 – Special prize for a contribution to the development of Russian pop music

1997 – For song "One ticket" (Один билет)

1999 – For song "Everybody wants to love" (Каждый хочет любить)

2005 – Special prize "For contribution to the development of the Russian pop music"

1997 – Singer of the year and prize for a great contribution to the development of Russian pop music.

2003 – Special prize "For achievements in the development of popular music"

2015 – Special prize for "a unique contribution to the development of the Russian pop music".

2019 – Special prize for "contribution to the development of national culture."

1981 – Performer of the Year according to the contest, "Estrada-81" (Komsomolskaya Pravda)

1983 – Singer of the Year according to a poll of readers of the newspaper "Smena"

1987 – The best song of the year "White Crow" on the basis of open voting ITAR-TASS in the USSR, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and others.

1988 – Singer of the Year on the basis of open voting ITAR-TASS

1990 – Best song of the Year according to the All-Union charts TASS "Wicked Way" (Грешный путь)

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (21 February 2022) – for a great contribution to the development of national culture and art, many years of fruitful activity

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (19 March 2005) – for his great contribution to the development of music

Order of Honor (2009) – for great contribution to the development of national music art and many years of creative activity

People's Artist of the Republic of Komi (2009)

Honorary Citizen of Sakha Republic (2014)

1985: Flower Seller (Продавец цветов) (Remake released in 2014)

1986: Remember them Flying (Запомни их летящими)

1987: Familiar Fairy Tale (Знакомая сказка)

1988: I Went to the Microphone (Я вышел к микрофону)

1985: Birth Day (Рождение дня) (Lyrics co-written with Vladimir Kostrov)

1993: Touch (Прикоснись) (Lyrics co-written with Nikolai Denisov)

1979: The film-concert "Olümpiaregati tähed \ Stars Olympic regatta" CT USSR and ETV

1984: I do not say goodbye to you ( Я с тобой не прощаюсь)

1985: Stained glass maker (Витражных дел мастер)

1986: Clown with autumn in the heart (Клоун с осенью в сердце)

1986: How to become a star (Как стать звездой)

Valery Leontiev is married to bass guitarist Lyudmila Isakovich. The couple have been together since 1972. However, officially their marriage was registered only in 1998. The artist's wife lives in Miami.

The Soviet Union never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, as no Soviet broadcasters were members of the EBU. In 2009 Eduard Fomin, a former employee of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, revealed that in 1987 George Veselov, the Minister of Education for the Soviet Union, brought forward the idea of Soviet participation in the EBU and the Eurovision Song Contest due to the number of political reforms made by the Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. The idea was mainly a political one, with the thought that a win in the contest for the Soviet Union would impact on the relationships between the Soviet Union and the capitalist countries of the west. Valery Leontiev was suggested as a singer for the Soviet Union's first entry into the contest, but Veselov's ideas were not shared by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or by Gorbachev himself, believing it to be too radical a step to take, and so the Soviet Union never entered the contest before dissolving.