What are the names of the girls in the tattoo group. Biography

Lena Katina is a red-haired girl from the Tatu duet. Recently, she rarely appears on television; her name is practically not mentioned in print media. This gives rise to various rumors. Do you want to get reliable information about the biography and personal life of Lena Katina? Then we recommend reading the article.

Lena Katina: biography, childhood

She was born on October 4, 1984 in Moscow. Our heroine was brought up in a creative and intelligent family. Her father, Sergei Katin, is a professional musician. He still writes compositions for many pop stars. Perhaps it was from him that Elena inherited musical talent and perfect pitch.

The father dreamed that his daughter would follow in his footsteps. In the end, that's what happened. Already at the age of 4, Lena Katina began attending music school. She was enrolled in piano class. The girl immediately fell in love with this instrument.

After 2 years, Lenochka was accepted into the children's ensemble "Avenue". Then she moved to a team called “Fidgets”. There she met Yulia Volkova, as well as the future soloists of the SMASH duo - Seryozha Lazarev and Vlad Topalov.

At the age of 14, Lena left the Fidget group. She wanted further development of her creative activity. But within the framework of this project this turned out to be impossible.

"Tattoo"

In 1998, Lena was invited to the studio to voice-over a commercial. The director was pleased with the collaboration with the girl. He praised her vocal abilities. Shapovalov had the idea of ​​creating a group unlike any other.

About a year later, the producer introduced Katina to composer A. Voitinsky. He is the author of two compositions - “Tell me why” and “Yugoslavia”. Initially, it was assumed that Elena would perform these songs herself. But at some point Shapovalov decided to do a duet. Yulia Volkova was invited as the second soloist. The girls have known each other for a long time. Therefore, they quickly worked together. During the same period, the legendary song “I've lost my mind” was recorded. Later a video for this composition was released. It gave rise to a lot of rumors and speculation. After all, on the screen, young girls (a brunette and a redhead) portrayed love.

With the song “I've lost my mind,” the Tatu group conquered not only Russia, but also Europe. Naughty girls performed at major concert venues. The listeners sang along with them and shouted out various compliments.

In the early 2000s, the girls from Tatu were real superstars. They released several albums, starred in dozens of videos and gave hundreds of concerts. It would seem that Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova will delight the country with their creativity for a long time. But in 2009, producer Shapovalov announced the breakup of the group. The reason for this decision was a misunderstanding that arose between the soloists. Each of the girls wanted to bring their own innovations to the project. As a result, they were unable to reach a compromise.

Solo career

Lena Katina had many ideas related to creativity. Between 2009 and 2012 she recorded several compositions. Songs such as Shot, Melody and Never Forget became real hits. Our heroine gave concerts not only in Russia, but also in the USA and Eastern European countries. At different times, Katina collaborated with Mexican and American performers. Among her friends there are also successful overseas producers.

Today Elena practically does not go on stage and does not record new songs. The girl has completely different concerns. What are we talking about? You will understand everything by studying the information below.

Lena Katina: biography, personal life

For a long time, our heroine had no luck with men. There were whirlwind romances in her life, but they did not turn into serious relationships and marriage. And the girl dreamed of a family and children.

And only in 2012 Lena Katina (see photo above) admitted that she had met the man of her dreams. Her chosen one was the Slovenian musician Sasho Kuzmanovic. The guy and the girl lived in a civil marriage for several years. In August 2013, they legalized their relationship. There were two weddings: one in Russia, and the other in Slovenia.

Soon fans learned that the former member of the Tatu group was expecting a baby. In May 2015, Lena Katina and her husband became parents. Their first-born son Alexander was born. In the next 2-3 years, the couple wants to have a second child (preferably a girl).

Finally

Now you know where Lena Katina was born, studied and with whom she lives. Photos of the red-haired beauty are also presented in the article. Let's wish this wonderful singer success in her work and quiet family happiness!

Yes, now this girl no longer shocks the public so often with her controversial actions, but her creative path continues, and the audience is still ready to carry her in their arms. She appears in videos and tours with concerts throughout Russia and the USA. Her repertoire is regularly updated with new vibrant compositions. This means that no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten! And our article today is another confirmation of these words.

Early years, childhood of Lena Katina

From the age of four, the future celebrity began to attend various music clubs and sections. At the age of eight, she began to master the piano and learn notation at a music school. It is very noteworthy that just two years later, our today’s heroine received an excellent opportunity to put all her acquired knowledge into practice, becoming one of the soloists of the children’s ensemble “Avenue”. Lena Katina sang in this group for three years, and then received a more lucrative offer and “went for a promotion,” becoming part of one of the lineups of the famous group “Fidgets.”

During this period, the girl continued to improve her musical talent, as well as gain experience performing on the big stage. In addition, participation in the Fidgets ensemble was also marked by the future celebrity’s acquaintance with other bright young artists - Sergei Lazarev, Vlad Topalov, as well as her future partner in the TATU group Yulia Volkova.

The performance with “Fidgets” became an important step in the career and professional path of the celebrity. However, despite this, Lena did not stay in this ensemble for long. A year later, our today’s heroine left this team, as she rightly considered herself too old for this project. At that moment, Katina was already 14 years old.

