Grigory Leps is a famous singer, composer and producer, whose name has long become a household name.
Grigory Viktorovich Leps (real name Lepsveridze) was born on July 16, 1962 into a Georgian family. Despite the fact that Grigory Viktorovich changed his last name, he does not hide his Georgian nationality.
The musician's father worked at a meat processing plant in Sochi, and his mother worked as a nurse. Grigory went to Sochi school No. 7 and was a completely useless student, constantly receiving “two” grades. But from childhood the boy was interested in sports and music.
After school, Leps entered a music school to master percussion instruments. He turned out to be more successful at school than at school. Then the young man went to the army, and after his military service ended, the guy sang in Caucasian restaurants and tried his hand at performing in various rock bands. In the eighties, Leps was known as the lead singer of the then sensational band Index-398.
In his youth, Grigory Leps sang in Sochi restaurants every night. This greatly exhausted the singer, and he relieved the feeling of fatigue with the help of alcohol. After a while, the understanding came that he needed to move on, otherwise he would die both as an artist and simply as a person. Therefore, Gregory went to Moscow, where he was not received particularly cordially.
Nobody was interested in his repertoire, and Leps did odd jobs, became addicted to drugs, and neglected his appearance. The singer does not hide this period of his biography; on the singer’s official website, this is where Leps’ story begins.
Music
The real growth of the singer’s career began when the artist’s age exceeded 30 - in 1995, when the artist’s first album “God Bless You” was released, which included the then popular composition “Natalie”. A video was also recorded for this song, which the singer himself saw only in the hospital, where he ended up due to a stomach ulcer.
Due to these health problems, Grigory was unable to sing on “Song-95”, lost a lot of time and 35 kilograms of weight. After this incident, Leps categorically does not take drugs or alcohol.
In 1997, Leps released his next album, “Whole Life.” In the same year, the artist sang at the concert “Song of the Year – 97”, performing the composition “My Thoughts”. Participation in the famous concert influenced Leps’s popularity, and already in 1998 he starred in Alla Pugacheva’s “Christmas Meetings.”
In 2000, Grigory Leps suddenly lost his voice and had to resort to surgery to restore it. The artist recovered only in 2002, returning to the stage with the album “On the Strings of Rain.” Also in 2002, a video was shot for the still popular hit “A Glass of Vodka on the Table.”
In 2006, the album “In the Center of the Earth” was released and a concert of the same name took place at the Olympic Stadium.
In 2007, Leps recorded successful duets with Irina Allegrova (“I Don’t Believe You”) and with Stas Piekha (“She’s Not Yours”). The compositions were written by the famous Russian composer and producer Viktor Drobysh.
In 2009, Grigory Leps performed in the Kremlin for three days in a row with his new album “Waterfall”. About fifteen thousand fans of Leps’s work attended three concerts. A month later, Grigory was again hospitalized, this time with acute bronchitis. However, just a few weeks - and the artist gives concerts again, this time in Germany.
The singer’s new album appeared in 2011 and was called “Pince-nez”. In the same year, President Dmitry Medvedev awarded Grigory Leps the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
In December 2011, Leps recorded the song “Requiem for Love” together with rap artist Timati, and in 2012 a new song by this unusual creative tandem called “London” was released.
Leps sang Lev Shapiro’s song “The Best Day.” For her and for the song “Real Woman,” Leps received two Golden Gramophone statuettes in 2011. For the first time in the history of this prestigious award, two solo songs by the same artist were awarded simultaneously.
In 2012, the musician opened the Grigory Leps Production Center, designed to help young musicians take their place in show business. In the same year, Leps received the Golden Gramophone award and the Best Singer of the Year according to the Song of the Year festival.
In December, the musician recorded the album “Full Speed Ahead!”, which immediately took first place in the chart of the Russian segment of the iTunes Store. In parallel with the new album, two collections of songs were published that had already earned the love of the public: the collection “The Best”, consisting of three discs, two with Leps’ hits and one with an audio version of a previously unreleased concert from 2011, and the collection “Duets” on two discs , which included compositions recorded by the musician together with Alexander Rosenbaum, Valery Meladze, Irina Allegrova and other star Russian performers.
In 2013, Leps presented several new songs during the New Wave festival: the musician sang the “Moscow Song” solo, performed “Captive” with Artem Loik, “Brother Nicotine” with Loik and Timati, and sang the composition “Mirrors” in a duet with Ani Lorak. This year Leps again received the Singer of the Year award and already two Golden Gramophone awards.
