Zemfira is an incredibly talented Russian singer who opened a completely new movement in Russian rock, called “women’s rock.”
Childhood
Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova was born on August 26, 1976 in the city of Ufa, which at that time was part of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The girl grew up in an intelligent Bashkir-Tatar family. The girl's father, Talgat Talkhoevich, taught history at school. Zemfira also has an older brother named Ramil.
From a very early age, Zemfira developed a musical talent. From the age of 5, the girl went to piano lessons at a music school, and later she was accepted as a soloist in the school choir.
Also, at the age of 5, the future singer first appeared on television: on a local TV channel, a girl sang a song about a worm.
As a child, the future singer had many hobbies; she attended 7 clubs at once, but paid more attention to music and basketball. Despite the fact that Zemfira was the shortest on the team in the school basketball team, the future singer became the captain of the Russian junior team.
Zemfira in her youth
After graduating from school, Zemfira decides to take music seriously and enters the pop-jazz vocal department at the Ufa College of Arts. In parallel with her studies, the girl performs hits of her favorite performers on the street: “Kino”, “Nautilus Pomilius” and “Aquarium”, and also sings the original compositions of Freddie Mercury and George Michael.
After graduating from college, Zemfira, together with her classmate Vlad Kolchin, who plays the saxophone, performed songs in restaurants in Ufa. But soon the girl got tired of it, and she decided to find another place of work.
The beginning of a musical career
In 1996, Zemfira was hired as a sound engineer at the local branch of the Europe-Plus radio station. At the same time, she begins to write her first songs in the Cakewalk program. Using this program, the compositions “Snow”, “Forecaster”, “Rockets” and “Why”, which were included in the singer’s first album, were recorded.
The girl also manages to work as a backing vocalist in the popular band of that time, Spectrum Ace. In the same year, Zemfira persuades Arkady Mukhtarov to record the performer’s demo disc.
In the same year, Zemfira decides to form her own group. The first member was bass guitarist Rinat Akhmadiev, then Rinat brought his friend drummer Sergei Sozinov, next year keyboard player Sergei Mirolyubov and lead guitarist Vadim Solovyov joined the band.
The newly-minted group goes to Moscow to promote its team. In the capital, at the Maxidrom festival, Zemfira, through journalists, hands over a disk with songs recorded by the group to Leonid Burlakov, producer of the Mumiy Troll group. After listening to the songs, he decides to record an album.
Since 1998, active work began on the creation of the first album. The Mumiy Troll group actively helped the newcomers with the recording - vocalist Ilya Lagutenko acted as sound producer, and Yuri Tsaler and Oleg Pungin participated in the recording. In January 1999, the album was mixed in London. On May 10, the first album called “Zemfira” is released, which incredibly quickly gained popularity among listeners.
Videos were soon shot for the songs “AIDS”, “Arividerchi” and “Why”, which only increased Zemfira’s popularity. The band went on tour three months after the release of the record, and the concerts attracted full audiences.
Upon returning from the tour, the Zemfira group began recording their second album. On March 28, 2000, an album called “Forgive Me, My Love” was released, which was called the most popular album of 2000. Zemfira herself received the title of “Performer of the Year” from the publication “OM”.
The album includes famous songs that are still popular today: “Iskala”, which became the soundtrack of the film “Brother 2”, “Do You Want”, “City” and “Dawns”. After the release of the record, Zemfira organized an all-Russian tour, which was a stunning success. 
On April 1, Zemfira gave a solo concert at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex. At one of the concerts held in Ufa, an unpleasant incident occurred - 19 people were injured in a stampede. After the incident, the singer announced that she was taking a “sabbatical,” canceled all concerts and did not appear on stage for a year.
The exception was participation in the “FILM Test” project, organized in honor of the memory of Zemfira’s favorite performer, Viktor Tsoi.
Zemfira after a “sabbatical”
After a year of silence, the singer decides to completely change her style, so from that moment on, the Zemfira group disbands. The singer asks musicians from Mumiy Troll - Oleg Pungin and Yuri Tsaler - to help with the recording of the new album.
The release of the new album “Fourteen Weeks of Silence” took place on April 1, 2002. The number of discs sold quickly passed the one million mark, and critics began to actively discuss the new record. In 2003, the singer received the Triumph award for this album.
In 2004, two significant events took place: first, Zemfira performed with Ilya Lagutenko at the Maxidrom rock festival, then at the MTV Russia Music Awards ceremony, together with the group Queen, the singer performed the legendary composition “We are the Champions.”
In the same year, Zemfira recorded the track “Goddess: How I Loved” for the film by Renata Litvinova. In gratitude, Renata directed Zemfira’s video for the song “Itogi”.
Also in 2004, the performer decides to get a higher education and enters the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University. But the singer spent all her time on music, so she did not have time to study. During the first session, Zemfira took an academic leave, but then never recovered, for which she was expelled in 2006.
In March 2005, the performer’s fourth album, entitled “Vendetta,” was released, consisting of 15 songs. The album received only positive reviews from listeners and critics, and was also called the second “take-off” album after her debut “Zemfira”. On May 10, a tour began in support of the record.
In the fall of 2007, the album “Thank You” was released, which consisted of 12 songs. On October 21, a tour began in support of the album, and the end of the tour was a performance at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex. The following year, the singer won in the “Soloist of the Year” and “Music” categories at the “Chart Dozen” awards.