Lena Katina's performances with the TATU group and other achievements

About a year later, Ivan Shapovalov introduced Lena Katina to the talented composer Alexander Voitinsky, who soon wrote two solo compositions “Yugoslavia” and “Tell me why” for the young celebrity. However, after recording the songs, Shapovalov somewhat changed his initial plans and decided to make a girl duet instead of Katina’s solo project. Thus, another “Fidget”, Yulia Volkova, joined the newly formed TATU team. Around the same period, the song “I’m Crazy” appeared in the young group’s repertoire, which in some way predetermined the group’s style.

Lena Katina: t.A.T.u videos were filmed by drunk cameramen

So Lena and Yulia “became lesbian friends.” And very soon this stage role brought them enormous success. Provocative images, a vibrant repertoire and scandalous performances very soon made the two young artists real stars of the Russian stage. The project turned out to be mega-successful. The group's compositions never left the top of the music charts, and their concert performances were always a huge success.

It is quite remarkable that the TATU group, unlike the vast majority of Russian performers, was able to become successful and popular in Western countries. The USA, Japan, Poland, Germany and many other states, one after another, succumbed to the mass hysteria created around the TATU group.

At the end of the 2000s, Lena Katina was in the status of a real superstar, however, despite this, in 2009 the team announced its collapse. After this, the girls worked together several more times, but at the beginning of 2011 they announced the final collapse of TATU.

Solo project, Lena Katina now

Lena Katina often performed in duets with famous American and Mexican performers and collaborated with successful overseas producers.

As a solo performer, the ex-“tatushka” performed in the USA, Russia, Japan, Mexico and some other countries.

Personal life of Lena Katina

Only in mid-2012 did the performer admit that for some time she had been in a romantic relationship with Slovenian musician Sasho Kuzmanovic, who, like her, lives permanently in Los Angeles.

The couple met in one of the local bars and have not separated since then. In August 2013, it became known that the couple officially tied the knot. In May 2015, the couple had a son, Alexander.

"Tattoo" ("t.A.T.u.") - a Russian musical group, which included Yulia Volkova and Elena Katina. The group was created in 1999 by producer Ivan Shapovalov. Initially, Tatu exploited the image of lesbians, but later abandoned it.

Tatu is the most successful Russian pop group that has achieved international recognition. Their singles, both English and Russian, topped the charts in Russia, Great Britain, the USA and other countries. Their debut English-language single “All the Things She Said” became one of the most successful singles of the year and topped the main music charts in the world. Tatu is the first and only Russian-speaking group to receive an IFPI award for the number of albums sold.

Evening Urgant. TATU group in Ivan Urgant's talk show https://www.youtube.com/user/VanyaYrgant “Evening Urgant” is an evening show aired on Channel One with...

In May 2003, the group participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third. In 2004, the group announced a creative break during the filming of the show “Tattoo in the Celestial Empire.”

In October 2005, they released their second international album, Dangerous and Moving, which was certified platinum and spawned several international hits.

In March 2009, the group's management announced plans for both singers to start solo projects and to stop working as a full-scale group.

Story

Create a group

The duet “Tatu” was created by commercial screenwriter Ivan Shapovalov in 1999 together with composer Alexander Voitinsky. Shapovalov and Voitinsky held a casting for the role of the soloist, as a result of which Lena Katina was chosen. Several songs were recorded, including “Yugoslavia”, dedicated to the American bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Later, Ivan Shapovalov decided to create a duet and invited Lena Katina to invite another girl to the group. She invited Yulia Volkova (who had previously also participated in the casting), her candidacy was approved by Shapovalov. Both were 15 years old at the time. A lesbian image was chosen for the duet. The girls knew each other before the creation of “Tatu”; both performed in the children’s vocal and instrumental ensemble “Fidgets”. The name of the group, as the members of the duet later said, could mean “Ta loves Tu.”

The lyrics of the song “I've lost my mind” were written by journalist Elena Kiper and VGIK student Valery Polienko, music by Sergei Galoyan. The financial sponsor was businessman Boris Rensky. To manage the creative process, the Neformat company was created, headed by Shapovalov.

Co-producer of the duo, Elena Kiper, said that the idea of ​​​​using the image of lesbians came to her after watching the film “Show Me Love” (“Fucking Åmål”, 1998) by Swedish film director Lukas Moodysson. The plot of the film is based on the love of two schoolgirls.

2000-2001

In 2000, the single “I'm crazy” was released, which for several months took first place in the charts of Russian radio stations. In October, a video was released that immediately took first place on MTV Russia. Makeup artist Andrei Drykin worked on the visual image of the soloists together with Shapovalov. On December 19, the group’s soloists give their first press conference at the school where Yulia Volkova studied.

Biography, life story t.A.T.u

"Tattoo" ("t.A.T.u.")- Russian musical group, which included Yulia Volkova and Elena Katina. The group was created in 1999 by producer Ivan Shapovalov. Initially, Tatu exploited the image of lesbians, but later abandoned it.