In October 2013, the US Treasury Department stated that the musician was part of a “Eurasian crime syndicate.” For his connection with the “post-Soviet mafia,” the United States banned Leps from entering its territory, froze his assets and prohibited its citizens from making transactions with the musician.
2014 brought Leps three concerts at Crocus City Hall, the release of his twelfth studio album “Gangster No. 1”, which became Leps’s answer to America’s accusations, two more Golden Gramophones and many other prestigious awards.
In 2015, Grigory Leps organized the festive music festival “Christmas at Rosa Khutor”.
A television
In 2015, Leps began to appear regularly on television. The musician accepted an invitation to host the Russia-1 channel show “Main Stage” together with co-host Garik Martirosyan.
In the fourth season of the popular music program “The Voice,” Leps acted as a mentor. In addition to Grigory Viktorovich, Alexander Gradsky, Polina Gagarina and Basta became mentors. Leps' team won the show. The finalist of “The Voice” was Hieromonk Photius. After winning the project, the monk toured the whole country.
In 2016, Grigory Leps again organized a Christmas festival and continued the path of a mentor in the show “The Voice”. In the fifth season, among Leps’s wards were Daria Stavrovich (Nuki) from the “Slot” group and Alexander Ponayotov, who took second place in the season finale.
In 2017, information appeared that one of the main contenders for participation in Eurovision-17 is Alexander Panayotov, who signed a contract with the Grigory Leps Production Center. Alexander has strong competitors, so he is already mentally prepared that he may not take part in this international music competition. Panayotov is philosophical about failures in his musical career, especially after the team at the production center collapsed, when he was just beginning to be confident in his professional destiny.
Personal life
Leps first married Svetlana Dubinskaya while still studying at a music school. The couple divorced quite soon, and Grigory married his current wife, dancer Anna Shaplykova, who works in the show ballet of Laima Vaikule.
The artist has four children. Inga, born in 1984 from her first marriage, was educated in the UK. Inga Leps continued her studies in New York, where she received a diploma as an actress. Now the girl mainly stars in independent projects and art houses. The second daughter, Eva, was born in 2002, and five years later Anna gave birth to Gregory another girl, Nicole. In 2010, Gregory became a father for the fourth time, Anna gave birth to a son, Ivan (Vano).
In 2016, Inga Leps tried to follow in her father’s footsteps and start a musical career. She took part in the fifth season of The Voice, but none of the judges turned around. Grigory Leps told the press that, naturally, he recognized the voice of his own daughter, but even before the performance, Grigory Viktorovich told Inga that he would not turn his chair. Article found on 24smi.org
The list of dangerous international criminals who are prohibited from entering the United States includes Russian singer Grigory Lepsa (real name Lepsveridze). According to the Americans, the Russian showbiz star, along with several other immigrants from Russia and the CIS countries, was part of the Brotherly Circle crime syndicate and was engaged in delivering money for one of the leaders of this group, thief in law Vladislav Leonitiev. Leps himself called the accusations “absurd.” However, in reality everything is not so simple.
The question of Leps’s connections with the criminal world was already raised in 2011 in his interview with Forbes magazine. Among the close friends who gave the singer money for promotion were businessmen with a very controversial reputation - the heads of the Nordex company Grigory Luchansky and Umar Bokov. As Express Newspaper notes, back in 1994, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Egorov reported at a hearing in the US Senate that Bokov was suspected of murdering police officers and having connections with the drug mafia. And even former CIA chief John Deitch publicly spoke out about Luchansky’s possible involvement in the illegal arms and drug trade in the 90s.
From the dossier of Grigory Luchansky
Grigory Luchansky. Born in 1945. Commander of the Latvian student detachment. Head of the department of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Latvia. Chairman of the Audit Commission of the Latvian Komsomol. The vice-rector of Leningrad State University is the youngest vice-rector in the USSR. Doctor of Economics. Arrested in 1982. In 1983, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the theft of a furniture section, four sets, a telephone and other socialist property. Place of imprisonment - Jekabpils prison, free settlement - Solikamsk.
As the Diena newspaper wrote, Grigory Luchansky took part in the “Venspils wars”: he tried to reconcile Aivars Lembergs with the four rebels led by Oleg Stepanov. According to the publication, he is the only one whom Lembergs still listens to, because he knows about the origins of the business of the Ventspils mayor.
“The most clever undetected criminal in the world,” Time magazine gave Luchansky this description.
What do you mean by this word? Do you mean connections with crime? - Leps laughed in response. - God forbid. Everyone went to the showdown. There was such a time. This does not mean that a person represents one structure or another. I also went to the showdown. It was so.
