Tattoo group 18. How life turned out for the tattoo group members

When the duet was created in 1999 "Tattoo", its participants were 15 years old. Therefore, the idea of ​​Ivan Shapovalov and Alexander Voitinsky to rely on the lesbian image of the team is, to put it mildly, very risky.

It's worth noting that it worked. Creativity from the very beginning Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina became extremely popular. Girls began to imitate the image of the singers, and songs like “I've lost my mind” could be heard on every corner.

"Not gonna get us" was also a hit, which the girls even performed in English.

Then there was Eurovision and an unexpected third place, which was then disputed for a long time, but it did not lead to anything. The girls filled the halls, and on the other hand, tons of criticism rained down on them, mainly related to the popularization of non-traditional sexual relationships and pedophilia.

It is known that from the very beginning, the girls’ parents were not against creating such an image. For example, in one of the interviews, Lena Katina’s father said that his daughter was never a lesbian, and the stage image remains that way only on stage, especially since it was very successful.

During the existence of the team, the girls stopped collaborating several times, and then returned to working together again. But the end was a foregone conclusion. Now Yulia and Lena are building solo projects.

Yulia Volkova - very active user of social networks. She regularly posts various photos on Instagram.

33-year-old Volkova - mother of two children. She gave birth to her daughter Victoria shortly before her 20th birthday, and her son Samir at 23. Julia broke up with both fathers.

At the same time, there were rumors that at one time Volkova converted to Islam and was married to Samir’s father Parviz Yasinov. This was denied by the group's manager, but confirmed by the singer herself. In 2016, information appeared that Volkova had returned to Orthodoxy.

What is happening now in the singer’s personal life is not known for certain...

Katina lives and works in Los Angeles. She is married to a Slovenian musician Sasho Kuzmanovich, from whom she gave birth to a son, Alexander, in 2015.

According to the singer herself, she is a very religious person and regularly attends church. This does not at all prevent the singer from performing at festivals that support the LGBT movement. Katina also admits that she loves to cook, especially various soups and pasta.

“Tatu” is one of the most scandalous projects in Russian show business. The group openly declared their involvement with LGBT people, but a few years later they disappointed fans. Loud-voiced teenage girls filled the halls, they managed to conquer Europe and America, outselling the world's brightest stars in album sales.

History of creation and composition

In 1999, producer, part-time screenwriter of advertising videos and composer Alexander Voitinsky decided to create a new musical project that would decorate Russian show business.

The soloist was selected carefully, hundreds of applicants went through the casting, and in the end they chose a 15-year-old. The authors of the project were satisfied with both the appearance and the vocals. The loud-voiced girl with big eyes and curly hair clearly attracted attention.

Lena sang several tracks alone, including a song on the topic of the day, “Yugoslavia,” after which Shapovalov decided to turn the project into a duet. So another young lady appeared in the team -.

Katina proposed the candidacy of the aspiring singer. The girls went through the casting together, and were also members of the Fidgets children's ensemble.

Music

A breakthrough in the duo’s creative biography was the song “I’ve Lost My Mind,” which brought popularity to teenagers. The single stubbornly remained at the top of the radio charts for several months. Following this, a video was released about the love story of two schoolgirls, which also had incredible success, winning gold on the Russian MTV channel.

The clip, which tells the story of the isolation of lesbian girls from the outside world, gave rise to a lot of controversy on the topic of same-sex relationships. And the Tatu soloists found themselves at the epicenter of the scandal and everyone’s attention. The girls were allowed to communicate with the press and give autographs to a minimum; a whole set of rules was created about what can and cannot be done. In particular, it was forbidden to answer questions about orientation at all.

2001 was a busy year for the group. In the spring, Tatu presented fans with the debut album “200 in the opposite direction,” which sold out in the first couple of months with a circulation of 500 thousand copies. This was a record for Russian-speaking groups, and sales abroad were also dizzying. We even managed to surpass the volume of disk sales. The song “They Won’t Catch Up with Us,” which was included in the album, was turned into a video.

By the end of summer, the “tattoos” decided to finally conquer Europe, starting to translate their debut album into English. People abroad were already looking forward to work. The girls had to improve their English under the guidance of a Moscow State University teacher. They also never stopped traveling with concerts all over the country, and also visited Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states.

In the same year, the duo’s repertoire was replenished with a new song, “Half an Hour,” which also did not leave the top lines of radio stations for a long time. The group celebrated winning the MTV Video Music Awards at New York's Metropolitan and winning the Music Catwalk competition in the "Hittest Song" category.

In 2002, the group presented foreign fans with their hits in English “Not Gonna Get Us”, “I’ve Lost My Mind”, as well as “All the Things She Said”, which received gold and platinum status. I had to change the name of the duo: the group began to bear the name t.A.T.u. because there was already a group called Tatu in Australia.

