Singer Vitas. www.globallookpress.com / Natalia Shakhanova
Today it is difficult to find a music lover who has not heard Vitas’ songs. The artist appeared on the big stage in 2000 and captivated the audience with his falsetto and memorable costumes. In addition, the performer impressed the audience with spectacular shows. It was rumored that his voice was not real, and if it was his own, then he had gills on his neck. In reality, everything turned out to be much more prosaic.
Few people then understood that behind the brilliance of stage costumes and bright special effects was a guy from an ordinary Odessa family. And he owed his success not to mythical gills, but to unique vocals and hard work.
5-tv.ru recalled important milestones in Vitas’s creative biography, and also tried to answer the question of what makes this performer so unique and why he is so loved in China and Europe.
Childhood
Vitaly Vladasovich Grachev was born on February 19, 1979 in the Latvian city of Daugavpils, later the family moved to Odessa. My father once was a soloist in an ensemble, and my mother worked as a costume designer. The boy himself did not immediately show interest in music. The turning point turned out to be the day when he was given a children's musical instrument, which instantly captured the boy's attention.
According to Vitas, he was an excellent student until the fifth grade. After this, music appeared in his life, but it was not his parents, but his grandfather who first noticed the child’s talent. One day, a man put a number of instruments in front of his grandson, among which were a drum and an accordion. The future artist chose the latter and after a couple of days began to improvise. The grandfather said that the boy should be sent to a music school.
From this moment on, a new chapter opens in the biography of not Vitas, but Vitalik - music. Very soon the boy will give his first concert: at the age of eight he sings in a nightclub. The singer jokes that this is how he started making money. As for the public, it will not immediately accept the artist.
In one of his interviews, Vitas admits that his first viewer was his mother. For the first time, he appeared in front of her as Michael Jackson and repeated his dance moves. Lidia Mikhailovna supported her son in everything; those around him did not always accept a young man so different from them.
The artist recalls how he once came to school dressed as Michael Jackson. He came in short pants, white socks and a black hat, which instantly caused a storm of indignation among the administration.
Then it was difficult to imagine that this eccentric teenager would one day become a famous Russian performer, whose fame would at some point reach the Middle Kingdom and Europe. In the meantime, this is an ordinary teenager, albeit very different from his peers.
Modern activities
By the mid-2000s, the singer disappeared from the Russian stage, television and radio. In fact, he conquered other countries. For the Russian Federation, his work became an unexpected novelty. The public was not accustomed to such shocking performances and outfits, so some concerts did not bring him any profit. Many believed that he was singing to a soundtrack, since a man could not have such a vocal range.
China appeared in Vitas’ life - a country in which his fan club includes more than a million fans. Grachev is the only Russian singer to conquer the stage of Asia. In 2006, he made an attempt to return to his native stage, so he agreed to perform on Chinese television to improve relations between the two states.
The recording of the concert was viewed by about 1.5 million viewers. After this, the singer was offered contracts to perform in Shanghai and Beijing. The Chinese gave him several nicknames at once: Lord of the Dolphins, Cosmic Nightingale, and even considered him the reborn soul of Milarepa. This is a yogi and singer, a sacred subject in Buddhism.
The population of the Asian country erected a three-meter monument to Vitas. The sculptors depicted him as in the frame of his first video - naked with an accordion on his knees and gills on his neck. And in 2011 he received the “Performer of the Year” award. In China, the singer has his own villa, and every spring and autumn he gives concerts in different cities of the state, performing in nightclubs and halls. Sometimes Vitas' family spends their holidays here.
The success is explained by the spectacular design of the concerts and the artist’s unusual voice. And he himself says that his state of mind and outlook on life are close to the Chinese. The first films with Vitaly’s participation also appeared in this country. His filmography includes several blockbusters:
- "Mulan";
- "Founder of the Party";
- "Becoming famous overnight";
- "The Master's Last Secret"
Vitas also became famous in America: in 2015, his video recording a concert and the song “7th Element” unexpectedly became popular on the Internet. It received several tens of millions of views, and in the comments the artist is called a strange Russian guy. Some note that they do not understand everything that is happening, but they really like both the composition itself and the behavior of the singer on stage.
Path to glory
The fateful day that determined Vitas’ future as an artist occurred in the late 90s. Sergei Pudovkin, who was then involved in the Na-Na group, came to Odessa, where on the stage of one of the clubs he found a bald, thin and strange character named Vitas. The boy was very young, but the producer even then noted his ability to communicate with the public. At that moment, the singer performed the song “Opera No. 2,” which in the future would play an important role in the development of the artist.
Vitas with his producer Sergei Pudovkin. Instagram @vitasroom
Sergei Pudovkin invites the young artist to sign a contract and takes him to Moscow. In the capital city they are looking for means for promotion. Vitas gets to the channel's management, who note his interesting vocals and appearance, but wonder why he came and what he wants. The young man declares that he wants to earn a million dollars.