History of the group (beginning)

The duet “Tatu” was created by commercial screenwriter Ivan Shapovalov in 1999 together with composer Alexander Voitinsky. Shapovalov and Voitinsky held a casting for the role of the soloist, as a result of which Lena Katina was chosen. Several songs were recorded, including "Yugoslavia", dedicated to the American bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Later, Ivan Shapovalov decided to create a duet and invited Lena Katina to invite another girl to the group. She invited Yulia Volkova (who had previously also participated in the casting); her candidacy was approved by Shapovalov. Both were 15 years old at the time. A lesbian image was chosen for the duet. The girls knew each other before the creation of “Tatu”; both performed in the children’s vocal and instrumental ensemble “Fidgets”. The name of the group, as the members of the duet later said, could mean “Ta loves Tu.”

“With Ivan Nikolayevich, probably 3 years ago, we decided that we needed to do a musical project. We started casting. We selected in several stages, and at the penultimate stage there were 10 girls left. Of these 10, Katina and Volkova turned out to be the best. All the time he was for Katina, Vanya was more inclined to Volkova. In general, he doubted that Katina would be there. Our brothers and our sisters lived there. They stood on the bridge, in Belgrade, and bombs were dropped on them. And they died. I came up with a song about Yugoslavia and tried to publish this song somehow. The businessman said that I will give you money for the project, and he gave the money for the project (author’s note - Boris Rensky R&K Vanya and I returned). asked: "What? How?" Vanya said that everything was fine. Nobody heard the song on the radio... ...And then for some reason Vanya began to insist that we need to add another girl. And even which one, in general, It wasn’t clear. He just said: “We need to make another one. Because two are more fun and if one leaves, for example, then you can take the other." And they both began to sing. The songs were still natural while I was working on the project. And then... they changed their orientation in the interests of the cause and, as it turned out , Right".

CONTINUED BELOW

The lyrics of the song “I've lost my mind” were written by journalist Elena Kiper and VGIK student Valery Polienko, music by Sergey Galoyan. The financial sponsor was businessman Boris Rensky. To manage the creative process, the Neformat company was created, headed by Shapovalov.

Co-producer of the duo, Elena Kiper, said that the idea of ​​​​using the image of lesbians came to her after watching the film “Show Me Love” (Swedish: “Fucking Åmål”, 1998) by Swedish film director Lukas Moodysson. The plot of the film is based on the love of two schoolgirls.

2000-2001

In 2000, the single “I'm crazy” was released, which for several months took first place in the charts of Russian radio stations. In October, a video was released that immediately took first place on MTV Russia. Makeup artist Andrei Drykin worked on the visual image of the soloists together with Shapovalov. The author of the idea to dress the soloists in school uniforms was the famous Russian designer Masha Tsigal.

The entire filming process for the video took two weeks. Filming the main storyline alone took three days. The video was filmed at the very beginning of autumn on Khodynskoye Field in Moscow. To film the video for the song “I'm Crazy,” Lena had to lose almost 10 kilograms, and Yulia had to get a short haircut and dye her hair black. Julia and Lena were very cold during its filming, which can be seen in the video itself. According to the plot of the video, the girls find themselves completely isolated from the rest of the world. At first they do not understand what happened, but by the end of the video they realize that life does not end with the world around them, and they leave it. And it turns out that the world around us is already becoming isolated from them. With the appearance of the video, naturally, heated arguments ensued on the topic of same-sex love and specifically the duet itself.

The image of lesbian girls is catching on well. Girls are prohibited from signing autographs and talking to the press.

“Autographs for bus drivers, border guards, customs officers, migration services, train conductors, junior assistants to the chief cook, nephews and all the relatives of the organizers are possible, but not so abundantly. The Tatu group still does not give autographs, but in these conditions I, Of course, I understand. Exclude such delicate and sincere words, which are not recommended to be used often: with love, dear, most, very, with best wishes, for a long memory, etc. (we will leave these cliches to writers, elderly magazine editors and the group " Pesnyary") - the most exceptional and ardently beloved - no matter what. In general, it is best to quickly scribble laconic words:
Lena Katina - painting - Tattoo - number
Yulia Volkova - painting - Tattoo
Well, you can add the name of who is signing the autograph."

Before any meetings with the press, remind the girls that this is their job, and that glassy eyes, a tired, and completely detached look are much worse than even anger and impudence. Therefore, it is necessary to actively practice at least twenty minutes of the press conference. Then the girls are allowed to tell reporters that they are tired. In any case, the reason must be announced, and you can even leave the table. The rest of the communication with journalists can be continued by Leonid, alone, at his own discretion.”

On December 19, the group’s soloists give their first press conference at the school where Yulia Volkova studied. During the press conference, a presentation of the Tatu group's single "I'm Crazy" took place. The single consists of the original version of the song "I'm Crazy", 4 remixes and 2 video clips. The single sold an official circulation of 50,000 copies, which suggests pirated circulations exceeding 200,000 copies.

Tatu spends several months in the studio recording their debut album. They occasionally perform in clubs and are preparing to conquer Russia with a new album.