Another year later, in the spring of 2003, the duo t.A.T.u. went to defend the honor of his native country at Eurovision. The girls performed the song “Don’t believe, don’t be afraid, don’t ask” and confidently won third place, losing to artists from Turkey and Belgium. The discrepancies in the scores turned out to be small; the Russians suspected irregularities in the voting system, but the protest was rejected.

The group did not continue its rapid ascent to the Olympus of music for long. In the winter of 2004, the STS channel launched the project “Tatu in the Celestial Empire” in the format of a reality show, in which the group members demonstrated their work on their second album. However, soon a decline began in the duo’s activities - Katina and Volkova broke up with Shapovalov.

The release of the new record, created in a London studio, took place only in the fall of 2005. The album had the Russian title “People with Disabilities” and the English title “Dangerous and Moving”, from which only three singles were released - “All About Us”, “Friend or Foe” and “Gomenasai”. The first one entered the top ten of the European charts, the others did not achieve such dizzying success. A little later, a video was shot for “All About Us” in America, which included footage from the artists’ live performance.

In support of their new work, the girls staged a grandiose promotional tour, the geography of which even included Japan, Argentina and Brazil. A wave of concerts swept across Russia. During the tour, the Tatu soloists decided to refute the established lesbian image. In every interview, Lena and Yulia did not forget to emphasize that they had exclusively friendly relations. The reveal of the cards played against the “tattoos” - the duo lost the lion’s share of fans.

In 2007, the girls distinguished themselves by participating in the gay pride parade, and for the sake of this they even abandoned work on their third studio album. In the summer, Yulia and Lena went to shoot Roland Joffe’s film “You and Me.” The film was based on the work of Russian deputy Alexei Mitrofanov and Russian State University for the Humanities student Anastasia Moiseeva “Tattoo Kam Back”.

The main characters were played by Chantel van Santen and. An American and a Russian girl go to the Tatu concert in the Russian capital. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, although outside the competition program.

The third English-language album, entitled "Waste Management", was released towards the end of 2009, which came as a surprise to fans. After all, a few months earlier the girls announced that they were going to build a solo career. Moreover, Lena Katina will be supported by the current team, while Yulia Volkova goes on a free voyage all alone.

Six months later, Lena actually appeared on stage alone, but half of the repertoire consisted of “Tatu” songs. A former colleague was hostile to this approach to the matter. However, later on the girls occasionally teamed up in performances, even recorded a track with Mike Tompkins and “Love in Every Moment” and created a video for it.

In 2013, to the delight of fans, the duo appeared at a joint concert. “Tattoos” also sang at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Sochi. But a week later, Katina announced on social networks that t.A.T.u had broken up again. A little later, Volkova assured fans that in the future, perhaps, the group will come to life again.

"Tatu" now

Former “tattoos” are pursuing solo careers, teaming up only on occasion. Thus, in the fall of 2017, the duo pleased fans with the new track “Follow Me.”

And in May 2018, in honor of the band’s 19th anniversary, they presented fans with previously unreleased demos.

Discography

• 2001 – “200 oncoming”
• 2002 – “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane”
• 2005 – “Dangerous and Moving”
• 2005 – “People with Disabilities”
• 2008 – “Cheerful Smiles”
• 2009 – “Waste Management”

Not only in Russia: America, Japan and a number of European countries have experienced a real boom in “Tattoo” mania. The shocking images of Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, their ambiguous behavior on stage and provocative lyrics, video clips and - this is what the popularity of this girlish duet was nurtured on. Each of the Tatu participants began a solo career back in 2009, and they finally and irrevocably announced the breakup of the duo in 2011. How did life turn out after that?

Lena Katina: life after “Tattoo”

What can you say about the personal life of the red-haired ex-“tattoo”? It turned out quite successfully. Because of the image of a lesbian couple, which was strongly supported by the members of the Tatu duet, they always carefully hid their relationships with men. It was all the more unexpected when in 2012 Elena publicly announced her affair with a musician from Slovenia who permanently lives in Los Angeles, Sasho Kuzmanovic. In the summer of 2013, the lovers got married and are still happily married.

Yulia Volkova after “Tattoo”: life goes on

As for the personal life of the “dark one from Tatu,” Yulia gave birth to a daughter back in 2004. The pregnancy was not planned, but the girl decided to keep the child. In 2007, during the period of the duo’s existence, Yulia secretly married a prominent businessman named Parviz Yasinov; in the same year the girl gave birth to his son and converted to Islam. In 2010, the couple separated. Currently, Julia does not advertise her personal life.

