Talented, educated, charismatic - this is how Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the leader of the Ukrainian group Okean Elzy, can be characterized. With his work, the famous musician showed that good music is beyond language barriers and political passions.
Childhood and youth
The future Ukrainian rock musician was born in the city of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia. He spent his childhood and youth in Lviv. The boy's father was a teacher at the university, later headed this university, and a few years later - the entire education system in Ukraine. The Vakarchuk family had several generations of teachers: his mother taught physics at the university, and his grandmother was an Honored Teacher of Ukraine. Svyatoslav graduated from school with a silver medal and entered the physics department of Leningrad State University. At the same time, he was educated as an international economist, studied foreign languages. The result of his postgraduate studies was the defense of his Ph. D. thesis. After that, Slava could continue his studies abroad or engage in scientific work, but unexpectedly for everyone, he chose a career as a musician.
Creation
Even in his school years, Vakarchuk's creative abilities manifested themselves: he played the violin, mastered the button accordion, was the permanent captain of the KVN team and a member of an amateur theater. During his studies, the freshman got acquainted with the musicians of the "Clan of Silence" group, with some of them there was a long-term cooperation.
In 1994, Svyatoslav created a musical group and became its permanent vocalist. Impressed by the underwater adventures of the Cousteau team, the leader named the team “Okean Elzy”. Having successfully shown themselves at several festivals, the team went to conquer the capital. Their debut album "Tam, de us is mute" was recorded in one of the studios in Kiev in 1998. The unusual lyrical manner of performance of the rock musician captivated the audience, the performances of Vakarchuk and his team gathered full houses. The musician made his first visit to Russia in 2000 at the Nashestvie festival. His compositions became especially popular after they sounded in the film by Alexei Balabanov "Brother-2". Now the songs of the performer are often heard in many tapes loved by the audience.
Soon the new album "Supersimetry" (2003) was released, which fans consider one of the best, became platinum. The same fate was in store for the album "Model" (2005), twice platinum. One hundred thousand copies of the disc were sold instantly. Collections "Vnochi" (2008) and "Dolce Vita" (2010) together with the musicians of "Okeana Elzy" recorded more than three dozen popular performers. A year later, a musical project and the album of the same name "Brussels" appeared. With this collection, the guys toured the country. In 2013, the songwriter delighted fans with a new disc "Earth" and new tours in the cities of Ukraine and Russia. Poland, France, Germany applauded the Ukrainian musician. The fans of the group received a wonderful gift in 2014. To the concert of your favorite band "Okean Elzy - 20 years together!" came 75 thousand spectators.
An interesting page in Vakarchuk's creative biography was the role of the mentor of the Ukrainian show "Voice of the Country". Members of his team twice became the winners of the main vocal competition of the country.
Political activity
During the Orange Revolution, Vakarchuk, along with many Ukrainian musicians, spoke out in support of the opposition. At the 2007 parliamentary elections, Svyatoslav received a deputy mandate from the Our Ukraine party. He several times from the rostrum made proposals on changes to draft laws, participated in the work of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Relations with the Russian Federation and other countries. A year later, the people's deputy decided to resign his parliamentary powers and devote himself entirely to creativity.
Vakarchuk took an active part in the Euromaidan. On the main square of the capital, Okean Elzy gave a concert in support of the protesters. The leader of the group explained his speech not with a political orientation, but with disagreement with the use of force against the protesters.
How does he live today
The Okean Elzy group successfully continues its concert activity, performing old and new songs by Vakarchuk. The team participates in all cultural and social Ukrainian projects. In 2017, the performances of the group were enjoyed by the audience of Canada and the United States.
The popularity of the musician and politician is growing every day. Today, his rating as a possible candidate in the upcoming presidential elections is about the same as Yulia Tymoshenko and the current head Petro Poroshenko. Recently, the artist opposed the creation of "black lists" of cultural figures, prohibiting entry to Ukraine. He is also opposed to the quota for radio stations, according to which half of the programs should be broadcast in the national language. The performer is a frequent guest at the Kiev Polytechnic, where he speaks to young people with lectures on the topics of politics and the state.
For many years, the musician carefully concealed his personal life from journalists, and answered the question posed unequivocally: "I have a family and I am happy." For many years, Vakarchuk was in a civil marriage with Lyalya Fonareva. Three years ago, the couple legalized their relationship. Their great love grew into business cooperation. For many years my wife has been the art director and stylist of Okean Elzy. Spouses love traveling and devote all their free time to this activity.