In 2001, the Neformat company signed a contract with the Russian branch of Universal Music. According to the contract, the group must release 3 albums.

On May 21, 2001, the album “200 in the opposite direction” and a video clip for the song “They Won’t Catch Up with Us” were released. In the first two months, the album sold an official circulation of 500 thousand copies (about 2 million pirated copies on various media). In total, in 2001, official sales of the album amounted to more than 2 million copies (and about 4 million pirated copies). The album, despite being in Russian, broke all popularity records (60 thousand copies sold in the first week), not only in Russia, but also in Eastern Europe.

In June, for the song “I'm Crazy,” the group was awarded the “Stopudovy Hit” award from the radio station “Hit FM.” In August, recording of the English version of the album began.

On June 11, 2001, “Tatu” received an award in the “Most Hit Song” category at the “Musical Podium” competition.

In July 2001, Ivan Shapovalov, producer of the Tatu group and director of their videos, together with Universal Music Russia, shot a new video for the song “30 minutes”!

In August 2001, the Tatu group began recording songs in English for a promotional campaign in Europe. To begin with, it was decided to cover only the choruses of the songs. The first composition that has already been translated into English was, of course, “I've lost my mind.” In the rare breaks between concerts, while in Moscow, the girls study intensively with a professor of English at Moscow State University.

September 6, 2001 - at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the duet "Tatu" received the MTV Video Music Awards in the "Viewers' Choice - Best Russian Video" category!

Also in September 2001, a new single by the Tatu duet, “Half an Hour,” appeared on the radio. The song was in hot rotation (30-35 times a week) on Russian Radio, Dynamite, Europe +, Love Radio, RDV, HIT-FM, Tango. The song received more than 3,500 broadcasts on regional and national Russian radio stations. At the same time, a video for the song “Half an Hour” debuts on Russian television. During the fall of 2001 and winter of 2001-2002, the video “Half an Hour” did not leave the charts of the MTV Russia and MUZ TV channels. The clip had more than 3,000 airplay on Russian TV channels. And the video clip “I'm crazy” was recognized as the best video of the year according to the results of voting by MTV Russia viewers!

Having toured all over Russia with concerts, as well as Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states, Tatu began to conquer Europe.

Hysteria began in Slovakia and Bulgaria - the Russian-language song “I’ve lost my mind,” caressing the ears of the Slavic peoples with a familiar sound, reached the top of the radio charts a month ago, and remains firmly in its position to this day. And the video for this song on the very first day of broadcast in Bulgaria took first place in the chart of the youth music channel MM-Channel, ahead of, in addition to local stars, Limp Bizkit, Mojio,. But the most important event that has already happened in the life of the duo in order to become number one on a global scale is the negotiations between the clever producer Ivan Shapovalov and the boss of Interscope Records.

In October 2001, the Russian-language single “I'm crazy” by the Tatu duet was released in Eastern Europe (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland). The song "I'm Crazy" is leading the national radio charts in Eastern Europe! In November, the single “They Will Not Catch Up with Us” will debut in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland. At the same time, the album “200 in the opposite direction” was released in Eastern Europe. In December 2001 - the Russian-language version of the Tatu duet's album "200 in the opposite direction" takes first place in the sales charts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria!

A new stage in the life of the group begins. "Tatu" intend to conquer Europe and America by releasing an English-language album. Throughout 2001, the Tatu group toured dozens of cities, giving a total of more than 150 concerts in Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.

2002-2003

In January 2002, Tatu began recording singles for the English version of the album for release in the USA (“Not Gonna Get Us”) and Germany (“I’ve Lost My Mind”). In Manchester, the process was led by F.A.F/Cap Com Production, which produced Sonique, Moby, Rammstein, Eskimos & Egypt, Steps. In London, the songs were re-recorded together with producer Trevor Horn. Trevor Horn later noted that he "really liked the record", saying of the lead singers: "They are very cute. Quiet, pleasant, friendly, slightly wild little animals.”

On February 15, 2002, a re-release of the album “200 in the opposite direction” was released with a new track “Clowns” and new remixes (“30 minutes” and “Gay Boy”). In the first week, sales amounted to 60 thousand legal copies. On May 15, 2002, Tatu received the International Federation of Phonogram Producers “IFPI Platinum Europe Award” for the million copies of the album “200 in the opposite direction” sold in Europe. Tatu became the first group in history from Russia and Eastern Europe to receive this award.

On May 30, 2002, the presentation of the new video “Simple Movements” took place. In July, filming of the video clip for the English version of the single “All the Things She Said” began. The album “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” was released in the USA. In August, Tatu changed its name to t.A.T.u. due to the fact that the Tatu group already existed in Australia. On August 12, Tatu performed at the pre-show of the Billboard magazine awards ceremony in Las Vegas (2002 Fox Billboard Bash).

On September 3, 2002, “All the Things She Said” was released on radio and music channels in Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. On the first day in Italy it received gold status (25 thousand copies sold). On September 10, the single was released in the United States. On October 7, 2002, the English version of the album “200 in the Wrong Lane” was released in Western Europe, entitled “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane,” immediately becoming a bestseller. The group went on a promotional tour around Europe. During the promotional tour t.A.T.u. gave about 50 interviews, published in all European languages.