In the early 2000s, the whole country literally “went crazy” to the song “I’ve lost my mind” by the legendary group Tatu. Millions of fans, huge halls, universal love - the scandalous track brought the group members wild popularity. In 2003, the team even participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. This performance brought Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina worldwide popularity - they released several international albums in English. Their songs topped the charts of the world's leading countries. But over time, the popularity of the 2000s favorites faded. Lena Katina quickly disappeared from the pages of the press, but Yulia Volkova often appeared on the pages of the media due to her scandalous “antics.” She was accused of using illegal drugs, being overly interested in plastic surgery, and her stormy personal life was often discussed. But over time, the excitement around Yulia Volkova died down. What has happened to the members of the Tatu group now?

Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina now: what the members of the scandalous Tatu group look like

In the dashing nineties, advertiser and provocateur Ivan Shapovalov created a group with the ambiguous name “Tatu” (t.A.T.u.), whose young soloists Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova promoted same-sex love. Girls dressed in school uniforms famously sang about the passions boiling between them, kissed on stage, poured water on each other on camera and starred in candid photo shoots, and in the videos staged school coups, stole trucks and blew up children's carousels.

The group's main hit was the song “I'm Crazy” from the debut album “200 in the opposite direction.” Sales of the album in Russia amounted to more than a million copies, the English version of the album sold more than seven million copies worldwide.

In 2009, Lena and Yulia began solo careers. By that time, Volkova had already given birth to a daughter, Victoria, from her bodyguard, Pavel Sidorov, and a son, Samir, from the heir to the general director of a major investment and construction company, Parviz Yasinov. After a secret wedding with Yasinov, the singer converted to Islam, the lovers eventually separated, Yulia returned to Orthodoxy and now does not talk much about her personal life.

Last year, Yulia Volkova openly spoke about the fact that several years ago she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. During an unsuccessful operation to remove a tumor, she lost her voice - and as a result was forced to undergo two more operations in Germany and one in Korea.

Fortunately for Yulia's fans and friends, she managed to overcome the disease and return to the stage. This spring, at the Mayovka Live festival, Volkova presented a new song, “Just Forget.”

Lena Katina married Slovenian rock musician Sasho Kuzmanovic, with whom she gave birth to a son, Alexander, two years ago, and now lives in Los Angeles.

Lena began her solo career in the international music project Lena Katina, recorded new songs and covered old hits “Tatu”. The latter, by the way, did not initially cause delight among her colleague Yulia Volkova. In 2015, a video was released for the song Golde Leaves, recorded in a duet with Italian singer Noemi Smorra, which received several prizes at festivals in Los Angeles and Berlin.

Lena is currently working on a Russian-language version of her debut solo album, This Is Who I Am, which she co-wrote with her husband and re-released in Spanish last summer.

Group "Tatu" then and now: photos of participants

« Tattoo"(t.A.T.u.) is one of the most famous groups of the past. It was created in 1999, but still, even after many years, it still remains very popular, and the lead singers of the group continue to be stars and attract everyone’s attention every time they appear.

The producer of the group is Ivan Shapovalov. The scandalous musical group “Tatu” consisted of two girls. Yulia Volkova And Elena Katina became famous throughout Russia thanks to their unusual image and beautiful songs. Initially, the soloists from Tatu introduced themselves as girls who belong to adherents of same-sex love. This aspect of their work undoubtedly played a decisive role, since such a phenomenon on the Russian stage was to blame. Later, it should be noted, the girls abandoned this image.

The Tatu group is one of the most successful musical projects not only in Russia, but throughout the world. Their songs in Russian and English topped the charts in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and Russia.

More than 17 years have passed since the creation of the Tatu group. Many will be interested to see what the famous singers Yulia Volkova and Elena Katina look like today. But more on that later.

How did life turn out for the members of the Tatu group?

In the first decade of the 21st century, the Tatu group became famous not only in Russia: America, Japan and a number of European countries experienced a real boom in Tatu mania. The shocking images of Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, their ambiguous behavior on stage and provocative lyrics, video clips and photo shoots - this is how the popularity of this girlish duet was nurtured. Each of the Tatu participants began a solo career back in 2009, and they finally and irrevocably announced the breakup of the duo in 2011. How did the girls’ lives turn out after that?

Lena Katina: life after “Tattoo”

Today Lena is a young, attractive and talented girl, actively working on her solo career. Unfortunately, she was unable to repeat the success of the Tatu duet, despite the fact that the songs and singles she recorded were quite commercially successful. Over the past five years, we have heard such hits from Lena Katina as “Melody”, Shot”, “Yugoslavia”, “Paradise” and “Never Forget”. Most of the songs were recorded in Los Angeles, where Lena settled after the end of her creative union with Yulia Volkova.

