Patriarch of domestic rock Alexander Gradsky is known for his brilliant talent, vivid charisma, his own theater and a vibrant personal life. Despite his young age, he continues to amaze fans with new projects, performances and a great voice.
Childhood
The future star was born in the small town of Kopeisk, near Chelyabinsk, in November 1949. From childhood, the boy felt a craving for creativity, and his parents gave him the opportunity to develop in this direction. Dad Boris Fradkin was an ordinary factory engineer, but mom Tamara Gradskaya graduated from GITIS and was a director and actress. To develop the boy’s talents, after moving to Moscow, little Sasha was immediately sent to a music school.
In the capital, they with their parents and grandmother huddled in an 8-meter basement on Frunze Embankment with nine more families. But this only tempered the young talent and set a goal - to equip life so that close people would not need anything. And in 1964 he managed to move to a normal comfortable apartment.
Creation
He is a graduate of the Musical Pedagogical Institute. Gnesins. Then there was the Conservatory. And there were performances in the ensemble of Poles "Cockroaches". After which his own rock band “Slavs” was born. In 1966, the ensemble “Buffoons” rang across the country, it was he who received the Grand Prix of the All-Union Festival.
They talked about Gradsky and the group on Moscow radio and Voice of America. Glory boomed throughout the world. Songs began to be included in the radio charts, he began to travel with concerts around the cities of the Soviet Union.
An amazing feature: as the author of compositions and poems, the musician also recorded his performances by overlaying several voices. For example, the work “Only Thou Believe Me” from beginning to end was born by him alone in multiple faces - Alexander Borisovich performed all parts, both voice and instrumental.
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky invited the singer to help in shooting the film “Romance of Lovers, ” and he wrote and performed several songs for him and created the entire arrangement for the movie.
Then a solo record was recorded with melodies from the film - so Gradsky became the "Star of the Year", the editorial board of the Billboard edition wrote, making a tremendous contribution to the global musical history.
The discography of the singer and musician includes more than 40 albums with rock music, music for films and songs. In 2003, a unique disc called “Reader” was released, featuring melodies by popular instrumentalists.
Gradsky was invited to write music for many dozens of films. Among them - the classic "Experts are Investigators", animated films "Pass". For many films, he personally recorded songs. There was a live musical movie - the famous "Anti-perestroika blues" and "Live in Russia."
Popular recognition
At the beginning of the third millennium, Gradsky received the People's Artist of Russia and was awarded the title of Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation.
He is so versatile and talented that he even staged his own opera The Master and Margarita, personally performing the arias of four characters. Andrei Makarevich, Oleg Tabakov, Valery Zolotukhin, Gennady Khazanov, Alexander Rosenbaum and other very famous musicians and actors performed in his author's opera. The opera was published in the format of an old book, inside of which four discs with musical recordings are luxuriously decorated.
Alexander Gradsky boasts performances with Lisa Minelli, Cindy Peters, Charles Aznavour, Chris Christoferssson, Dayana Warwick and others.
Now he runs his own theater in Moscow, Gradsky Hall, which is unofficially called the Gradsky Theater. It hosts music evenings, award ceremonies and various concerts.
Personal life
The musician does not like to speak publicly about his life. But from the biography it is known that he created a family three times. The second wife of Gradsky was actress Vertinsky Anastasia. In his third marriage, in 1981 and 1986, he had a son, Daniel and a daughter, Mary.
Despite his age, he fell in love again. This time in a young attractive model Marina Kotashenko. The beloved master is 31 years younger. It was she who in 2014 gave birth to his son Alexander.
This blue-eyed slender blonde immediately won the heart of the music guru. At the time of meeting, she worked in one of the modeling agencies of the capital and fully provided for herself. For 10 years of marriage, Marina graduated from VGIK, began playing in the series, and learned to be a lawyer.
Their marriage is not registered, but they tell reporters that they live soul to soul. Gradsky became the father for the third time in 64 years.
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