One day a journalist asked Chizh if he remembered the moment when he realized that he had become famous. Sergei replied that of course he remembers - the very moment when he was born.
Childhood and the path to music
The biography of Sergei Chigrakov began on February 6, 1961 in the city of Dzerzhinsk, Gorky Region. Every second Soviet shell fired during the Great Patriotic War was produced in this city on the Volga. In the year of Sergei's birth, about 180 thousand people lived in Dzerzhinsk, most of whom were "chemists" - conditionally convicted and sent by the court to construction sites of the national economy.
To Gorky, where there is some kind of civilization, it is almost an hour by train, but here - all life fits into three words: a factory, a bottle, a cigarette. And also a guitar. An industrial town saturated with sulfuric acid vapors, in the evenings, it was filled with groups of guys and girls on benches, singing songs with a guitar that did not sound on the radio and on TV. This, however, was the case in most Soviet industrial centers.
In 1969, the cartoon "The Bremen Town Musicians" was released on the Soviet screen. Probably, it was this event that determined the career and the whole future life of Sergei Chigrakov. Serezha watched again and again a cartoon about a cat, a rooster, a donkey and, most importantly, a troubadour - a guy in fashionable flared pants, singing about his love for a beautiful princess. A couple of years later, Sergei went to study at a music school. The parents made this decision without asking their son. Most likely, they just wanted the boy not to wander around the streets and not get involved with a bad company. In addition, music education is not at all the worst way to get a job in life for a guy growing up in an ordinary industrial town. The accordion was chosen for him as an instrument. Firstly, because my father played the button accordion well, and secondly, because in the evenings in the local cinema before the show, the instructor of the same music school played the accordion masterly. The Chigrakovs' son was given to him for training.
Seryozha's older brother played drums in a local band. The whole city knew him as "Chizha". Later this nickname passed to Sergei. All his free time he was spinning next to his brother at rehearsals and performances, and when he met with pride he introduced himself: "Chizh junior." Soon Chizhi already played for a couple in one or another team. The youngest first came out to replace the unreleased musician. Drums, bass, rhythm … whatever, Chizh Jr. was happy to help out in any case.
In 1976, Sergei entered the music school and continues to play in various groups at holidays, at banquets and in restaurants. After graduating from college, Sergei entered the Leningrad Institute of Culture, specializing in accordion and orchestral conducting. From the institute he was drafted into the army a year later. After serving two years, he is transferred to the correspondence department of the institute, and at the same time he is accepted to study at the jazz studio of the Leningrad Conservatory in the percussion class.
Professional musician
In 1985, Chizh returned to his native Dzerzhinsk and got a job as a music and singing teacher at school, earning money at the same time by performing at weddings and banquets. A few months later he was invited to the local hard rock group GPD ("Extended Day Group").
In the spring of 1988, at a rock festival in Gorky, Chigrakov met a Kharkov group that had the same name: GDP. In 1989, after graduating from the correspondence institute, he decides to move to Kharkov and join the namesake group. After Chizh's arrival, the Kharkov group splits into two, one of which takes the name "Different people". Chigrakov entered it as a backing vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. In the same year, the renewed collective performs at the Leningrad festival "Aurora", where it makes a very good impression on both spectators and critics. The band played very professionally. The author of most of the songs of the Kharkiv GPD was Alexander Chernetsky. With the arrival of Chizh, songs of his authorship began to appear in the repertoire of "Different People", often becoming hits. Soon, Chernetsky was forced to leave his work in the group due to a sharp deterioration in health. Chizh replaced him both as the main soloist and as the main songwriter.
Personal group
In 1993, the "Different People" group with Chernetsky, who had recovered by that time, appeared on television in the "Program A" program. This was the first acquaintance of a wide audience with Sergei Chigrakov. In the same year, with the support of Boris Grebenshchikov, Sergei recorded his first album "Chizh". He did not yet have his own group, so musicians from different St. Petersburg teams took part in the recording of the album.
Within a year after the recording of the album, Chizh gives several recitals in clubs in St. Petersburg, and by mid-1994 he decided to create his own group. Already in the summer of this year "Chizh & Co" is recording the album "Crossroads". The album immediately made the group super popular. Chizh's songs are played on all radio stations.
In 1995 "Chizh & So" released the second album "About Love", which included many songs written by other authors. In the same year, the band recorded the Greatest Hits album live at a concert in the Jubilee Sports Complex. At the concert, the audience sang along with all the songs. Sometimes Chizh forgot the words and then the audience sang for him with inspiration.
The following year, Chizha's group records two albums. A video is being shot for the song "Polonaise", included in one of the new albums. Filming takes place in St. Petersburg and in the USA.
In 1997, an album of versions of old Soviet songs was recorded, which included the song "Bombers". A video was shot for this song, in which the female part is sung by Marina Kapuro. Also included in the album of cover versions was the song "Tanks Rumbled on the Field", which sounded all over the country a month after the album was released. The Rock Fuzz magazine names this year Chizha and Co the Group of the Year. In the same year, Chizh appears in an episode of the cult film by Alexei Balabanov "Brother".
For the next three years, the group of Sergei Chigrakov actively toured the country, as well as in Israel, Great Britain and the United States. In 2001, Chizh recorded a solo album "Haydn Will Be" for which no other musicians were involved. Chigrakov himself played all the instruments in the ode to the preparation of the album.
The most significant event in 2004 was the 10th anniversary of the group. In honor of the anniversary "Chizh & Co" gave two four-hour concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the summer of the same year, during his next tour of America, Chizh fulfilled his old dream - to play with black blues musicians. True, this dream, voiced by Sergei more than once, sounded somewhat differently: "to play in a jam with Eric Clepton." In this very form, it has not yet been realized, but, perhaps, such an opportunity will still be presented.
Personal life
Chizha's father passed away early, not catching the loud fame of his son. Mother, at first, did not react very well to the fact that her son quit his job as a teacher and became a rock musician. Her opinion changed after she saw a video of the New Year's "Blue Light", in which Sergei plays along with Eduard Khil during the performance of the famous "Ice Ceiling …". “It looks like you really are a musician,” she said and no longer regretted that her son had chosen such a profession. But she continued to scold for her long hair.
Sergei Chigrakov was married three times, has three sons and a daughter. According to Marina, Sergei's first wife, he was always a good husband and father. I came home from work and washed diapers, played with children. However, the career of a famous musician has its pitfalls, one of which is many female fans. Chizh's third wife, Valentina, is 30 years younger than the famous performer. She was a passionate admirer of his work, went to all his concerts and once she was lucky - she met in person, a whirlwind romance began, which ended in Chizh's divorce and a new wedding. The performer of the eternal hit "On Love" (Chizh is not its author) knows what strong feelings are and, even having lived for more than half a century, remains subject to them.