What can you say about the personal life of the red-haired ex-“tattoo”? It turned out quite successfully. Because of the image of a lesbian couple, which was strongly supported by the members of the Tatu duet, the girls always carefully hid their relationships with men. It was all the more unexpected when in 2012 Elena publicly announced her affair with a musician from Slovenia who permanently lives in Los Angeles, Sasho Kuzmanovic. In the summer of 2013, the lovers got married and are still happily married.

Yulia Volkova after “Tattoo”: life goes on

The creative successes of Yulia Volkova, to tell the truth, have not become any noticeable to everyone except her fans, who have been following the singer’s activities since the existence of the Tatu duet. In 2011, her two new hits “Rage” and “Woman all the way down” were put into rotation on some radio stations, and in 2012 the song “Didn’t wanna do it” was recorded. In the same year, Yulia participated in the selection of an artist who would represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest, but lost to the Buranovsky Babushki.

As for the personal life of the “dark one from Tatu,” Yulia gave birth to a daughter back in 2004. The pregnancy was not planned, but the girl decided to keep the child. In 2007, during the period of the duo’s existence, Yulia secretly married a prominent businessman named Parviz Yasinov; in the same year the girl gave birth to his son and converted to Islam. In 2010, the couple separated. Currently, Julia does not advertise her personal life.

History of the TATU group

A duet with the mysterious name “Tattoo” appeared suddenly. Like an explosion. Nobody, in general, knew what it was. They only knew the song “I’ve lost my mind,” which burst into the top lines of the Russian charts in the fall of 2000. Young girls kissing in the rain fascinated and at the same time excited the public, introducing a fresh stream into show business.

The Tatu group was formed by producer Ivan Shapovalov at the beginning of 2000. In general, everyone involved in the work of this duo is not professionals in the world of show business. The main characters, Julia and Lena, also ended up here by chance. Both have been friends since childhood. Both were in the children's ensemble "Fidgets", from where Yulia was kicked out for "misbehavior and corruption of the team." The debut that ensured the group’s popularity is considered to be the hit “I’ve lost my mind.” This is a song about the long-suffering love of two girls and the misunderstanding of others towards them. It was written by non-professional musicians, as is usually the case with such super hits. Despite all this, the “second” song of the group, “I Am Your Enemy,” was written even earlier than “I’ve Lost My Mind,” but, according to the group’s producer, it is not very strong. The songwriting itself is a whole story. Ivan Shapovalov searched for a long time and painfully among the Russian pros for some kind of extreme music in the form of a good song, but he could not find something that he could like: “All this is old, irrelevant and completely unnatural.” The result was the following. The lyrics of the song were written by an NTV journalist Elena Kiper(now no longer a co-producer of the group). And “in real life”, VGIK student Valery Polienko helped in writing poetry. The musical theme was literally sung by Shapovalov himself, and the development of the melody and arrangement was done by Sergei Galoyan.

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 circumstances, of course, I understand. Exclude such delicate and sincere words, which are not recommended to be used often: with love, dear, most, most, with best wishes, for a long memory, etc. (we’ll leave these cliches to writers, elderly magazine editors and the Pesnyary group). The most exceptional and dearly loved - 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 also add the name of who is writing the autograph.

May 21, 2001 The long-awaited debut album “200 in the opposite direction” was released. On the same day, a new video “They won’t catch up with us” appears on the screens. By the way, the longest process in Tatu’s career was the recording of the song “They Won’t Catch Up with Us.” It took more than one week. Fans and admirers are delighted.

The debut album includes 11 songs: 01. Why am I 02. I'm crazy 03. They won't catch us (Video) 04. Count to one hundred 05. 30 minutes 06. I'm your enemy 07. I'm not your first 08. Robot 09. Gay boy 10. They won’t catch us (HarDrum Remix) 11. 30 minutes (HarDrum Remix).

In the first two months of sales, the album sold 500 thousand legal copies (more than 2 million pirated discs and cassettes). In total, throughout 2001, the album sold more than 850,000 legal copies (about 4 million pirated copies).