Judging by the interview, Leps clearly did not want the media to advertise his dubious connections and sources of income. Is this why, at a recent discussion in the State Duma, he threatened to break the legs of journalists with a stick and demanded that they be prohibited from collecting and disseminating any information about the private lives of artists?
But let's go back to today. “It was no accident that Grisha Leps was included in this list,” one of the concert organizers told an Express Gazeta correspondent, who asked not to mention his name in the press, otherwise he would “be hit on the head.” - He was indeed closely associated with the crime boss from Nizhny Novgorod Vladislav Leontyev, or, as everyone called him, Vadik Bely. In the distant years 1991 - 1993, Leps periodically traveled to Nizhny to see Bely and other authoritative guys. Either for a birthday or for some other events. Once they didn’t let him leave the stage for so long that Grisha’s voice died and they had to put on a “plus” soundtrack. We saw Leps in company with Bely and in the Moscow discotheque “At the Fox”, which was popular in those years. Later, due to problems with law enforcement agencies, Vadik fled to the Emirates. I cannot say whether Leps communicated with him after that. But, most likely, he communicated.
To clarify the situation, as they say, first-hand, the Express Gazeta correspondent turned to lawyer Vadim Lyalin. In recent years, he represented the interests of Vladislav Leontyev and, in company with Leps, ended up on the ill-fated list of “enemies of America.”
Yes, Leps has known Leontiev for more than 20 years,” confirmed Lyalin. - Their meeting took place in Sochi, when Gregory was just starting his musical career. It was impossible not to pay attention to this talented musician. Since then they became friends and began to communicate. However, the American accusations that Leps, on behalf of Leontyev, transported some finances do not stand up to criticism. Imagine that we have known each other for 20 years. You come to me and say: “Lend me 10 thousand dollars! I’ll give it back tomorrow.” Agree, there is nothing criminal in this. Surely similar situations happened to Leps not only with Leontyev.
The famous singer, one of the brightest stars of the Russian musical Olympus, Grigory Leps (Lepsveridze) was born in the south, in the city of Sochi. The boy's childhood was spent in the company of neighboring boys, who, like him, loved to disappear on the street, playing football and listening to music. His interest in music was noticed by his parents: he was sent to school in a percussion class. After college, Grigory served in the army, and upon returning home, he began giving concerts in restaurants. The public liked both the voice and the manner of performing the songs, many even came specifically to listen to Leps (that’s how he shortened his last name to make it easier to call). Soon the future artist realized that this road would not lead him to the big stage. So, at the age of 30, he decided to move to Moscow.
There was no warm welcome in the capital, just as there was no restaurant public who loved him. Leps began to abuse alcohol, started taking drugs, and gained weight up to 100 kg. Those who talked about help with their careers have disappeared somewhere. At some point, he pulled himself together and in 1995 wrote an album called “God Bless You.” The song “Natalie” became a hit: it was regularly ordered on the radio and was known by heart by thousands of people.
At the same moment, his health could not stand it, and Leps ended up on the operating table with a diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis. Doctors miraculously saved his life, and after that the singer decided to give up alcohol and other addictions. Having recovered from his illness, he again took up creativity and in 1997 released a new disc, “A Whole Life.” The album was so popular that it opened the way for him to the big stage: he was invited to “Song of the Year-97”, and then to “Alla Pugacheva’s Christmas Meetings”. In 1998, a concert based on Vysotsky’s songs was organized, and Leps was also invited to perform at it. For his third album, “Thank you, people,” Leps was dubbed “the Vysotsky of our time”: critics noted the special strain of his songs, with a characteristic hoarseness in his voice, saying that he sings as if it was the last time. It was these features of his voice that became so recognizable, and the audience fell in love with his hits “A Glass of Vodka on the Table”, “She”, “Rat”, “First Birthday” and others.
Continuing to work on music, Leps began to collaborate with Irina Allegrova, Stas Piekha, Valery Meladze and other Russian pop stars.
In 2009, he was awarded his first award - the Golden Gramophone music award. They also learned about him abroad - in the same year he had a concert in the United Arab Emirates, then a tour in Germany. After 2010, Grigory Leps sang with Alexander Rosenbaum, Timati, Ani Lorak. Almost all the songs performed in a duet with him became hits, and Grigory Leps’ albums were often awarded with various awards in the field of music. The singer’s authority and professionalism led him to become a mentor on the famous show “The Voice”, where he chose talented participants along with Alexander Gradsky and Polina Gagarina.
