Childhood
The girl's parents met on the ship. It was a flight to Magadan, on which brave people went to work in the difficult conditions of the Arctic. Good work, northern romance, cold sea - and then a family appeared and a daughter was born. While studying at school, Rada began to study music. After her graduation, it was obvious to her parents that the girl needed to continue her education in this area. And at the family council they decided to send Rada to the “mainland” to enter a music school.
Moving
The future singer moved with her mother to Nizhny Novgorod, and her father remained to live in Magadan. Rada entered the Balakirev School the first time, where she began to study pop vocals. Two years later, she gained confidence in her own abilities, and to improve her professional level, the girl went to study in Moscow. She entered the Gnessin School, but just at that moment a paid form of education was introduced for evening students. The girl couldn't afford it. The future singer had to continue her studies at another institution - the College of Improvisational Music.
Carier start
It cannot be said that Rada Rai’s biography of that period was “rosy”. To support herself, the girl was forced to work hard. And not only on stage. Rada had to sing in passages and work at construction sites. The Siberian will, as well as the support of relatives and friends, helped me survive these trials.
The best school for a pop artist is practice. Rada was already working as a singer in a restaurant, but she really wanted a solo career and took certain steps in this direction. Thus, the girl managed to meet musicians from Vika Tsyganova’s band. Collaboration in the studio resulted in great friendship. And one day Oleg Urakov, the arranger and leader of the group, suggested that Rada make his own project in the “Russian chanson” genre.
Career blossoming
The promotion of the Rada began with performances as a special guest at concerts of an already well-known performer at that time, a partner of the same production center, Andrei Bandera (real name - Eduard Izmestyev). An important step towards the singer’s success was also her participation in 2007 in the music festival “Ehh, Razgulay!” radio "Chanson", held at the Olimpiysky sports complex, where she brilliantly sang the soulful composition "Kalina".
Soon her first solo concert took place, where a lot of romance lyrics, folk songs in original arrangements and light ballads were performed. Urakov became a member of her musical group and producer, and Bandera applauded his talented colleague along with other spectators from the audience, standing. Then the young singer toured a lot. She performed concerts not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and many countries of the European Union.
The performer’s debut album “You are my soul...”, released in 2008 and including ten compositions in the track list, created a real sensation in the domestic music world. The songs from it “Kalina” and “Soul” occupied the top lines of the charts and subsequently became the calling card of the popular vocalist. And the composition “You fly, my soul” sung with Andrei Bandera received the main award of the festival “Song of the Year”. At the same time, the singer first became the owner of the Chanson of the Year music award, the winners of which are determined by voting by Radio Chanson listeners.
The secret of Rada’s success was considered not only her enviable vocal abilities, but also her sensual presentation, spectacular arrangements prepared by Oleg Urakov, and her fiery-temperamental “gypsy” guitar. Soulful and heartfelt songs were written especially for the singer by Philip Weiss, Vyacheslav Klimenkov, Olga Samatareva and other authors.
In April of the following year, the 30-year-old artist already shone on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace, where her joint program with Andrei Bandera “It’s impossible not to love” was presented. Subsequently, their album “A Musical Love Story” was released, a DVD with a video of the concert. “Chanson of the Year” this time received her compositions “Forgotten” and “You and I are on two shores.” At the award ceremony, the singer was named the winner in the “Discovery of the Year” category.
The release of the second album “Rejoice” did not keep us waiting long. It went on sale in the spring of 2010 and included material created as part of the unique project “People's Producer”. The point was that everyone participated in the selection of texts, musical accompaniment options, arrangement decisions and other issues that arise when writing songs. Voting, heated discussions and serious discussions using the brainstorming method were held on the official website of the project.
The album turned out to be very diverse artistically. His tracks were distinguished by the richness of musical solutions and emotional performance. The song of the same name on the disc became a hit, occupied the highest positions in domestic ratings for several weeks and brought the performer (together with the composition “Drunk the Night” together with Evgeniy Ross) another diploma and a statuette in the shape of a guitar neck, and the “Chanson of the Year” awards.
In 2012, a joint disc between Rada and the young composer Arthur Rudenko from the “Songs Sung by the Heart” series appeared, as well as the singer’s third studio album “Let go to the sky...”, which included 11 compositions born as a result of her collaboration with a team of talented people - folk producers, including Rashit Kiyamov, Oleg Shcheglov, Marina Kabanova, Vitaly Ivanov and Sergei Leontyev. In this album, Rada Rai presented many genres of modern Russian music - from pop to folk rock.
Solo project
For the singer, this proposal turned out to be very strange, since she had some idea about this direction. But Oleg explained that chanson consists not only of criminal songs, and it is not at all necessary to follow the path of Tsyganova or Uspenskaya. Just at that time, Andrei Bandera’s compositions were played on the radio. Its popularity showed that people missed lyrical, soulful songs. But there was not a single artist on the stage working in Andrei’s style.
From that moment on, the biography of Rada Rai was marked by an important event - a demo was recorded for her new project. The musicians liked the songs so much that most of them decided to participate in the recording for free. All the music editors of the radio stations liked the project, but they were in no hurry to put it into rotation. The head of radio “Chanson” appreciated the girl’s talent and advised her to find a producer. He also recommended that the artist contact the Soyuz Production organization.