On November 14, 2002, the group performed the hit "All the Things She Said" at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The video received heavy rotation on MTV US and MTV UK, and the single received platinum status in Italy and Sweden. The band gave an interview to Rolling Stone.

In February 2003, Tatu performed on the popular American TV show Tonight. On the T-shirts of the soloists, an obscene anti-war phrase was written in Russian (“Fuck the war!”). At this time, American television tried to prevent statements against the war in Iraq.

At the beginning of May 2003, despite sales of the album “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” reaching 500 thousand copies, the band’s performances in London and Manchester were cancelled. According to the concert organizers, the reason for this was poor ticket sales; about one thousand tickets were sold for the concert at Wembley Arena with a capacity of 12 thousand spectators. As Expert magazine reported, PR companies were hired to advertise the concerts, targeting Russians living in Britain and placing advertisements in Russian-language media. However, the group's producer Ivan Shapovalov, who planned for 300 girls in school uniforms to take part in the performance, linked the cancellation of the concerts to the pressure of public opinion on the concert organizers.

On May 24, 2003, Tatu represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga with the song “Don’t Believe, Don’t Be Afraid.” The organizers of the competition warned that in case of hooliganism the group would be disqualified. The group took third place (164 points), after Turkey (167 points) and Belgium (165 points). On the UK and Ireland side the panel received a score of 0, with Ireland's telephone vote being replaced by a national jury vote due to technical reasons (inconsistency between the Irish provider and the RTE channel). Russia's Channel One attempted to protest the results, calling the ratings "unbelievably low" and demanding the results of the national vote be published. However, broadcaster RTE said that the result remains the same in any case. The European Broadcasting Union rejected Channel One's claims.

In 2003, Tatu received their second IFPI Platinum Europe Award for selling one million copies of the album “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” in Europe. The group reached number two in the national charts in France and number one in the UK charts.

In October, Tatu became winners of the World Music Awards in the categories “best world pop group”, “best world duet” and “best dance group”. Shapovalov suggested that during the ceremony, the participants should be given real machine guns with blank cartridges, with which Yulia and Lena were supposed to “shoot up” the hall. However, the organizers gave out toy machines, as a result the group refused to participate and did not receive any prizes.

The duo also refused to participate in the competition for the MTV Europe Music Awards in the Best Russian Act category (best Russian performer). In their statement, Tatu explained their action by saying that in 2001 they had already won this category and wanted to give other performers the opportunity to win. The collected votes of MTV Tatu viewers were asked to be transferred to the Leningrad group and, however, the channel’s response statement said that this was prohibited.

In December 2003, two concerts were held in Tokyo at the Tokyo Dome concert venue. In Tokyo, Tatu met live on Nippon Television with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Democratic Party leader Naoto Kan and filmmaker Takeshi Kitano.

2003 was the year of peak popularity of the group in the world. “Tatu” confidently took first place in the charts of European countries. At the end of the year, the debut album “Tatu” received the status of “golden disc” in England, South Africa, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Mexico, “platinum disc” in Taiwan, Finland, Poland, Italy, “ double platinum disc" in Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Canada. "Tattoo" also set an absolute record for sales volume in Japan - 1.8 million copies of the album "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane", breaking records for sales volumes of The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Madonna. The total sales of the first album, according to the head of the Russian branch of Universal, Dmitry Konnov, amounted to 4.3 million copies worldwide and “several hundred thousand” in Russia and the CIS.

The group performed at the Gaudi Arena club, Moscow, October 28, 2005. Photographer - Alexey Rodin
The German rock band Rammstein planned to record the song Moskau from their album Reise, Reise together with Tatu, but negotiations ended in vain.

2004-2006

In January 2004, the STS TV channel began broadcasting the show “Tattoo in the Celestial Empire”: it was assumed that the duo’s work on the new album would be shown as a reality show. Filming took place at the Beijing Hotel on Mayakovskaya Square, and the finale was to be the release of the group's second album. But as a result, Yulia and Lena broke off relations with producer Ivan Shapovalov. Shapovalov resigned as general director of the Neformat company, which owned the Tatu brand, and the name of the group remained with the singers. Neformat was reorganized, and its remains became the Shapova LOVE Foundation. After this, the girls decided to pursue a musical career on their own. There was a noticeable decline in the group's activities.

The direction of the future path is in question; the work is postponed due to Yulia Volkova’s pregnancy. On September 23, 2004, Yulia Volkova gave birth to a girl, Victoria.

It was planned that the group would become the prototype for the characters in the full-length anime film “t.A.T.u.” Paragate", but the project was not realized.

In January 2005, at the Village studio in Los Angeles, Tatu began working on a new album, “People with Disabilities.” The title of the international version of the album is "Dangerous and Moving". Although the official release of the English-language version of the album took place only in the fall, at the end of August it could be found on the Internet, where it appeared, apparently, after Universal sent out promotional albums. “Dangerous and Moving” was a minor success, reaching only 79 positions in the hit parade in England, 12 in Germany, 131 in the USA (Billboard), 10 in Japan, staying there for a very short time. However, the second album received gold status in Mexico, Taiwan and Russia.