Personal life of Grigory Leps and children
Grigory Leps got married for the first time while still studying at a music school. Svetlana attended the singing department. They had a daughter, Inga. However, the marriage was short-lived and the couple soon broke up. Leps married for the second time in 2000 to dancer Anna from the Laima Vaikule ballet. She admits that she did not immediately accept the singer’s advances, but how could she resist! In this marriage, Grigory Leps has three children: Eva, Nicole and Ivan.
Lepsveridze
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2011)
His father worked at the Sochi meat processing plant, his mother, Natella Semyonovna, is a nurse by profession.
He studied at Sochi Secondary School No. 7. By his own admission, he was not very successful in his studies; his teachers called him a “damned poor student.”
He was seriously involved in football and music.
Graduated from a music school in the class of percussion instruments.
After serving in the army, he began singing in restaurants in the Caucasus and played in rock bands. In the late 80s he was the lead singer of the Index-398 group.
At the age of 30, Leps came to Moscow.
In 1994, recording began on the first album, “God Bless You,” with the popular song “Natalie.” A video was shot based on it, but Leps saw it in the ward of the Botkin hospital, where he spent six months with a stomach ulcer]. For the same reason, he was also unable to perform at the “Song-95” concert. During this time he lost 35 kg. Since then, Leps has stopped drinking alcohol and drugs.
In 1997, the album “Whole Life” was released, at the same time Leps took part in the interim release of “Songs of the Year-97” with the song “My Thoughts”.
In 1998, he performed at Alla Pugacheva’s “Christmas Meetings” with the song “I’ll See You Anyway.”
In 2000, the album “Thank you, people” was released. The videos “Rat”, “So What”, “Rustle” and “First Birthday” were shot. That same year, he met his future second wife. He soon lost his voice and had to undergo another operation.
In 2002, the album “On the Strings of Rain” was released; Video clips were shot for the songs “A Glass of Vodka on the Table” and “I Believe, I’ll Wait.”
In 2004, the album “Sail” was recorded from songs by Vladimir Vysotsky, arranged by Evgeny Kobylyansky. A video was shot for the song “Sail”.
On March 13, 2004, a two-hour concert “Sail. Live" in the Kremlin. It includes works from the album “Sail”, as well as the best songs from previous albums.
In 2005, the first collection “Favorites... 10 Years” was released.
In May 2006, the album “Labyrinth” was recorded; 3 videos were shot - “Blizzard”, “She” and “Labyrinth”. As it turned out, it was Alla Pugacheva who advised the singer to take the song “Labyrinth” into his repertoire.
In November 2006, the album “In the Center of the Earth” was released.
On November 16, 2006, the concert “In the Center of the Earth. Live." It includes both works from the new album and the best works from previous albums.
In 2007, the collections “I am alive!” were published. (best video clips) and “My whole life is a road...” (best songs).
On November 22, 2007, a concert-presentation of a new album of songs from the repertoire of Vladimir Vysotsky called “Second” took place at the State Kremlin Palace.
In 2007, the most popular duets with Irina Allegrova “I don’t believe you” and with Stas Piekha “She’s not yours” were also recorded, for which videos were subsequently shot.
On December 1, he gave a solo concert in St. Petersburg.
On February 10, February 12 and February 13, 2009, a presentation of Grigory Leps’ new program “Waterfall” took place at the Kremlin Palace.
In October 2009, the album “Waterfall” was released, which includes 16 new compositions.
On November 20, 2009, Leps gave a concert at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex, which brought together 18 thousand fans of the singer’s work.
In 2010, a re-release of the album “Waterfall” and a double collection of the best songs “Shores” were released. Favorites."
On February 23, February 25, February 26 and March 7, 2011, a presentation of the new album by Grigory Leps “Pince-nez” took place at Crocus City Hall. Videos were shot for the compositions “Turn around” and “Betrayal”, which were also included in the album.
Since June 2011, work began on a joint album with Alexander Rosenbaum.
On July 15, 2011, a concert dedicated to Leps’ birthday took place. He performed both old and new songs. The audience heard the song “I will become a waterfall” for the first time.
On July 26, 2011, he performed the song “Captain Arctic” in a duet with the group “Velvet” at the opening of the “New Wave 2011” competition, and Grigory also presented the song “Destiny-Winter”
On October 18, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation D. A. Medvedev, he was awarded the title “Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.”