Thanks to the extravagance of his image and unique vocals, Vitas very soon finds sources of funding. The artist’s debut composition is “Opera No. 2,” which he composed as a 14-year-old teenager. Vitas recalls how he wrote the lyrics and music within a few minutes, but quickly realized that the track needed an original chorus. Without hesitation, the young man hits a very high note and realizes that he has found what he needs.
The parents were sleeping behind the next wall at that moment. Their son's rehearsal forced them to get out of bed and show up in his room threatening to call the police. The clock showed four o'clock in the morning, Vitaly Grachev scared his mother and father by performing his future hit.
China
Vitas found his most devoted fans far beyond the borders of his homeland. The performer went on tour in several dozen countries. Resounding success overtook him in China. His music and vocals were so popular with the local public that more than a million people joined the fan club. Vitas himself comes to China much more often than to Moscow.
The performer has several roles in Chinese films. And the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire themselves are firmly convinced that their idol is the most popular performer in Russia.
Success
The producer of Vitas faces the task of finding a worthy director to create a video for “Opera No. 2.” At that time, the best video director was Yuri Grymov, who agreed to film the unusual song.
Filming the video took several days. During this time, Vitas had to lie down in a bathtub filled with cold water, and also expressively play the assigned role. Here Vitas first appears with gills on his neck, emphasizing the foreignness of the image. There will also be those who decide that the singer is really a representative of alien life forms and that his gills are real.
The rest were much more impressed by the artist’s ability to hit high notes. In addition, the public was struck by the image of the new star. At concerts, Vitas appeared in unusual stage costumes and sang strange, seemingly unearthly songs, and after the stage he walked only accompanied by security and did not talk to anyone. This manner of behavior did not alienate the listener, but rather attracted new fans to him.
In the future, Vitas will turn out to be one of the brightest stars of domestic show business. Then the artist will receive recognition in distant China, where he will come to perform in 2006. The Chinese public will be seriously impressed by the singer’s vocals and his unusual appearance.
Vitas' vocals will begin to be compared to the kiss of an angel, and at his performances you will increasingly see a crowd of guests with bottles of water raised above their heads. As it turns out, a rumor has become widespread among Chinese citizens that Vitas’ singing allegedly charges the water with magical particles. So in the artist’s creative biography a chapter will open dedicated to his glory in the Middle Kingdom, where he is loved almost more than in his homeland.
On the wave of success, Vitas will take part in the filming of several Chinese films, after which he will finally fall in love with the local listener. In addition to China, Vitas' fame will reach European listeners. Local music lovers will be impressed by the song “The Seventh Element,” which Russian listeners perceive without much enthusiasm.
Vitas is offered cooperation by various DJs, and is also invited to music festivals. Meanwhile, “The Seventh Element” is receiving a lot of covers and parodies online, and in general it is a success among Internet users. The latter, all as one, begin to put on homemade tin foil hats, similar to the one Vitas himself wore then.
However, in real life the singer rarely resembled his stage character. According to the musician, he has always been a realist, so he was skeptical about esoteric topics. However, the death of her mother changed everything.
Lidia Mikhailovna passed away in 2001. The woman saw her son’s career take off and saw with what tenacity he performed in front of the public and starred in videos. Vitas recalls how on the evening when she passed away, he gave a concert in which a parachute was used. At some point, a swallow flew under it and died. After some time, the singer was informed of the death of his mother.
Vladas Arkadyevich will take the death of Lydia Mikhailovna hard. Feeling emotional, the man will tell how in a dream she came to him, holding a swallow in her hands. Vitas, who did not tell his dad about the incident with the bird at work, will see this as a kind of sign from above. Since then, the artist believes in supernatural forces. In addition, performing in cities where his mother once lived, he fully feels her presence next to him.
In the wake of longing for a loved one, the singer will go through a serious transformation, and will also add completely new compositions to his repertoire. One of them will be the track “Mom”. However, the new image of the idol will attract much more attention from the audience.
The artist abandoned shocking costumes and strange behavior. From this moment on, Vitas’s creative biography takes a new beginning, in which the musician will appear before the audience in a new image. Extravagant outfits will be replaced by classic suits and neat hairstyles.
The beginning of creativity
Vitas left school after finishing nine grades and went to the capital, where he immediately shot a video for his song. All the lines in the composition speak about the artist’s loneliness, and the video only emphasized this idea. The video turned out to be unusual, so the public received it favorably. In it, the directors and singer talked about the plight of a guy with gills on his neck. He lives in an abandoned house and spends most of his time in the bathroom. And on the street he wears a scarf so that people don’t see his weirdness.