In support of the album “Dangerous and Moving”, the group staged a large-scale promotional tour, Tatu gave numerous interviews to the European music press, and also visited Japan and, for the first time, the countries of South America (Argentina, Brazil). The promotional tour, remembered by many fans, lasted several months.

In 2005-2006, Tatu gave several concerts in the Baltic states, as well as Germany (club performance), Switzerland (festival), Finland (festival), Moldova (club performance), Armenia, Mexico, Belgium (festival for schoolchildren), Korea , Taiwan (festival), Japan (club performances), and also conducted a large-scale tour “Dangerous and Moving Tour” in the cities of Russia and Ukraine. However, the decrease in the number of fans, caused by the group's active denial of its lesbian past and the lack of an easily accessible image, coupled with the low professionalism of the original concert organizer, who was unable to assess the situation and properly build an advertising campaign, led to regular disruptions to the concert schedule and half-empty halls. At this stage, Yulia and Lena continued to widely deny that there had ever been deep feelings between them (thus losing some more old fans), and called everything that happened a relationship (“love”) between two sisters or friends.

A total of 3 singles were released from the album “Dangerous and Moving”: “All About Us”, “Friend or Foe”, “Gomenasai” and a promotional single for radio stations “Loves Me Not”. To promote the album “People with Disabilities,” a single radio single for the song “People with Disabilities” was prepared and put into rotation.

The single "All About Us" reached the top 10 of most European charts. However, the follow-up single "Friend or Foe" failed to repeat its success and was released in England, where it only reached number 48 (probably due to poor promotion and lack of radio airplay), as well as Italy, Greece and Switzerland. What remains unclear is the significant delay in the release of the second single only in January-February 2006, although it was originally planned to be released in early December 2005. After the failure of the single in England, its release was canceled in Europe as a whole. The single "Gomenasai" was released in the spring of 2006 in Germany, where it only managed to get into the top 30, although without any promotion at all, the only presentation of the single was a performance at the German Bravo Supershow on May 6. Almost simultaneously, the song of the American rap group Flipsyde began to be promoted in Germany, who used samples and original vocal parts of Yulia and Lena from Gomenasai for their composition “Happy Birthday” (both groups are written on the Interscope label). To present the single “Happy Birthday”, as well as to some extent the single “Gomenasai”, Tatu and Flipsyde gave several joint performances on German television.

In the USA, 4 video clips were filmed (“All About Us”, “Disabled People”, “Friend or Foe”, “Gomenasai”), and a live performance that the group gave during the autumn festival was used as a video for “Loves Me Not”. promotional tour at the G.A.Y club (Paris, France). It should be noted that the album “Disabled People” still received a platinum disc from the National Federation of Phonogram Producers. Album sales amounted to less than 500 thousand copies in the world and about 200 thousand in the CIS. Universal Music expected to sell at least 3 million copies of the new album worldwide.

In August 2006, Tatu and Universal Music ended their cooperation. As a farewell, Interscope decided to release a collection of hits and best songs “t.A.T.u. The Best", recorded by the group throughout their existence. The release took place in the fall of 2006.

In November 2006, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Komi Republic, Leonid Vokuev, accused the group that the inscription in the booklet of the album “People with Disabilities” was offensive to people with disabilities. There was a discussion about this on the ORT talk show. In May 2007, representatives of Universal Music admitted that the text contained “verbal language and comparisons that were offensive to the perception of a certain category of people.”

2007-2009

In January 2007, Yulia and Lena participated in the recording of vocal parts for some demo versions of the songs of the new album, which took place in Germany. Sven Martin, who has been the band's musical director and keyboardist since 2002, took part in the recording. The band continued working on their third studio album in Los Angeles. According to one of the participants, Yulia Volkova, “the album will be less loaded.”

The band's new album, as before, had two versions - Russian and English. The working title of the third album was “Waste management”, its release was tentatively scheduled for autumn-winter 2007, but Yulia Volkova’s second pregnancy and a number of external reasons pushed back the release date.

At the end of June, the group presented their new song “Don't regret”, which was included in the new album, but was not released as a single. The song “White Raincoat” was released as the first single from the album “Management of Waste,” the video for which was filmed in October.

In May 2007, the group's lead singers interrupted the recording of their third album to support the gay pride parade in Moscow. After the march was banned by the capital’s authorities, the group members, together with Russian State Duma deputy Alexei Mitrofanov, appeared outside the Moscow City Hall, where the action of representatives of sexual minorities was taking place. Volkova stated that due to the beating of citizens that took place, she would no longer participate in parades.