A concert tour begins in Russia and neighboring countries. Daily concerts. A constant program for a long time: “The first two songs in costumes “I’ve lost my mind” (only Katina has not sandals, but sneakers from the second costume). 1. Remix “I'm crazy” - without girls, as if preparing for a performance. 2. “I’ve lost my mind” - original 3. Tell me why... - Lena is on the floor, Julia, as agreed, is around her. Moreover, tearing off a tie more colorfully, unbuttoning a shirt more actively. After this song, slowly, without rushing too much, begin to undress each other - and you can flirt with the audience at the same time, so that there is a response - ask the audience what to take off, a shirt or a skirt, and so on. Take off your clothes and let's go: 4. “Show me love” 5. “Half an hour” - this song lacks some kind of tension, it needs to be played more artistically, in different sides of the hall (as agreed). More tragedy in the eyes, more facial expressions, you can hug yourself, wrap your arms around yourself (masturbate in short). 6. “They won’t catch us” 7. “Count to one hundred” 8. “Robot” Break on stage with a kissing competition, etc. 9. “Your enemy” - on the chorus, when you need to lower your head low, the one who doesn’t sing lowers her head to the fullest. The one who sings in this place must bend a maximum of 90 degrees, otherwise there is a feeling that this is definitely a soundtrack. 10. “Gay Boy” - since in this song quite memorable movements are repeated several times - they need to be made more intense, more interesting, and maybe even diversified a little. 11. “Half an hour” remix 12. “They won’t catch us” Then encore songs.”

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 Tatu duet received the MTV Video Music Awards in the “Viewers’ Choice - Best Russian Video” category!

In April 2002 Press attache, co-producer, lyricist and just a good person Elena Kiper leaves the group. The reason for leaving is unknown. Soon Beata Andreeva, a former MTV Russia VJ, takes her place. May 8, 2002— The Russian pop duo “Tatu” was awarded the IFPI Platinum Europe Award for one million copies of the album “200 in the opposite direction” sold in Europe and became the first artist from Eastern Europe to receive this award. July 1, 2002 The shooting of the Tatu group’s video for the Song “All the Things She Said” took place. Interestingly, it was decided not to re-shoot the entire video, but only those episodes where Yulia and Lena sing, so now they performed the composition in English. In order to get exactly the same picture, 2 years ago they specially built exactly the same brick wall made of plastic, painted it in the same way and found exactly the same lattice as in the first version of the video. Through it, the Americans will look at Yulia and Lena in the pouring rain. It turned out to be easy to organize rain; it was much more difficult for the stylists. The soloists changed in appearance over the course of two years, but the make-up artists coped with the task: the red-haired Lena was made blonde again, and Yulia had her hair cut “like a boy.” Americans will never guess that two whole years have passed between two frames in one clip!

In August 2002 the Tatu group is renamed t.A.T.u. 2003— “Tatu” takes part in the Eurovision contest.

“The group performs their song completely unconvincingly, Yulia is out of tune and clearly nervous. The result is a disastrous performance. Elena Penjoyan, the leader of the Fidgets group, even refused to comment on Tatu’s performance. In her opinion, Yulia was the weakest vocalist in “Fidgets” and “should not have represented the country at such an important performance.” (Yaroslav Peshteev. Independent Information Agency. August 2003).

In 2004 Tatu broke the contract with their producer Ivan Shapovalov.

This event became fatal for the Tatu group. Its popularity is gradually declining. At the moment, Yulia Volkova is not engaged in a solo career, unlike Lena Katina.

Yulia Volkova now

After the collapse of the Tatu group, Volkova took up solo activities, but the girl was unable to repeat the success of the duet with Lena Katina on her own.

Julia is the mother of two wonderful children. Victoria Volkova gave birth to her daughter in 2004. The young mother was only 19 years old at that time. Three years after the birth of her first child, the singer gave birth to a son, Samir. Volkova broke up with the fathers of her children, and what is happening now in her personal life is not known for certain.

Lena Katina now

After the collapse of the group, the fair-haired lead singer of the Tatu group, like her colleague Yulia Volkova, focused on a solo career. Now Katina lives and works in Los Angeles, and her musical repertoire is dominated by songs in English.

The singer is married to rock musician Sasho Kuzmanovich, to whom she gave birth to a son, Alexander, in 2015.

Katina’s Instagram doesn’t have as many photos as Volkova’s. Basically, Lena publishes posters of her upcoming concerts and announces new works. However, personal photos are enough to see what 33-year-old Katina looks like now.

The hits of the Tatu group, even after almost two decades, are remembered and loved by millions of fans, who themselves have already turned into 30-year-old men and women. However, the news that the Tatu group was returning to the stage after a ten-year break created a real sensation on the Internet.

Fans hope that the new works of the matured singers will be no less talented and popular than the old hits of the nineties and zeros.

Personal life of Yulia Volkova

She was always distinguished by her violent disposition and desire to change; back in the heyday of the group, she got tattoos (now she has 11 of them), pierced her nose and constantly played with the length of her hair. In the mid-00s, the singer pumped up her lips and got her eyebrows tattooed - fans rather took it negatively than positively, because their favorite’s face changed beyond recognition.

Most of Yulia's solo songs are recorded in English. Including the single Back to Her Future - with it Yulia and Dima Bilan performed at the qualifying round when they wanted to go to Eurovision from our country in 2012, but in the end they gave the championship to the Buranovsky Grandmothers. In addition to creating music, Volkova acted in films (in the films “Zombie Vacation 3D”, “Close but Far”).

