short biography
Irina Vitalievna Ponarovskaya was born on March 12, 1953 in Leningrad. Nationality - Jewish, zodiac sign - Pisces. She is called a controversial personality of Russian show business. Along with her pop activities, she excelled as a jazz and blues singer. And the fact that today the public calls her “Lady Perfection” and “Lady Star” says a lot.
Today, the life of the 66-year-old singer can be judged by the words spoken in a conversation with A. Malakhov: “I don’t have time to understand how time passes, how interesting it is for me with my grandchildren!”
Childhood, school
Rice. 1. School graduate
The girl was born into a musical family, where her father was the conductor and artistic director of a jazz orchestra, and her mother was the accompanist of the music school at the Leningrad Conservatory, which received several awards in international competitions.
The creative activity of the parents was the reason that the child already mastered the piano at the age of 6 and, at the same time as primary school, began studying in a music class at the conservatory. There Irina learned the essence of playing the harp and piano.
During homework, the child often hums his favorite tunes. My maternal grandmother discovered a developing penchant for vocals. She initiated the parents to show their daughter to a competent teacher. Thus, at the age of 15, Irina Ponarovskaya began studying with L. B. Arkhangelskaya, who directed her passion in the right direction.
Rice. 2. State Conservatory in St. Petersburg
Having received a certificate of secondary school education, she entered the Leningrad Conservatory. In the same 1971 she began performing at VIA.
Life off stage
Irina decided to try family life for the first time with Grigory Kleimits, who was the leader of the Singing Guitars group. But this relationship was short-lived; the couple separated quite quickly.
The second husband of Irina Ponarovskaya was the black man Weyland Rodd; their personal life was quite stormy and lasted for 7 years. However, Weiland himself believed that this was just an episode in his biography, although in numerous family photos they look happy.
For reference!
Ponarovskaya was the sixth wife of a loving African American.
They did not have their own children for a long time, so the couple took a girl from an orphanage, Anastasia Kormysheva. According to the girl, Irina loved her very much, even when she gave birth to her only son, Anthony. But still, she had to return to the orphanage; Weiland sent her there while Ponarovskaya was in the hospital. Subsequently, the singer tried to return her adopted daughter, but Rodd opposed this, blackmailing her with the threat of taking her son.
After the birth of Anthony, Irina Ponarovskaya did not go on stage for a long time; her husband forbade her. In 1986, she finally began performing with her husband in the same music program; this was the most successful period in her creative biography. Her songs began to occupy the top lines of the charts, one of the most popular is “I Know - I Loved.”
Despite the fact that Weiland claimed that the reason for their divorce was the inability of two creative personalities to get along side by side. But Ponarovskaya insisted in the divorce trial that the wording “marital infidelity” be written down in the “reasons” column. Later, Ponarovskaya said that she accepted the fact that men are polygamous. But what Weiland did crossed all boundaries; he could bring a girl home and have a relationship with her, right in the presence of his wife.
Then came the disgusting story of the kidnapping of his son. When the singer managed to find the boy, she had to treat him for a long time; he had dystrophy, bronchitis and sinusitis. In addition, doctors diagnosed Anthony with asthenic neurosis, since the entire time he was with his father, he did not hesitate to have sexual intercourse with women.
Also read: Natalya Efremova - mother of Kirkorov’s children: biography, personal life
After her divorce from Rodd, Ponarovskaya was in a relationship with Soso Pavliashvili for some period. At that time, only the lazy did not write about their personal life.
For reference!
They even sang several songs as a duet, the audience especially loved the song “You and Me.”
Irina’s third husband was the famous doctor Dmitry Pushkar. Their acquaintance took place in the hospital where the woman was treated for her kidneys. Ponarovskaya recalls her marriage as successful and even slightly regrets the separation, which occurred after 11 years. The reason for the divorce was simple jealousy; the husband could not come to terms with the fact that his wife was surrounded by a large number of men.
First steps in adult life
The birth of Irina Ponarovskaya as a singer coincided with the period when the first vocal and instrumental ensembles began to appear in the Soviet Union. One of them urgently needed a soloist. The father, whose friend was an acquaintance of the artistic director of VIA, recommended his daughter to audition. So the first-year student joined the group, which bears the loud name “Singing Guitars”.
Rice. 3. As part of “Singing Guitars”
The girl performed with this lineup from 1971 to 1975. Considering that all this time she continued her studies, did not stand out in any way in the class and never performed a solo, then her achievements in “Singing Guitars” could be considered grandiose for her:
- Twice she received the right to perform solo.
- She received vocal improvisation in the ballad “Salapsis”.
- She played Eurydice, in love with Orpheus, in the opera of the same name, staged in an original and unfamiliar style for the Soviet Union - rock. Mark Rozovsky's work was a tremendous success and toured throughout the country, attracting full houses. Several years ago, it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the musical that was performed the most by the same people. At the time the recording was recorded, it had been played 2,350 times.
Marriages and children of the singer
Irina Ponarovskaya was married several times. All her husbands:
- Grigory Kleimits. He was the head of the VIA "Singing Guitars". We lived together for a year and a half.
