Biography
The birthplace of the famous singer, poet and composer Alexander Roznebaum was Leningrad, where he was born in September 1951.
His parents were medical students, and immediately after graduation, the young family was assigned to Kazakhstan, the city of Zyryanovsk. Alexander’s younger brother, Vladimir, was born here. Subsequently, the elder Rosenbaum, being a highly qualified urologist, became the chief physician in the city hospital, and his mother held the position of gynecologist.
Childhood of the future artist
Parents wanted their sons to receive comprehensive development. When the Rosenbaums returned to their native Leningrad six years later, Sasha entered a school with in-depth study of the French language, and also studied violin and piano at a music school. In addition, he independently mastered playing the guitar.
Sash grew up as a very active child and, in addition to playing music, was quite seriously involved in sports. At first it was figure skating, but with age the boy changed his preferences and became interested in boxing.
When choosing his future profession, Sasha had no doubt that he would definitely follow in the footsteps of his parents. After graduating from school, he entered medical school. After receiving his diploma, Alexander got a job as a general practitioner in the emergency department. However, his passion for music was so strong that he entered the evening department of the jazz school.
As a result, young Rosenbaum had to make a difficult choice - to stay in medicine or learn a new profession as a musician. Alexander chose the second.
Creative career
In parallel with his work on the ambulance, Alexander continued to be passionate about music, wrote songs, played in a Leningrad rock club and was a fairly famous person in the local “underground”. He graduated from the evening jazz school at the Kirov Palace of Culture, performed as a member of the vocal and instrumental ensembles “Admiralty”, “Argonauts”, “Six Young”, “Pulse”.
Alexander Rosenbaum and the Argonauts group
Rosenbaum's solo career began in 1980. He received a call from Albert Asadullin, who at that time left Singing Guitars and organized his own band. He asked to write several songs for a new repertoire, and after a month of working together, he invited Alexander to become a full member of the ensemble. So our hero made the final decision to leave medicine and devote himself to music.
Having become a doctor, Rosenbaum did not forget about music
He toured with Asadullin around the country for two years, but gained all-Union popularity thanks to a tape cassette recorded in a semi-professional studio with the assistance of the Zhemchuzhny brothers. He was inspired to create the album by “Odessa Stories” by Babel, a writer he loved from early youth. Within two weeks, the cassette was distributed to the far corners of the Soviet Union and far beyond its borders. The masters of the national stage became interested in Rosenbaum and accepted him into their circle.
Alexander Rosenbaum in his youth
Rosenbaum’s work was also highly appreciated by emigrants and stars of Russian chanson. Mikhail Shufutinsky was completely delighted when he heard the recordings of the songs of the beginning artist - it became obvious that the situation in his homeland was changing dramatically if the appearance of such an artist became possible. Rosenbaum soon enough became a participant in large official concerts, such as “Wider Circle” and “Song of the Year”. The singer toured the country a lot, and in principle visited not only large cities, but also the most remote and forgotten corners of our vast homeland. His songs “Gop-Stop”, “Waltz-Boston”, “Come to see us”, “Duck Hunt” were known by heart by the whole country - Rosenbaum single-handedly easily collected stadiums and Sports Palaces, which was a rarity for a performer of this genre. Every year he released several albums, the topics of which were incredibly broad and diverse. His work included philosophical and love lyrics, thieves' couplets, war songs, gypsy romances and rollicking Cossack motifs. He dedicated many songs to his fellow doctors, and after his first trip to Afghanistan, works on patriotic themes appeared in Alexander Yakovlevich’s repertoire. Rosenbaum flew to Afghanistan more than once - each trip literally turned his soul upside down and inflicted a deep wound, but he still returned there again and again. It was important for him to at least somehow support the Soviet soldiers and officers who looked death in the eyes every day and did not know whether they would return home alive. He himself repeatedly came under fire and, like everyone else, steadfastly endured the hellish heat and everyday difficulties. The result of these trips was a whole series of songs dedicated to Afghanistan, which even now make hearts clench and bring tears to the eyes of the participants in those terrible events.
Alexander Rosenbaum in Afghanistan
In 1986, the composition “In the Mountains of Afghanistan” became the soundtrack to the documentary “Pain and Hope of Afghanistan,” and in 1991, Rosenbaum’s famous “Black Tulip” became the main musical theme of Vladimir Bortko’s war drama “The Afghan Break,” starring Michele Placido. In the film you can see the artist himself - Alexander Yakovlevich played himself, speaking to the soldiers in the army club. Rosenbaum also visited other hot spots - in 1986 he came to support the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, repeatedly visited Chechnya during both military campaigns, and gave concerts to the Russian military in Syria. He spoke a lot to prisoners and visited a huge number of correctional institutions in various parts of the country. He is a retired colonel of the medical service, awarded the “Warrior-Internationalist” badge, medals “To the Warrior-Internationalist from the grateful Afghan people”, “Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR” and other honorary awards. In 2001, Alexander Yakovlevich was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation, and ten years later he received the Order of Honor from the hands of Vladimir Putin for outstanding services to the Fatherland.