In 2004, the girl became pregnant by businessman Pavel Sidorov and gave birth to a daughter. True, the performer did not intend to build a serious relationship with Pavel. In 2006, she moved over to an old friend, Vlad Topalov, who she knew from the days of “Fidget.” There were rumors in the press about the upcoming wedding, but this story remained at the level of rumors. The relationship with the son of a wealthy businessman, Parviz Yasinov, lasted three years, and his son Samir was born from him. It seemed that everything was heading towards marriage (Volkova even converted to Islam), but in the spring of 2010 the couple still broke up.

In 2012, the singer was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in the thyroid gland; fortunately, the operation was successful. Because of this, she lost her voice for a long time, and she had to learn to sing again.

Personal life of Lena Katina

In 2009, Lena began to actively develop her solo career, moving to Los Angeles and founding a project under the Lena Katina brand. Unlike Yulia, Katina’s career developed more rapidly: her singles entered the American charts, she released two albums (in English and Spanish), Mexican groups collaborated with her, and in her homeland she recorded the single Shot with rapper T-killah.

Katina hid her relationships with men so as not to undermine the group’s image. In 2003, she met Slovenian rock musician Sasho Kuzmanovic. But both were busy with their careers at the time, so a strong relationship did not work out. But love took its toll: 10 years later they resumed communication, got married, and their son Alexander was born into the marriage.

“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. was for Katina all the time, Vanya was more inclined to Volkova. In general, he doubted. And we decided that Katina would be. They bombed Yugoslavia. Our brothers and our sisters live 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 money for the project (author's note Businessman - 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 says: “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".
Alexander Voitinsky. 2001

A duet with the mysterious name "Tattoo" appeared suddenly. Like an explosion. Nobody, in general, knew what it was. They only knew the song “I’ve lost my mind,” which burst into the top lines of the Russian charts in the fall of 2000. Young girls kissing in the rain fascinated and at the same time excited the public, introducing a fresh stream into show business.

The Tatu group was formed by producer Ivan Shapovalov in early 2000. In general, everyone involved in the work of this duo is not professionals in the world of show business. The main characters, Julia and Lena, also ended up here by chance. Both have been friends since childhood. Both were in the children's ensemble "Fidgets", from where Yulia was kicked out for "misbehavior and corruption of the team."

Yulia Volkova was born on February 20, 1985. Yulia lives in Moscow. She studied at school No. 882, then at school No. 1113 with theater training. I practiced ballroom dancing, figure skating, swimming and tennis with an individual trainer. Daughter of a businessman. Character - firm, purposeful. Prone to adventure. Loves BMW cars. She is prone to self-criticism - she declared herself crazy to the whole country. She loves to shock the public and use the word “unreal”, although she herself is inclined to believe that nothing is unreal. Sociable. He believes that you should try, if not everything, then a lot in life.

Lena Katina was born on October 4, 1984. She studied at school No. 457. She was involved in rhythmic gymnastics, ballroom dancing, figure skating, swimming and equestrianism. Daughter of a musician. Her character is less solid than that of Yulia, but Yulia herself believes that she is less practical than her friend and colleague at TATU. Romantic, extremely sociable, well-read. Loves to read Dostoevsky. Like Yulia, she experiences a morbid addiction to self-incrimination (she is also sure that she has gone crazy). Prone to exaltation (unmotivated bouts of laughter or crying, the reason could be anything - a book read or a movie watched). He disregards public opinion and declares absolute tolerance towards people of any nationality and religion. Loves the word "cool". Believes in God, attends church. He writes poetry, not unreasonably believing that the paper will endure everything, will always listen and will not say anything offensive in response. She believes that her parents have the right to interfere in her life, but still makes decisions absolutely independently.

The debut that ensured the group's popularity is considered to be the hit "I'm Crazy." This is a song about the long-suffering love of two girls and the misunderstanding of others towards them. It was written by non-professional musicians, as is usually the case with such super hits. Despite all this, the “second” song of the group, “I Am Your Enemy,” was written even earlier than “I’ve Lost My Mind,” but, according to the group’s producer, it is not very strong.

The songwriting itself is a whole story. Ivan Shapovalov searched for a long time and painfully among the Russian pros for some kind of extreme music in the form of a good song, but he could not find something that he could like: “All this is old, irrelevant and completely unnatural.” The result was the following.

The lyrics of the song were written by NTV journalist Elena Kiper (now no longer a co-producer of the group). And “in reality” VGIK student Valery Polienko helped in writing poetry. The musical theme was literally sung by Shapovalov himself, and the development of the melody and arrangement was done by Sergei Galoyan.