Rada Rai, whose songs were not yet known, decided to take the advice and asked Igor Slutsky to go with her to Soyuz Production. The singer trusted Igor as a specialist, so he conducted all the negotiations, and the girl modestly waited in the corridor. And Slutsky knew exactly what songs the company needed for the “Kalina Krasnaya” collections.
Personal life of Rada Rai
Rada Rai is married. She met her husband, Oleg Urakov, drummer and artistic director of their musical group, multi-instrumentalist and composer, at the very beginning of her creative biography. They were good friends for several years, but then they realized that they fell in love with each other.
There is complete harmony in the family of these talented people, despite their seemingly completely different characters. According to Rada, it is precisely due to the difference in temperaments that they complement each other perfectly. And she doesn’t believe in love at first sight.
Love has brought many important things into my life. This is peace of mind, on the one hand, and, on the other, positive anxiety in creativity. I have become more confident in myself and in my abilities, because my beloved supports me in everything.
The couple rarely separates, since Oleg, with his talent for playing drums, has become part of the Rada’s musical accompaniment.
In her free time, the popular artist takes great pleasure in cooking for her family and guests. She loves fish and Hungarian cuisine - chicken paprikash, halasle fish soup, perkelt. Her favorite poets are Alexander Pushkin and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, writers - Stanislav Lem, Thomas Mann, Romain Roland, Hermann Hesse (especially his books “The Glass Bead Game” and “Narcissus and Chrysostom”). Among the flowers, Rada Rai prefers white tulips.
The singer is interested in astronomy. Several times she went to the Moscow State University observatory, where she observed Jupiter and its three satellites, Mars, the Moon, and the Pleiades star cluster.
The vocalist, known for her sincerity, sincere performance with a share of gypsy intonations, the constant quality of live sound and complete dedication, does not like compositions with negative content and consciously chooses only songs of revelation, songs of confession, filled to the brim with kindness, love and warmth.
First album
The producers of Soyuz Production really liked the compositions “Soul” and “Kalina”, but they needed to be seriously improved to be included in the collection. Chance helped - Oleg Urakov was able to get a job as a drummer for Bandera. This made it possible to bring the singer together with producers, who helped the girl’s project fully develop.
We can say that Rada Rai’s creative biography began in 2008. It was then that her first album, “You are my soul,” was released. The compositions “Kalina” and “Soul” immediately became hits. A memorable, bright voice, Russian folk, Indian and slightly gypsy motifs in a modern high-quality arrangement have attracted lovers of numerous musical genres. After all, the singer’s style was not pure chanson, but Russian modern song, which absorbed all the best from chanson, bard music, urban romances and folk songs. In general, the audience was completely delighted.
Rada Rai
Rada Rai was born on April 8, 1979 in Magadan. The singer's father is a gypsy, her mother is Russian.[4] Rada Rai's parents met on a fishing boat that was fishing off the coast of the Far East. The future singer graduated from music school.[5] Then for two years she studied at the Music College named after. Mikhail Balakirev and specialized in pop vocals. Later she continued her education at the Moscow College of Improvisational Music. During her studies, she was forced to earn extra money by singing in underground passages. In addition, the girl sang in restaurants and provided backing vocals for Russian pop stars during studio recordings, in particular for Russian chanson performer Vika Tsyganova, thanks to which she met musician Oleg Urakov. Oleg not only saw the girl’s talent and prospects, but also suggested that she take the stage name “Rada Rai”. On the advice of Urakov, Rada began to sing in the style of a “folk song,” and together they recorded the performer’s first demo disc. With the disc they went to Radio “Chanson”, where the director of the radio station advised them to contact the production company, with which the singer eventually signed a contract. At the same time, Oleg Urakov became the singer’s music producer and one of the musicians in her group. The young singer gained fame thanks to the songs “Kalina” and “Soul”. The greatest support in promoting the singer was provided by the Chanson Radio Station. In 2008, Rada Rai’s debut album, “You are my soul...”, was released. On April 24, 2009, the joint concert program of Rada Rai and Andrei Bander, “It’s Impossible Not to Love,” was presented at the State Kremlin Palace. A DVD of the concert went on sale in 2010. In the same year, the singer’s second album, “Rejoice,” was released.[1] The album's song of the same name, “Rejoice,” became a hit and remained at the top of the domestic charts for a long time[4].
In June 2021, for the song “Territory of Love,” Rada Rai was awarded the annual music award “Chanson of the Year.”[2] In the same year, the singer took part in the recording of the album of composer and poetess Elena Surzhikova “Songs ordered by the soul...”[6], performing the composition “Shores”, which is dedicated to the residents of Donbass and the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.[7][8][ 9]
In 2021, she recorded a duet song with Dmitry Pryanov (Crossroads of Worlds) - music. D. Pryanov, lyrics I. Savelyeva
On May 12, 2021, Rada Rai took part in the anniversary creative evening of the poet Yuri Ryashentsev, performing in a duet with Natasha Dolce the famous hit “Argo” from the film “The Cheerful Chronicle of a Dangerous Journey.”[10][11][12][13]