In July, Yulia and Lena took part in the filming of the film “You and Me” directed by Roland Joffe; the film’s script was based on the book “Tattoo Kam Back” by deputy Alexei Mitrofanov and Russian State University for the Humanities student Anastasia Moiseeva. The main roles in the film were played by Hollywood actresses Chantel van Santen and. The film tells the story of two girls - a seventeen-year-old American girl and her Russian counterpart from a small provincial town, who meet in Moscow to go together to a concert of their favorite group "Tatu". The film premiered as part of the out-of-competition program of the 61st Cannes Film Festival in May 2008.

On September 12, the Japanese division of the Amazon online store hosted a “virtual” release of the first concert DVD, “Truth: Live in St. Petersburg", which was originally planned for September 2006. The disc was released by the Japanese label Neformat Music Japan.

October 2 t.A.T.u. began filming a new video for the song “White Raincoat” in Los Angeles. The song becomes the pre-single of the album "Scum Management". On November 29, the premiere of “White Cape” took place on MTV Russia. The release of the Russian-language version of the group's third album was scheduled for

December 25, 2007. However, on December 12, it was announced that the release would be postponed to April 2008. On December 27, 2007, Yulia had a son, who was later named Samir.

On March 6, 2008, the group held a concert in Santa Barbara, and on March 28 in Dubai, where the singers were prohibited from hugging on stage. In April, a planned concert in Minsk was cancelled. The release of the maxi-single “White Cloak” was scheduled for mid-May 2008. On April 25, the second single from the Waste Management album, “220,” was included in the radio rotation of Russian Radio.

On September 1, 2008, the title of the album "Garbage Management" was changed to "Jolly Smiles". The premiere of the third single “You and I” took place on September 12, 2008 on Love Radio and on the group’s official MySpace page. On October 21, 2008, the third studio album “Cheerful Smiles” was released, which took 7th place in the sales ranking of the Russian edition of Billboard magazine. On November 28, at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2008, the group received the MTV Legend award.

On March 21, 2009, a representative of the group's management stated in his blog that both singers were planning to start solo careers (Lena Katina - with the support of the current team). According to him, in December 2008, at a meeting between Volkova, Katina and their producer Boris Rensky, a “unanimous decision was made to terminate the functioning of t.A.T.u. "full time" As a group representative noted: “for ethical reasons, I will not touch on the reasons and will only say that they are not related to either the creative or commercial aspects”. In addition, at the end of 2008, work on the international album was suspended and negotiations with labels were stopped. In the near future, the group plans to release another video clip, a special edition of the album “Cheerful Smiles”. Regarding Volkova, it was said that “Yulia will take care of her life and career completely independently, at least without the participation of t.A.T.u. management.”

On April 17, the fourth single from the album “Cheerful Smiles” - “Snowfalls” - was released. On May 12, the group performed as guests in the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song Not Gonna Get Us. On July 13, MTV Baltic premiered the group’s first international single, an English version of the song “Snowfalls” called “Snowfalls”.

The video for the first single “White Robe”, released in Brazil and Argentina at the end of November, from the English edition of the t.A.T.u. album. "Happy Smiles", reached number one on the daily LAB DISK chart on MTV Brazil. The video beat out hits like Beyoncé's "Broken Hearted Girl" and Tokio Hotel's "Automatisch" in second and third place.

On December 15, the international release of the Waste Management album took place. The disc was released on physical media in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. There was a digital release in the rest of the world.

On May 30 and June 12, 2010, Lena Katina’s first solo performances took place. In her first solo programs, she presented part of the Tatu repertoire, which Volkova reacted negatively to.

On January 25, 2011, the premiere of the film “You and Me” took place. On it, Tatu announced that the group was ceasing to exist.

Criticism

The group's activities were criticized from various sides, which was associated with the chosen image, scandalous behavior and statements of the participants (performances in underwear in clubs and at concerts, use of obscene language in interviews, provocative photographs).

After the release of the group's first video, where girls kiss, was released on the Western market, her work attracted the attention of music critics. Billboard wrote: ““All the Things She Said” is a song filled with strength, resisting melancholy and despondency, with a mesmerizing, powerful synth sound. Young, categorical... powerful and promising debut." New Musical Express journalists noted: “The producers successfully built both a musical line and a scandalous line so that the music would sell well.”

In the UK, the age of the soloists became the target of a number of critics in the image of the group: some public figures and TV presenters called for a ban on the broadcast of the video clip “I’m crazy,” accusing “Tatu” of “propaganda of pedophilia.” Thus, TV presenter Richard Madeley called the duo “sickening”, describing the video for the song “All the Things She Said” as “the standard of the sweet dreams of all British pedophiles.” On the other hand, The Daily Telegraph columnist Nick Cowan said: “All this noise distracts from their music, which is not bad at all. It has more levels than you might think. If at first the synth-infused sound seems primitive, you are soon surprised to discover roaring guitars and a hard rock rhythm."

After the premiere of the song “People with Disabilities” and its video, the group received a flurry of indignation from people with disabilities, who perceived the song as an insult to them. The reason for this was a line from the song: “The lost are not welcome, the sad are not wanted. Such people don’t live, they are drowned like kittens.”, and also the fact that real disabled people were involved in the crowd in the video: a man without an arm and a wheelchair user. Yulia and Lena rejected all accusations and argued that their song is about disabled people not physically, but morally: callous, soulless, selfish people.