One way or another, the song appeared, and it was necessary to shoot a video. The entire filming process 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, most, 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.”

December 19, 2000 The first press conference of the Tatu group took place at Moscow secondary school No. 1113, located near the Pushkinskaya metro station. 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.

May 16, 2001 The official ceremony of signing a contract between the Tatu group and Universal Music Russia took place at the Radisson-Slavyanskaya Hotel. The upcoming contract provides for the release of three albums, the first of which is “200 in the opposite direction.”

May 21, 2001 The long-awaited debut album "200 in the opposite direction" is released. On the same day, a new video “They Won’t Catch Up with Us” appears on the screens. By the way, the longest process in Tatu’s career was the recording of the song “They Won’t Catch Up with Us.” It took more than one week. Fans and admirers are delighted. The debut album included 11 songs:
01. Why am I
02. I'm crazy
03. They won't catch us (Video)
04. Count to one hundred
05. 30 minutes
06. I'm your enemy
07. I'm not your first
08. Robot
09. Gay boy
10. They won't catch us (HarDrum Remix)
11. 30 minutes (HarDrum Remix)

In the first two months of sales, the album sold 500 thousand legal copies (more than 2 million pirated discs and cassettes). In total, throughout 2001, the album sold more than 850,000 legal copies (about 4 million pirated copies).

A concert tour begins in Russia and neighboring countries. Daily concerts. Unchanged program over time:

“The first two songs are in “I’m crazy” costumes (only Katina has sneakers from the second costume, not sandals).
1. Remix "I'm crazy" - without girls, as if preparing for a performance.
2. "I'm Losing My Mind" - original
3. Tell me why... - Lena is on the floor, Julia, as agreed, is around her. Moreover, tearing off a tie more colorfully, unbuttoning a shirt more actively.

After this song, slowly, without rushing too much, begin to undress each other - and you can flirt with the audience at the same time, so that there is a response - ask the audience what to take off, a shirt or a skirt, and so on. Take off your clothes and let's go:

4. "Show me Love"
5. “Half an hour” - this song lacks some kind of anguish, it needs to be played more artistically, in different sides of the hall (as agreed) More tragedy in the eyes, more facial expressions, you can hug yourself, wrap your arms around yourself (masturbate in short).
6. "Not gonna get us"
7. "Count to One Hundred"
8. "Robot"

Break on stage with a kissing contest, etc.

9. “Your enemy” - on the chorus, when you need to lower your head low, the one who doesn’t sing lowers her head to the fullest. So, who sings in this place must bend at most 90 degrees, otherwise there is a feeling that this is definitely a soundtrack.
10. “Gay Boy” - since in this song quite memorable movements are repeated several times - they need to be made more intense, more interesting, and maybe even diversified a little.
11. "Half an hour" remix
12. "Not gonna get us"

Then encore songs!!!"

"Tatu" attracts full houses.

June 2, 2001 the group "Tatu" received the "100 pood hit" weight from the radio "Hit FM". The award ceremony took place in the Kremlin, during which the girls sang the song “I’ve lost my mind.”

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 local stars Limp Bizkit, Mojio, Jennifer Lopez. 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 duet “Tatu” is 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.

In January 2002 the album "200 in the opposite direction" by the duet "Tatu" was recognized by the Russian branch of IFPI (International Association of Phonogram Producers) as the best-selling album of the year!

In January 2002"Tatu" begin work on an album in English. In January, Tatu visited England and then America to begin work in the studio. In distant countries, a truly stellar team of producers was waiting for Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova! In Manchester, the entire process is supervised by F.A.F./Cap Com Productions (produced and wrote remixes for such artists as Sonique, Moby, Rammstein, Eskimos & Egypt, Steps), and in London - the famous Trevor Horn! Meanwhile, Ivan Shapovalov is studying the American market in sunny California.

In February 2002 To maintain interest in the group in Russia, Universal Music Russia decides to re-release the album “200 in the opposite direction.” The re-release is an original album, to which 2 new remixes have been added (for the songs “Gay Boy” and “Half an Hour”), as well as a new composition “Clowns”. The cover design will also change radically. The album was released in two versions - regular and Limited Edition. The expensive edition, among other things, included a video clip for the song “Half an Hour,” “forbidden” and never before published photographs of girls. The reissue was released on February 15, 2002. The re-release of the album in the first week of sales broke all records: 60,000 legal copies sold! Currently, sales of the Tatu duet's album "200 in the opposite direction" are close to 1,100,000 copies!

In March 2002 Work continues on the English-language album and performances in Europe and Russia.