Alexander Rosenbaum and Vladimir Putin
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rosenbaum began to tour abroad a lot, and a whole series dedicated to the people of Israel appeared in his work. In this way, the artist paid tribute to his ancestors, people who came from the Promised Land. But even in his homeland, he remained incredibly popular - the dashing 90s had virtually no impact on his creative activity. He often appeared on television, acted in films and even played one of the key roles in Stanislav Govorukhin’s drama “Not by Bread Alone” (2005).
Still from the film “Not by Bread Alone”
In the 2010s, he repeatedly became a participant in popular television programs and music shows: “Three Chords”, “Property of the Republic”, “Exactly the Same”, “Main Stage” and many others. Rosenbaum willingly gives interviews and does not hide the details of his personal and creative biography from the general public. Alexander Yakovlevich has always been a welcome guest of the programs “Alone with Everyone”, “My Hero”, “Live Broadcast”, “The Fate of a Man”, “Evening Urgant”, “Tonight”, and each time his appearance on air attracted multi-million viewers to the screens audience.
Musical activities
Alexander began writing songs while still studying at medical school. After graduating from jazz school, he began performing at small venues as part of the groups “Argonauts”, “Admiralty”, “Pulse”, and VIA “Six Young”. Rosenbaum had his first solo performance experience in the early 80s.
It is noteworthy that Alexander Rosenbaum managed to achieve wide fame thanks to the genre of art songs, which at that time was far from at the peak of popularity. In a short time, the musician found himself in demand, and performed at such important concerts in Soviet times as “Song of the Year” and “Wider Circle”.
The trip to Afghanistan became significant not only in his personal life, but also in Rosenbaum’s work. He began to write songs about the war, about the history of Russia, and this added to his popularity even more. Thus, in the film “The Pain and Hopes of Afghanistan” (1986), Alexander’s song entitled “In the Mountains of Afghanistan” was used as the soundtrack. His composition “Monologue of the Black Tulip Pilot” was also featured in the film “Afghan Break” (1991).
Military themes remained dominant in the musician’s work for a long time. Among these songs, the most liked by the public were “I often wake up in silence”, “The Road of a Lifetime”, “Caravan”, “Song of the Old Destroyer”, “38 Knots” and many others.
After the collapse of the USSR, Alexander Rosenbaum did not go underground, like many of his colleagues. He continued to actively perform in concerts. During this period, his repertoire was replenished with compositions on Jewish themes - in this way the musician wanted to pay tribute to his ancestors on his father’s side.
Rosenbaum’s song “Au” gained enormous popularity, for which he received his first prestigious Golden Gramophone music award in 1996. The musician received a second similar award six years later for the song “We are Alive.”
A year later, among his awards, the “Chanson of the Year” award appeared, which he subsequently began to receive almost every year. Rosenbaum received his third Golden Gramophone in 2012 for the song “Love en encore,” which he performed in a duet with singer Zara.
Rosenbaum’s compositions were heard in such popular domestic films and TV series as “Brigada”, “Two Fates”, “Tram-ram, or Bukhty-floundering”. The popularly beloved musician has more than three dozen albums , in which there are many songs performed in duets with the most famous performers: Mikhail Shufutinsky, Grigory Leps, Joseph Kobzon, the Zhemchuzhny Brothers and many others.
It’s interesting, but Alexander Rosenbaum has practically no videos for his compositions - mostly these are recordings from his concerts. By and large, the singer has only one worthy professional video - a video for the song “Evening Drinking,” performed together with Joseph Kobzon and Grigory Leps.
Most often, the artist performs with a six-string or even a twelve-string guitar - he often uses paired strings to give his characteristic playing style an even brighter, richer sound. The musician continues to record new songs and actively performs at his concerts in major cities of Russia.
Alexander Rosenbaum now
Alexander Rosenbaum is in excellent creative shape and still gives many concerts - his tour schedule is scheduled for many months in advance. The global coronavirus pandemic has made adjustments to the artist’s creative plans. He is also involved in charity work and often asks his Instagram followers to donate some money to a sick child.
He, like many of his colleagues, switched to online mode and, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the great Victory, held a concert “We will not abandon our own!” on Instagram. On July 7, the artist met for the first time after quarantine at a rehearsal with his musical group “Old Army”, and a month later he went on a large tour across the country with a new concert program “On the Free.”
Alexander Rosenbaum in 2021
The artist’s performance was not affected by the complex surgery to remove the tumor, which he underwent in 2021. In September 2020, the next season of the music show “Three Chords” will start on Channel One, in which our hero has been an honorary member of the jury for several seasons in a row.
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Personal life
Alexander first tied the knot during his student years. However, this union turned out to be fragile and lasted less than a year. A year later, Rosenbaum ventured into a second marriage. His chosen one was medical student Elena. This time the young man’s expectations did not let him down, and the family turned out to be strong and very friendly.
In 1976, the couple had a long-awaited daughter, Anna. The girl was very weak and sickly, and her parents devoted a lot of time and effort to strengthening her health. When Anna grew up, she married a famous Israeli athlete and gave her happy grandfather four grandchildren.
In addition to music, Alexander Rosenbaum is very successfully involved in the restaurant business. He is the owner of a chain of pubs called "Fat Friar" and the restaurant "Bella Leone". In addition, the artist is the vice-president of the company, which supports emerging performers, and the president of the Maccabi sports society.
