Russian Personalities

People well-known in art, sport, film, fashion

Category Archive: Music and dance

Yulia Beretta – Russian singer, actress

Yulia Beretta

Yulia Beretta – Russian singer, actress


Yulia Beretta is a Russian singer and actress. Her real name is Yulia Glebova (nee Dolgasheva).
Pretty girl was born on February 19, 1979 in Moscow. Her parents divorced when their daughter was 2 years old. As a child, she was a very athletic girl. She was engaged in fencing, figure skating, dancing. But Yulia’s main hobby was music. The girl graduated from music school and later from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS).
At first Yulia worked with DJs at weddings. And then, thanks to her unusual timbre of the voice, she was invited to the pop group Strelki. There she performed under the pseudonym Yu-Yu. The media called the group the Russian answer to Spice Girls. By the way, Yulia was not only a singer. Also she became the author of several hits, which were presented in the album.
In September 2002, Yulia left the band to begin her solo career under the name Beretta.
More »

Pavla Kuchenko, Russian singer

Pavla Kuchenko, Russian singer

Pavla Kuchenko, Russian singer


Pavla Kuchenko was born on May 6, 1985 in Altai Krai (Altai region) and spent her childhood in Yoshkar-Ola. The girl entered music school at the age of 13. You know, Pavla became the winner of the city and national jazz festivals, French and English song competitions.
In 2003 she entered the Institute of Contemporary Art in Moscow.
Later, in 2006, Pavla took part in the television project People’s Artist on Russia channel. By the way, pretty girl took the 4th place. After the project she toured the Black Sea coast, Karelia and gave a big solo concert in Yoshkar-Ola.
More »

Marina Ivanova, Russian singer

Marina Ivanova, Russian singer

Marina Ivanova, Russian singer


Marina Ivanova was born on December 17, 1993. She is a lead singer of the pop band Kraski. The band Kraski was created on January 1, 2001 in Minsk. At first the band consisted of Katya Borovik, Olga Guseva, Vasiliy Bgomia, Andrei Chigir. The producer and author of the songs is Alexei Voronov. The famous song, Elder Brother was marked by the magazine Billboard as one of the most exciting and memorable Russian pop hits in the past 20 years.
In 2003, the band was harassed by the Belarusian authorities and they had to move to Moscow. The albums – Orange Sun – Orange Album, Spring – Blue Album, Those who love – Purple Album were realized.
The band has given concerts in the largest cities of the CIS, in the United States, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands. During this period, Kraski took part in the festival Golden Gramophone, Bomb of the Year and others.
The band participated in the TV programs including Big Wash, Morning, Real News, etc.
More »

Vladimir Vysotsky and his women

Vladimir Vysotsky - Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor

Vladimir Vysotsky – Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor

Vladimir Vysotsky (25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980) was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor. To tell the truth, he became a legend of Soviet music, theater and cinematography.
He was not only singer, but “the most famous Russian bard”, “the greatest Russian bard of the second half of the 20th century”, “voice for the heart of a nation”. His poems touch millions of hearts all over the world.
Actually, he had his unique singing style and lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. In his songs he came out against evil force, against the ugly system under which he was born.
That’s why Vladimir was accepted by the Soviet government as an actor, but never as a poet and singer. Only after his death, in the late 1980s the Soviet government began allowing the publication of his poetry and song lyrics.
He had no titles, he was simply a son of his country, he was very Russian.
More »

DJ Anna Sahara

DJ Anna Sahara

DJ Anna Sahara


Anna Sahara is the first Strip DJ (topless DJ) in Russia.
Pretty girl was born on April 10, 1987 in Moscow. She worked as a model and was awarded the title of Miss Aphrodite 2004 in Greece, Miss Charm 2004 and Miss Erotica 2005.
Strip DJ Sahara first performed with her show program in Saratov on October 22, 2006. According to her, it was a very special day when she seriously thought to learn a new profession and became a DJ.
More »

Vera Brezhneva – Russian-Ukrainian singer, actress

Vera Brezhneva - Russian-Ukrainian singer, actress

Vera Brezhneva – Russian-Ukrainian singer, actress


Vera Halushka, better known under her stage name Vera Brezhneva, is a famous singer and actress, ex-soloist of the popular female band VIA Gra. Today she gives solo concerts, and also appears on the screens as a TV presenter. Glossy magazines more than once called Vera the standard of femininity and beauty.
Pretty girl was born on February 3, 1982 in Dneprodzerzhynsk. Her mother Tamara is Russian, and her father Viktor is mixed of Ukrainian and Russian descent. Vera has three sisters: Galina and twins Anastasia and Victoria. Victoria became the wife of Russian singer and TV presenter Alexander Tsekalo. As a teenager, Vera was fond of sports (handball, basketball, karate, and gymnastics).
The girl graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Rail Engineering Institute.
In November 2002 Vera was invited to join VIA Gra. However, the surname Galushka did not match the stage image of the sexy band. Producer Dmitry Kostyuk had the idea to replace her surname with the pseudonym Brezhneva, because former Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev was also from Dneprodzerzhinsk. And in January 2003, there were three girls in the group – Nadezhda Granovskaya, Anna Sedokova and Vera Brezhneva.
More »

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – first in Madame Figaro’s list

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – first in Madame Figaro’s list


Nadezhda Tolokonnikova became woman of the year, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro. The runner-up is the U.S. President Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, and the third is the actress Meryl Streep.
Also she is known as Nadya Tolokno. She is a Russian political activist, a member of the punk rock group Pussy Riot.
Nadia was born on November 7, 1989 in Norilsk. A year after her birth, the family moved to Krasnoyarsk, but after a while returned to Norilsk. When the girl was five years old, her parents divorced.
The future political activist studied well during her school years. She successfully graduated from music school. Then Nadia entered the Moscow State University, Faculty of Philosophy.
One day the girl met political activist Peter Verzilov. Young people fell in love with each other. They travelled in Spain and Portugal, and when the lovers returned to their homeland, they decided to get married. Their daughter Gera, whom they named after the Greek goddess Hera, was born in 2008. The young mother was only eighteen years old.
More »