In April 2002 the girls received 2 gold discs in the Czech Republic - one for the number of discs sold, and the second for love. The album "200 in the opposite direction" was sold in the Czech Republic with a circulation of more than 10,000 copies. The second prize is from the Czech television company Nova for the first places of “Tatu” in the hit parade. And on April 11 in Russia, Tatu received the Bed of the Year award in the Sex Dissidents category. Who are they? Well, these are people who were not afraid to give a damn about traditional sexual orientation.

In April, press attache, co-producer, lyricist and just a good person, Elena Kiper, left the group. The reason for leaving is unknown. Soon Beata Andreeva, a former MTV Russia VJ, takes her place.

Universal Music Russia has released and sent to music channels two new video remixes for the songs “I’ve lost my mind” and “They won’t catch us.” On April 12, 1, these creations were seen on the air of the Ukrainian music channel M. The clips remained unchanged, but the English translation of the words was added. It also became known that it is planned to reshoot the videos due to inconsistencies in the music and new text in the video remixes.

April 15, 2002 Julia and Lena have finished working in the studio! The girls recorded a new song called "Simple Movements". A video for this song will be shot soon.

May 8, 2002- The Russian pop duo "Tatu" was awarded the IFPI Platinum Europe Award for one million copies of the album "200 in the opposite direction" sold in Europe and became the first artist from Eastern Europe to receive this award.

May 23, 2002 The best song of the past year at the Ovation music award ceremony was named the Tatu group's hit "They Won't Catch Up with Us." Yulia and Lena were given two golden palms for two.

May 30, 2002 At the Marika club there was a presentation of the new video "Tatu" for the song "Simple Movements". In the video, during the song, one of the “Tatushkas”, oohing and aahing, is engaged in... masturbation. The guests of the event, MTV people and politicians, did not lie when speaking about the professionalism of Ivan Shapovalov, the ideological inspirer and director of the video, and his charges. The clip was indeed made professionally: a little soft eroticism, memories from childhood, a desire for care... and bold, but so simple movements.

In June 2002"Tatu" visited New York. Participated in the TRL super show on MTV.

July 1, 2002 The shooting of the Tatu group's video for the Song "All the Things She Said" took place. Interestingly, it was decided not to re-shoot the entire video, but only those episodes where Yulia and Lena sing, so now they performed the composition in English. In order to get exactly the same picture, 2 years ago they specially built exactly the same brick wall made of plastic, painted it in the same way and found exactly the same lattice as in the first version of the video. Through it, the Americans will look at Yulia and Lena in the pouring rain. It turned out to be easy to organize rain; it was much more difficult for the stylists. The soloists changed in appearance over the course of two years, but the make-up artists coped with the task: the red-haired Lena was made blonde again, and Yulia had her hair cut like a boy. Americans will never guess that two whole years have passed between two frames in one clip!

In July 2002 The popularity of girls has finally reached Poland. First places in local charts, invitations from glossy magazines - everything is as usual.

In July, the release dates for the debut album "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane" in English become known. And the song “All the Things She Said” is gaining momentum in America and is heard more and more often in clubs and on TV screens.

In August 2002 the Tatu group is renamed t.A.T.u.

August 18, 2002 Tatu went to New York. This is not the first trip to America for Yulia and Lena. But for America, this is Tatu’s first single, this is the first video, and this is Tatu’s first appearance as equal artists on the American market. The English-language album “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” will be released in October, so the soloists will have to do a lot in 2 weeks: work with Iterscope records, the record company that will produce the first American album, interviews for CNN, photo shoots for teen magazines. And this is just the beginning, because after a week in Los Angeles there is a week in New York. And then, of course, there will be interviews for MTV and again filming for glossy magazines. Considering the speed of Yulia and Lena’s movements across America, these 2 weeks can easily be counted as a month.

September 10, 2002 The debut single "All the Things She Said" was released in America. The single includes 2 versions of the song "All the Things She Said" and 2 videos, a video for the song "All the Things She Said" and "Behind-the-Scenes with Julia and Lena (Part 1)". The single "All the Things She Said" was released in Europe on September 16. On the same day, Tatu returns from America to Moscow.

September 13, 2002 sales of the album "200 in the opposite direction" were abruptly suspended. The temporary ban on sales was caused by a court decision, where a lawsuit was filed by composer Sergei Galoyan, accusing Neformat of placing information discrediting the honor of the composer on the album insert.

September 16, 2002 year, the single "All the Things She Said" was released in Europe. The single is released in two versions - limited edition and standard edition.
Limited edition contains:

02. All the Things She Said (Extension 119 Club Edit - Dave Aude)
00. Video "All the Things She Said"
00. Video "Behind-the-Scenes" (Part 1)

Standard Edition contains:
01. All the Things She Said (Original)
02.Stars