Alla Pugacheva

Alla Borisovna Pugacheva (????? ?????????? ?????????), pronounced "Pougachova", born April 15 1949 in Moscow, Russia, is perhaps the best known musical performer in Russia, her career having started in 1965 and continuing to this day.

Related Topics:
April 15 - 1949 - Moscow - Russia - 1965

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Although hugely popular in Russia and other former Soviet republics among older generations, she is also widely disliked by many, not least for the amount of airtime given to her by the Federal channels and the continual gossip about her life in popular tabloids. For many she epitomizes the stale, repetitive, state-endorsed pop-culture fed to the population through the media.

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Nonetheless, her contribution to Russian music cannot be ignored. She is certainly the most successful Soviet and Russian performer in terms of record sales and popularity (* see notes about record sales below). Pugacheva is also the winner of numerous Soviet, Russian, and European awards for vocals. Her earlier compositions feature incredibly artistic melodies with sophisticated arrangements, witty lyrics, and almost theatrical vocals. By the 1990s, however, Pugacheva's records have become more and more mainstream and repetitive losing all the aesthetic attraction and the artistic value of her former work. In any case, her earlier performance is often regarded with high respect even from such eccentric non-conformist artists as Sergey Shnurov from Leningrad band.

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Pugacheva is also credited (and blamed too) for helping many young and unknown artists to rise to fame. Although most of them have become pop stars of often dubious talents, some of them later became such rock legends as Slava Butusov of Nautilus Pompilius.

Related Topics:
Slava Butusov - Nautilus Pompilius

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