Biography of Yulia Volkova

Yulia Olegovna Volkova was born on February 20, 1985 in Moscow. Parents: Oleg Viktorovich Volkov and Larisa Viktorovna Volkova. At the age of 7, in parallel with secondary school, she entered children's music school No. 62, piano class. From the age of 9 she performed as part of the children's vocal and instrumental ensemble “Fidgets”. A year later, Lena Katina was enrolled in Fidgets. In 1995, she moved to secondary school No. 1113 with theater training.

She starred in the children's film magazine “Yeralash” (plots “Help Me”, “Dummy”).

In 1999, Volkova and Katina got into the musical project “Tatu”, organized by commercial screenwriter Ivan Shapovalov and composer Alexander Voitinsky.
According to representatives of the group, in 1999 Volkova entered the vocal department of the Gnessin pop-jazz school.

In January 2006, the media reported that Volkova was going to enter the State University of Management at the production department.

In March 2009, the group's management announced the cessation of the group's work on a full scale. Volkova later left Tatu, starting a solo career.

In June 2011, Volkova presented two songs from the first single of her solo project (“Rage” and “Woman All The Way Down”). She said that these songs will not be included in the debut album.
The premiere of the single “All Because Of You” (“I Will Move the World”) was scheduled for October 2011.

Personal life

Yulia Olegovna Volkova (born February 20, 1985 in Moscow) is a Russian singer, former soloist of the pop group Tatu in 1999-2011. Since 2010 he has been engaged in a solo career.

In 2004, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria, whose father is her friend Pavel Sidorov. In the film "Anatomy of t.A.T.u." Volkova mentioned early abortion, but subsequently did not talk about it in her interviews, saying that she gave birth after her first pregnancy. In 2006, newspapers announced an upcoming wedding with a singer, whom Volkova knew from her participation in the Fidgets ensemble.

In March 2007, the media wrote that Volkova secretly married her friend Parviz Yasinov in the UAE and converted to Islam. On March 13, representatives of the group denied reports of marriage and conversion to Islam. On December 27, 2007, Yulia gave birth to a son, Samir, from Parviz Yasinov.

In 2007, Volkova condemned the beating of citizens during an attempt to hold a gay pride parade in Moscow: “We are all one country, one people and we must respect, understand and be tolerant of each other. But the Russians beat the Russians. Terrible!".

In 2009, Volkova announced that she planned to move to the United States, emphasizing that it was “better to make music” there.

In 2010, Volkova separated from her actual husband Parviz.

He has a tattoo on his lower back, done in Arabic script in 2003 during a photo shoot for Maxim magazine. The inscription, as the magazine says, means “love” (hiyam).

Biography of Lena Katina

Elena Sergeevna Katina (born October 4, 1984 in Moscow) is a Russian singer, ex-soloist of the pop group Tatu (t.A.T.u.). Currently busy in a solo project called Lena Katina.

Father - Sergei Vasilyevich Katin, former musician of the Dune group, author of music. Mother - Inessa Vsevolodovna Katina.

From the age of 4, Lena attended sports clubs and music clubs. At the age of 7 she began studying at secondary school No. 457, and a year later she entered music school No. 30 to study piano. At the age of 10 she began performing in the children's ensemble "Avenue", where she sang for three years. Then Lena moved to the vocal and instrumental ensemble “Fidgets,” where Yulia Volkova became her friend. Katina left the ensemble after 14 years due to age restrictions in Fidgets.

In 1999, based on the results of a casting organized by screenwriter Ivan Shapovalov, he ended up in a musical project, which soon became known as “Tatu”.

Since 2001 - student at the Moscow Humanitarian-Economic Institute, Faculty of Psychology.

In 2008, together with Yulia Volkova, they began posting videos from their life on the Internet.

In 2009, Lena underwent surgery at the Stanford University Clinic, where she received laser vision correction.

Since April 2009, Katina has been recording her first solo album in Los Angeles. On September 11, 2009, the first official website of Lena Katina’s solo project was opened - lena-katina.com.

In June 2010, Katina's first solo performances took place at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles and at the PrideFest LGBT festival in Milwaukee, USA.

On June 17, 2011, her first single, “Never Forget,” began airing on FM TU radio in Mexico. In the evening, in a radio interview, she admitted that the single was dedicated to Yulia.

On September 19, 2011, the premiere of Lena Katina’s song “Waiting” took place in the program “Fellow Travelers” on the radio station “Echo of Moscow”.

On September 28, 2011, the Mexican group Belanova, featuring Lena Katina, released a video for the song “Tic Toc”.

On April 28, 2012, Dave Audé's remix of "Never Forget" topped the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart.

On May 5, 2012, the premiere of the video of the duet of German musician Clark Owen and Lena Katina for the song “Melody” took place.

Currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

t.A.T.u News

Yulia Volkova, an ex-member of the mega-popular Tatu group in the 2000s, gave an interview to the media in which she spoke about the true reason for the collapse of the group, about her relationship with Lena Katina and about letters from the zone. According to the girl, a group of races...