Name: Grigory Leps
Age: 57 years old
Place of Birth: Sochi
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Activity: singer, composer
Family status: married to Anna Shaplykova
Grigory Leps - biography
Grigory Leps is a wonderful singer who is of Georgian origin. He has quite a few titles, but his main merit is that he has long been known for his musical creativity, because his biography is full of not only a solo musical career, but he has long managed to declare himself as a talented composer and successful producer.
Grigory Leps - Childhood
Grigory Viktorovich Leps (real name Lepsveridze) was born in Sochi on July 16, 1962. His parents had nothing to do with music: the father of the future singer and composer Victor worked at a meat processing plant, and his mother, Natella Semyonovna, worked at a bakery.
At school No. 7 in Sochi, Grigory studied disgustingly, and the teachers remembered him only as the most inveterate student. But already in childhood he became interested not only in sports, but also in music.
Grigory Leps - studies
After the school exams have been passed, the future singer and composer submits documents to the music school, passes the exams and becomes a student. He learns to play percussion instruments much more successfully than at school. But as soon as his studies at the music school were completed, he immediately went into the army.
Career of Grigory Leps
After returning from the army, Grigory Leps began his career in Caucasian restaurants, where he enjoyed unusual success. But nothing could relieve the fatigue from nightly performances, and then a remedy was soon found - alcohol.
The second step in his career ladder was performances in various rock bands. In the 80s, he became the lead singer of the Index -398 group, which was very popular at that time.
Realizing that alcohol is increasingly entering his life, Grigory Leps decides to change his life and go to Moscow, where he can start over again, where no one knows him. This opens a new stage in the biography of the future singer and musician.
But no one was interested in his singing career: they didn’t go to his concerts, they didn’t pay any attention to his singing. At the same time, the aspiring star began to use drugs. His earnings were casual, and outwardly he began to look neglected. But, according to Gregory himself, he had enough money, and he could even afford dinner at a restaurant.
The rise in popularity in the biography of singer Grigory Leps begins in 1995, when he released his first album. The listeners liked the song “Natalie” so much that a video clip was even created for it, and it was even planned that the aspiring singer from Sochi would perform with this song at the “Song -95” music competition. But the unexpected happened: due to the use of alcohol and drugs, Grigory Leps’ peptic ulcer worsened and he ended up in the hospital. The days spent on injections and away from music gave me the opportunity to think about my behavior and put an end to these bad habits forever.
In 1997, the singer’s new album, “Whole Life,” was released. The singer's popularity begins to increase. So, he first sang at the show concert “Song of the Year - 97”, and then, in 1998, was invited to the Christmas meetings with Alla Pugacheva.
In 2000, new troubles awaited the singer: his voice suddenly disappeared completely. To restore it, I had to have surgery. After such an operation, he was able to return to the stage, but this only happened in 2002. The peak of Leps's popularity begins to grow, his songs are a success, his records are instantly sold out.
In 2004, the famous singer released the album “Sail,” which includes his musical compositions based on songs by Vladimir Vysotsky. At the same time, he was invited to a concert in the Kremlin, where he spent two hours on the Kremlin stage.
In 2005, Grigory Leps released the album “Favorites... 10 Years”, and in 2006 - “Labyrinth”. In 2006 - the album “In the Center of the Earth”, and gives two concerts at the Olimpiysky sports complex.
In 2007, his video collection was released under the original title “I’m Alive!” And again performances in the Kremlin hall with songs by V. Vysotsky. This year also marks the successful duets of Grigory Leps with Irina Allegrova and Stas Piekha.
In 2009, the famous singer gives three performances in the Kremlin hall, and then leaves for Germany, where he already had concerts scheduled. And in 2011, the singer’s new album was released, and at the same time Dmitry Medvedev awarded him the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. Also in 2011, Grigory Leps began collaborating with Timati, and their joint duets continued to be performed in 2012.
Grigory Leps - biography of personal life
The famous singer’s first marriage took place almost immediately after finishing school. While studying at a music school, Grigory marries Svetlana Dubinskaya. But they could not live together for long and very soon they divorced.
The second wife in the biography of Grigory Leps was the dancer Anna Shaplykova, who at the time they met worked in the Laima Vaikule show ballet. This is a new page in the biography of the famous singer. This marriage turned out to be not only strong, but also long. At the moment, the famous singer and composer has everything in his personal life to be happy: his beloved wife and four children born in marriage: three daughters and son Ivan.
Grigory Leps - discography
Natalie
Whole life
Thanks people...
On the strings of rain
Sail
Labyrinth
At the center of the earth
Second
Waterfall
Pince-nez
Full Ahead
Gangster #1
