Regina Spector: biography, creativity, career, personal life

What associations does Russia cause in the US? Matryoshka, bears vodka and … Regina Spektr is a famous American singer of Russian origin, the author of music and texts. This girl became an anti-folk icon for just a few years. On her official channel on YouTube, the singer scored more than 40 million hits.

Regina Biography Spectrum

Regina Spector was born on February 18, 1980 in Moscow in a Jewish musical family. Her father, Igor Spectr, is a professional violinist and photographer, and her mother, Bella Spectr, is a music teacher.

Regina Spectrum performs her songs, accompanying on a guitar or piano. Unlike many modern stars, she does not stand out in the crowd: an ordinary dark-haired girl in a simple but elegant dress. The only thing that sets her apart is the bright and vibrant blue eyes. The Regina Spectrum is admired for its childish spontaneity and charm. And during her performance on stage, she makes various sounds and sounds, which makes her seem to just amuse herself with all this, like a little child.

Childhood

Regina's childhood passed in Moscow, in the Vykhino district. And in the summer, the Spectrum family went to rest in Pärnu, Estonia.

Their family’s life was always filled with music: they went to classical music concerts, opera and ballet with their whole family, listened to records from classical foreign music.

When Regina was 9 years old, her family moved to New York and settled in the Bronx. In a new residence, the Specter family enthusiastically listened to the music of the Beatles and Queen.

Little Regina quickly mastered the piano and could play for several hours in a row, picking up a melody by ear. Her relatives recall that Regina, as a child, could compose songs on the go. She composed her first serious song at the age of 16.

Education

The future famous singer and songwriter first graduated from the Salanter Akiva Riverdale Akademi Jewish High School, which is located in the Bronx, and then she studied at the Frisch Jewish Religious School in Paramus, New Jersey, and at Fer Lawn State School.

At age 19, Regina entered the Conservatory at Perchase College and graduated in 2001, as an external student.

Personal life

December 16, 2011 Regina Spectrum got married. Her husband was the famous American singer, actor, producer and director Jack Dishel. His real name is Evgeny Leonidovich Dishel, and he, like his wife, was born in Russia. Before marriage, Jack and Regina met for about 6 years.

In March 2014, the couple had a son.

Regina's husband actively takes part in her work: he often performs with his wife and participates in the recording of her albums.

Regina's career Spectrum

Regina recorded her first 11:11 album as a college student in 2000. The recording took place in the studio at Patches College, along with other students: bassist Chris Kafner and producer Richie Castellano. The co-producer was Regina Spectrum herself.

The album was released in a small print run. Then its creators could not imagine that after a few years almost every music lover would dream of acquiring this disc for his collection.

A year later, Regina Spectrum released another album, "Songs". Then the singer was not so famous, so she distributed all the albums among her friends and visitors to the club.

In 2003, the third album of the singer, Soviet Kitsch, was released. Co-producers were Regina herself and Alan Bezosi. In the same year, the singer was invited by the famous rock band The Strokes on a tour of North America, where she played the opening act. Then Regina went on a tour of Europe with another famous band, Kings of Leon. It was during collaboration with these two groups that her third album began to be actively sold, and Regina herself began to gain popularity.

In 2004, the famous company Sire Records signed a contract with Regina Spectrum. Sire took the new Soviet Kitsch album and became its distributor. It is noteworthy that the younger brother of the singer, Ber Spektr, participated in the recording of one of the tracks of this album.

After these events, Regina's crankcase, the spectrum was only gaining momentum. With each new single released, the singer seemed to show that she would stay in music seriously and for a long time.

Many fans of Regina Spectrum, especially Russian speakers, believe that the song Apres Moi is the best song of the singer. It was in it that for the first time, listeners could hear the famous singer performing a song in Russian. Moreover, this song was based on a passage from a poem by the greatest poet and writer of the twentieth century, Boris Pasternak.

The fifth disc Far was released in 2009, and, according to critics, it was even more talented than the previous fourth disc, which contained quite strong compositions. In the same year, the melodrama "500 Days of Summer" was released, the soundtrack for which was Regina's non-album song "The Hero".

Achievements

Regina Specker has made a significant contribution to such music genres as anti-folk, indie pop and jazz fusion. In 2006, she took the top spot in the hit parade of the famous Billboard magazine, becoming the first singer of Soviet descent to win such an award. Later, she took the 20th line of the more prestigious hit chart "Billboard 200", which is considered a rather high position.

In November 207, her fourth album, Begin to Hope, became "gold" in the United States, which means that more than 500, 000 copies were sold.

In December 2013, her song You've Got Time was nominated for a Grammy Award, and in 2014, her song Us entered the list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", taking 398th place.