After this, rumors appeared in the press that Grachev himself was an amphibious man, which is why he had such vocal abilities. And his falsetto cast doubt even on famous personalities. Alla Pugacheva invited the artist to her “Christmas meetings”, where Vitaly managed to dispel all doubts.
Before him, Sergei Penkin was considered the silver voice of the stage, but the young singer managed to take notes four octaves higher. Information appeared in the newspapers that the guy was castrated as a child for the sake of a stellar future. And his producer explains such vocals by the special structure of the throat. Although critics say that Vitas does not sing, but reads the lyrics in recitative.
The artist’s personal website appeared on the Internet; it looked very stylish, but was technically complex for that time. As it turned out, Vitas worked on it himself. He considers programming his hobby and spends his free time on the computer. The first thing visitors saw was the phrase: “He never gives live interviews.” His producer also did not communicate with media representatives. This was explained by the fact that the artist wants to remain outside of any rumors and scandals. But later the team admitted that it was just a PR stunt.
Vitas in 2021
Today Vitas is still one of the brightest stars of the national stage. Nevertheless, the musician’s name does not often appear on the front pages of newspapers. The public is much more interested in the singer’s daughter, who has already made herself known on stage.
According to Vitas, the network is not interested in his creative successes, but in his daughter’s vocal abilities. Alla gained wide fame after performing at a Chinese talent competition. Vitas's daughter amazed the audience with her versatility of interests.
As it turned out, the girl copes well with nunchucks and can also sing. According to the artist himself, the child has a “crystal” voice. However, much more than the success of the singer’s children, fans are interested in the personal life of the idol.
Vitas on the show “Evening Urgant”. Instagram @vitasroom
Personal life
Vitas’s personal life, by his own admission, is like a blockbuster. The artist met his wife Svetlana during a concert that he gave when he was an unknown performer. Vitas saw the girl in the crowd of spectators and realized that she was the one. The singer was only 20 at that time, and his chosen one was even younger - 15.
Some time after meeting the girl of his dreams, Vitas sets off to conquer Moscow. The musician understands that he is unable to live without his beloved. Therefore, without obtaining the consent of her parents, he takes the minor chosen one with him to the throne. Today the couple recalls the fear they had to endure when crossing the border.
According to Svetlana, she didn’t even have a passport with her, so she was seated next to the children of the woman traveling with them. The latter handed the controller a pile of documents and he did not have time to realize that there was a stowaway in the carriage. However, the misadventures of the lovers do not end there.
Vitas with his wife Svetlana, daughter Alla and son Maxim. Instagram @vitasroom
Once in the white stone, the couple lives modestly. They often have to eat the most ordinary food: buckwheat, sprat in tomato. In addition, the unresolved issue with the girl’s parents caused concern. Vitas admits that, when leaving his father’s house, he cut the telephone wires so that Svetlana’s father and mother could not reach his parents. Still, the latter knew that he had left for Moscow. While in the capital, the young people could not allow themselves to calmly enter the entrance of the house where they lived. Before this, they inspected the yard to make sure that the police were not waiting for them there.
Despite his love for Svetlana, Vitas already understood that at any moment, if not the girl’s father, then law enforcement agencies could visit them. However, everything worked out and the parents accepted their daughter’s choice. After a while, the Grachev family will receive a new addition in the form of a girl, Alla, and a boy, Maxim.
Biography
Vitas became famous throughout the post-Soviet space thanks to his unique style of performance. His falsetto delighted the audience and brought the artist incredible popularity. In addition to his vocal career, Vitas also tried his hand at cinema, but his success there was not so significant. Nowadays the singer is hardly remembered, but this does not mean that he has completely left the musical Olympus.
Vitaly Grachev (as written on the birth certificate) was born in the Baltic city of Daugavpils, but soon after the birth of his son, his parents moved to Odessa, where his mother’s parents lived.
Mainly his mother and grandfather took part in raising the boy, since his father left the family, and Vitaly did not communicate with him for a long time. Relations did not improve even when Vitaly became the popular singer Vitas.
Vitaly inherited his love of music from his grandfather Arkady Marantsman, who often sang along to himself during any work. Grandfather dreamed that his grandson would become a military officer or at least a sailor, but he preferred music and drawing. In addition to secondary school, Vitaly also studied at music school, mastering the technique of playing the accordion. At the same time, he studied in the studio of plastic arts and voice parody.
After finishing 9th grade, young Grachev left to conquer Moscow. At the age of fourteen he already had his own song “Opera No. 2”, with which he surprised venerable musicologists and producers. In Belokamennaya, Sergei Pudovkin took the young talent under his wing, having spotted the talented teenager during one of his work trips to Odessa.
