Variety artists, as a rule, dream of a big stage, honorary titles and all kinds of regalia. However, there are those who rejoice at the opportunity to carry their creativity in their homeland - these words definitely fit the Belarusian singer Inna Afanasyeva.
Many people know her songs "The baby is stomping", "Pearls" and "Hold me", which became hits. During her career, she received many awards, but she did not change her native Belarus.
Biography
Inna Afanasyeva was born in 1968 in the city of Mogilev. Her parents were ordinary people: dad worked as a welder, and mom worked as a cook. As a child, Inna was often taken to her grandmother in the village for the summer, and there she could sing songs at large with might and main. She then really liked Alla Pugacheva, and she learned all her songs by heart. And she dreamed that someday she herself would go on stage in a beautiful dress and sing so that everyone would clap their hands loudly.
When Inna went to school, the music teacher noted her sonorous voice and advised her parents to take the girl to the Palace of Pioneers. There, as it turned out, children were recruited for the new ensemble "Rainbow". Inna sang one song, and she was immediately accepted into the team. Very soon she became the soloist of "Rainbow".
"Rainbow" quickly became popular: children sang at government concerts, performed on the radio and took part in television programs. And then, like real artists, they began to tour Belarus.
Inna really liked this life: after all, this is all she dreamed of. And when she was fourteen years old, she became a laureate of the "Red Carnations" competition. At the competition, Inna sang the song "Play, Dawn-Sorcerer." In addition to the joy of this victory, the girl was in for another surprise: she was given a ticket to the pioneer camp "Artek".
Inna was with "Rainbow" until she graduated from school, and then other paths opened before her. And she thought about where to get a musical education. In "Gnesinka" the young singer did not pass the competition and decided to enter the pedagogical institute.
However, fate prepared another path for her, and one day she met Inna Valeria Streltsova, a member of the musical group "Spektr". The young man persuaded her to become a soloist in the ensemble.
Singing career
The first year of work at Spectra was successful: Inna won the Republican Popular Music Competition. For more than three years, young musicians delighted their fellow countrymen with their creativity, and then the group broke up. Afanasyeva began her solo career and quite successfully: at the All-Union Festival of Polish Song, the singer took the honorable third place.
The republic was proud of this victory, and Inna was invited as a soloist to the National Orchestra of Belarus.
During her career, Inna Vladimirovna met many creative people, and with some of them it turned out to perform together in different concerts. Her stage partners were Alexander Serov, Igor Krutoy and other famous performers. And together with Yadviga Poplavskaya and Alexander Tikhanovich, she toured throughout the Soviet Union.
In the mid-nineties, Inna Afanasyeva became so popular that her songs were heard in every home. Her hits "Guitar and Rose", "Gorych Yagada", "Mama", "Varazhba" and many other songs fell in love not only in Belarus, but also in other countries.
Around the same time, the artist begins to shoot videos. In 1995, a bright video was released for the song "Will Come True - Will Not Come True". By the way, this was the very first video filmed in Belarus. It was popular even in Europe. The success of the video prompted Inna to record a personal album, which she named as a clip: "It will come true - it will not come true."
At that time, Afanasyeva was offered cooperation by producers from the CIS countries, but she did not want to leave her native places.
At the beginning of the century and later, new songs appeared in the singer's repertoire, which invariably became popular. The compositions "Pearls" and "Zvezda" were on the first lines of radio charts.
In addition to her concert activities, Inna Vladimirovna tried to work on television: she hosted the program "Breakfast with Inna Afanasyeva" on the CTV channel.
In 2007, an important event happened in the singer's life: she became an Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus. And almost at the same time, her benefit performance took place in honor of her twentieth birthday on stage.
She also made herself and other ladies a luxurious, truly feminine gift: she created the AfIna perfume. She finally realized herself that she took place both as a singer and as a woman.
She still gives solo concerts, arranging real colorful shows, recording albums and performing at major republican holidays. And she receives well-deserved awards: in 2018, she was awarded the medal “100 years of the Belarusian police” for her work. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country decided that the singer deserves this award.
Personal life
For the first time, Inna married the very same Valery Streltsov, who invited her to the "Spectrum". In this marriage, a son, Ivan, was born. Now he is already an adult, has received an acting education and serves in the Minsk Russian Theater. He has a daughter, Varvara, so now Inna Vladimirovna is also a grandmother.
Together with Streltsov, they lived for a long time, but then something went wrong, and the couple parted.
There was a period when Afanasyeva disappeared from the field of view of the fans, and it was not clear whether she completely left the stage or would return.
Everyone who was not in the know was in for a pleasant surprise: Inna got married a second time. The businessman Viktor Kotov became her chosen one. He is from St. Petersburg, but moved to Minsk, to his wife. They also often travel to the northern capital on Victor's business.
They both love long trips, and sometimes they rest at their dacha near Minsk.