- Leonid Kvinikhidze is a famous director who greatly helped her in her career growth.
- Wayland Rodd is a black jazz musician. Seven years of marriage, during which they accepted a girl, Anastasia Kormysheva, into their family, since they could not have their own children. Then they finally had a son - they named him Anthony.
- Soso Pavliashvili. They lived in a civil marriage - all the yellow publications trumpeted this.
- Dmitry Pushkar is the singer’s third official husband. Famous urologist. This time their life together lasted eleven years and ended with another divorce (1997).
A marriage with a jazzman and everything that came out of it deserves special attention.
On tour in the city of Zlatoust (1983), a very young woman with a small child in her arms managed to break into Irina’s dressing room. She had a mulatto girl from some African as a result of a random relationship.
An 18-year-old mother offered... to buy a baby, citing the fact that she was unable to support her. The singer’s heart sank with compassion, and she took the child into her family. Years later, no one knows whether any documents were drawn up in this regard.
Triumph in Poland
Thanks to the efforts of a purposeful girl and her father’s recommendations, in 1976 Irina Ponarovskaya got the opportunity to perform at an international festival. The song “Prayer,” performed in Sopot (Poland), had no competitors. The stunning success and demands of the audience forced the young Soviet singer to return to the stage 9 more times. The audience calmed down only after she sang one more time as an encore.
Throughout the entire multi-day festival, Irina’s photo did not leave the front pages of newspapers. Every resident of the city knew her face, passers-by on the street greeted her and asked for an autograph, and they brought flowers to the hotel door. Surprisingly, no one knew her at home. When the enormous success of the Soviet singer became known to the Kremlin, the Minister of Culture could not even remember her name.
Interesting Facts
Ponarovskaya has brothers and sisters. One of the older brothers is a pianist. There is also a half-sister (1976), who was born already when the father created another family, having divorced his ex-wife.
The singer has a personalized star plaque (1997), which was unveiled to commemorate the quarter-century anniversary of her career.
She is an honored guest and host of the Slavic Bazaar festival, as well as a member of the jury.
Once they demanded money from her for participating in “Song of the Year,” to which she responded with a categorical refusal. Because of this, Ponarovskaya had to open the Space of Style agency. The singer is also the author of the “I-ra” clothing collection. The Moscow studio owned by the artist had the same name.
Music career
Rice. 4. Tours of I. V. Ponarovskaya
After returning to the Union, as a sign of recognition for winning the competition, Ponarovskaya receives an invitation to take part in a large concert of stars. Her performance attracted the attention of the legendary O. Lundstrem, who was looking for a soloist for his orchestra. Negotiations with his representative did not last long. Since 1976, Irina Ponarovskaya has become the main performer of the jazz orchestra.
Despite the fact that in order to work in the team of a famous jazzman he had to move to the capital, Ira did not give up his studies, and in 1978 he successfully graduated from the conservatory, receiving a diploma as a qualified pianist.
Subsequently, he takes part in the filming of several feature and documentary films. Regularly appears on television, starring in the following programs:
- "Song of the year".
- "Obvious-incredible."
- "Blue Light"
- "Morning Post".
- "Around laughter."
In 1988, an event took place that Irina Ponarovskaya had dreamed about for so long - a solo concert in the main concert hall of the country.
From the late 80s to the mid 90s. last century, the performer regularly toured the country. In her conversations with reporters, she noticed that she left home in a light summer dress, and returned when frosts began.
During her creative career, she recorded 7 albums, some of which are still popular today. In the late 90s - early 2000s. the number of concerts began to gradually decline and soon stopped.
Very recent events
On a June day in 2021, the press literally howled, as if relishing the singer’s mysterious disappearance. Her fans were also worried.
When this hype reached the artist herself, she considered it necessary to convey information to her fans through the concert director that everything was fine with her and no one had or could have any reason to worry. In addition, it was conveyed that although she does not spoil television screens with her appearance, Ponarovskaya continues her activities, speaking at corporate events .
August of the same year was marked by the fact that Ponarovskaya’s name was again on everyone’s lips, since the singer’s adopted daughter became the main character of the show “Actually,” hosted by Dmitry Shepelev. Anastasia (Antonika) Kormysheva accused Weyland Rodd of beating not only her, but also her adoptive mother, calling life in this family hell.
Rodd himself tried to refute this in every possible way - he was her opponent in this program.
However, this does not mean that Ponarovskaya herself also came to the show, but Lera Tuvina, Irina’s concert director, took part in the program, and she voiced another version, which entailed the girl’s delivery to an orphanage. According to the director, Ponarovskaya witnessed how Anastasia seduced the singer’s son.
The singer now does not appear in the world and almost does not perform, since she has moved away from her previous affairs. As she explains it herself, she is very tired of annoying journalists.
Rodd himself does not particularly remember his son, but only promotes himself thanks to the fame of his ex-wife.
The singer’s adopted daughter is doing the same thing, since her personal career has not worked out in any form. She tried to become a stripper, but it didn't work out for her. Having no profession, Anastasia continues her appearances on various talk shows (together with her father), throwing mud and spreading various tales about her adoptive mother, despite the fact that she once sheltered her.