The big solo career of singer Vitas started in December 2000. Immediately after his debut, many music critics wondered what the secret of his performance style was, but they were never able to unravel this phenomenon. But the beginning of the career itself can hardly be called successful - the tours barely covered the losses, the public was in no hurry to buy up tickets for concerts.
However, Pudovkin, who became the performer’s producer, did not lose heart, claiming that everyone who attended his protégé’s concert at least once would become Vitas fans. What added interest to the figure of Vitas was that he even sang Sergei Penkin, who has a voice of 4 octaves, taking 5.5 octaves . In addition to falsetto, the singer could also sing in bass. His songs “Opera No. 2” and “Opera No. 1” soon became popular throughout the country, as did their videos.
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But Vitas found his greatest popularity outside the domestic space - for several years in a row he was idolized in China, considered the best Russian singer. His fan club in China has more than a million fans, and a monument to Vitas was erected in Shanghai.
In his homeland, Vitas is not revered on such a large scale. Music critics always have complaints about his albums, and some even argue that only people with a very strong psyche can listen to the singer, and that all the singer’s compositions are exactly the same. However, the artist has fifteen solo discs to his credit.
In 2003, Vitas’ film career also started - he starred in the projects “Evlampia Romanova. The investigation is being conducted by Amateur-1" (the role of the artist Leo Sco), "Seven Juliets and Two Romeos" (the role of the Producer), "Passion for Cinema or Gentlemen Filmmakers" (the singer Lyapa Otvyazny). While in the Middle Kingdom, he starred in the Chinese films “Mulan”, “The Master’s Last Secret”, “Creation of the Party”.
Vitas also took part in many television projects. In particular, in 2014, he surprised experts in the “Exactly Exact” project, embodying the images of Yuri Shatunov, Zemfira and Maria Callas. In the second and third seasons of this project, he convincingly resembled Stas Mikhailov and the lead singer of AC/DC.
In 2021, Vitas reminded of himself with the scandal surrounding the young singer from Kazakhstan Dimash Kudaibergenov. The Kazakh performer, participating in the Chinese television competition “I am singer-2017”, sang the song of his senior colleague “Opera No. 2” and made Chinese music lovers fall in love with him. Sergei Pudovkin then turned to a law firm, demanding a ban on the performance of his ward’s songs by other participants. Meanwhile, Kudaibergenov was named Vitas-2 in the Middle Kingdom, which the first bearer of this name did not really like.
Vitas is also known for the fact that he almost never gives interviews, much less comments on his personal life. However, it is known that the singer is married and together with his wife he is raising his daughter Alla and son Maxim.
Vitas met Svetlana Grankovskaya at the musical comedy theater, when he was already a popular singer. Seeing a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, he fell in love with her at first sight. “I fell in love with her. I loved her so much that I couldn’t live without her for 10 minutes. And then I decided to steal it,” the artist shares his memories.
Despite such an imprudent act, the relationship between Vitas and Svetlana developed very successfully. They have a strong family in which both parents and children support each other.
In recent years, Vitas has not appeared in public very often. But in the photographs that many tabloid media managed to obtain, it is clear that the singer has gained a lot of weight, and gray hair has appeared at his temples.
True, in September 2021, taking part in the “Evening Urgant” program, Vitas regained his former slimness , dyed his hair blond and assured the presenter Ivan Urgant, and with him the whole country, that a new period was beginning in his life and work. Will there be a continuation?
Scandals
More than one loud scandal is associated with the name of Vitas. These included shooting with a pistol near his home in Barvikha and even running over a cyclist near the All-Russian Exhibition Center, allegedly with further threats against her. The victim suffered a broken leg and was taken to the hospital. The media also reported that the driver refused to talk to law enforcement officials.
In both cases, advertisements were presented to the artist. For hitting a cyclist, the musician was fined 100 thousand rubles. However, the Moscow traffic police explained that there are no regulatory signs at the scene of the incident, so it will be difficult to identify the culprit in the incident.
Nevertheless, Vitas admitted his guilt and argued that his inappropriate behavior on the spot was due to severe stress. In addition, the artist sincerely repented of his actions.
Albums
- “Philosophy of Miracle” - 2001.
- “Smile” - 2002.
- “Songs of my mother” - 2003.
- "Mama" - 2003.
- “A Kiss That Lasts Eternity” - 2004.
- "Homecoming. Part 1" - 2006.
- "Homecoming. Part 2" - 2007.
- “Hits of the 20th century” - 2008.
- “Say What You Love” - 2009.
- “Masterpieces of Three Centuries” - 2010.
- "Romances" - 2011.
- “Mom and Son” - 2011.
- "Only you. My love story. Part 1" - 2013.
- “I will give peace. My love story. Part 2" - 2014.
- "Made in China" - 2021.
- "Come Just For You!" — 2021.
- "Beat Bombit" - 2021.