Since 2011, Zemfira begins work on her sixth album, “Live in Your Head.” Prior to this, Zemfira also released a collection of her B-sides called “Z-Sides”. On July 8, 2012, Zemfira closed her official website for some time, dissatisfied with the fact that too many users were discussing her image and appearance on social networks.
In 2013, work on the album “Live in Your Head” was completed and on February 15 the album was released, which again made a splash in the world of Russian rock. This album set a record for domestic online sales, collecting 2 million rubles in a month.
Before the release of the album, the singer organized a tour in which she visited 51 cities. In the fall of the same year, Zemfira received an award in the category “Best Russian Performer” at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
In February 2016, a new tour, “Little Man,” began. The singer traveled to 20 cities of the Russian Federation and neighboring countries, and the tour ended with an enchanting performance in Moscow. On this tour, Zemfira announced that she was finishing her touring activities.
Personal life
There are many rumors about the singer’s personal life, but the singer does not give any comments on this matter.
It all started with the singer announcing her wedding to Vyacheslav Petkun, the lead singer of the group “Dancing Minus,” but this statement turned out to be just a PR stunt. After this, Zemfira was credited with an affair with Abramovich and Anastasia Kalmanovich, the singer’s director. 
Recently, Zemfira has been credited with an affair with Renata Litvinova, a friend of the performer and film director, but they have not commented on the information.
Zemfira, that well-known girl who contributed Russian rock has its own twist, light, journalists gave it a name - “female rock”. Her songs are still played on radio stations, and for young people Zemfira’s work is a source of inspiration, melancholy and sadness.
The little future singer was born in the city of Ufa, into a family of high moral views. Father Talgat Talkhovich was a history teacher, and mother Florida Khakievna was a specialist in physical therapy.
Zemfira was not the only child in the family, the elder brother Ramil doted on his sister and a trusting, very warm relationship always developed between them. Sometimes, a girl could tell her secret to her brother and not be afraid that she would be judged, scolded or laughed at.
Since childhood, the girl was drawn to music. At such an early age of 5, Zemfira was already taking piano lessons at a music school and was a soloist in the choir. And at the age of 7, without anyone’s help, she wrote her first song and did not hesitate to perform it in front of her mother’s colleagues.
Musical activity brought great pleasure and was much more than just a hobby.
At school, Zemfira became interested in basketball, but she was not particularly tall, and this spurred her even more to achieve something. The efforts were not in vain and she became the captain of the Russian junior team. Sports are so pulled the girl in tight, which stood on par with music, which was very important.
Therefore, in high school, a huge problem became what to devote my life to, who to become. Thinking a lot about this topic, Zemfira put musical activity at the forefront and applied to the art school in his hometown.
In order to have her own personal money, and not ask her parents, Zemfira began to look for part-time work and got a job at a local restaurant, where she performed various popular compositions in the evenings.
I got a little fed up with this lifestyle, I wanted to change my occupation, and now the girl is working at a radio station, recording commercials. At this time Zemfira n starts recording songs own compositions on cassette tapes.
At the end of the 90s, Zemfira's life takes a sharp turn 180 degrees. Her songs, recorded on tape, through friends, completely randomly end up in the hands of the producer the then famous group “Mumiy Troll”.
He appreciates musical compositions, having truly seen real talent. Leonid Burlakov gives Zefmira the opportunity to advance in her activities, and she records her first album, which she calls “Zemfira”.
Zemfira did not even expect such success, because the album sold like hotcakes, and at the concerts there were always many people who were delighted with her music.
Work has begun on the second album entitled “Forgive me, my love”, which became the most popular in early 2000. This album is still the most popular among the singer’s projects. One song even became the soundtrack to the film “Brother 2”.
Later, Zemfira received a very large and serious offer; director Renata Litvinova invited her to join her team so that the girl could compose music for the film “Goddess: How I Fell in Love.”
Zemfira’s musical activity brought such success that she was included in the list of “One Hundred Most Influential Women in Russia.”
There were always a lot of rumors about Zemfira’s personal life, but she was in no hurry to refute them and clarify them.
Moreover, the singer herself misled journalists and her fans by saying that she was marrying the leader of the group “Dancing Minus,” but this was just an attempt attract attention.
Someone said that Zemfira had a relationship with a woman and was engaged to Renata Litvinova. But both girls prefer not to talk about this topic, avoiding it in interviews.
In 2010, Zemfira suffered a misfortune: her beloved brother died and drowned in the river. The father died from the disease, and then the mother. This the state of mind has weakened singers. From that time on, she decided that her main task was to take care of her nephews. Therefore, for now the singer does not have children of her own, and her personal life remains under seven locks.
Although Zemfira mentions her status as “In Love” in interviews with journalists, she does not reveal all the secrets of her personal life.
Zemfira’s huge “Little Man” tour has started, during which she visited 20 cities in Russia and several foreign countries. Driving around the cities, the singer reported the sad news that her music career is over, thereby greatly upsetting the loyal fans who were inspired by her music.
But the singer does not stop spreading her songs. A in 2016 she even recorded a new song“Come home.” Loyal fans are still waiting for Zemfira to return to music and have not lost hope.
Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova is a singer who opened a new direction in music, called “female rock”. The girl leads a secluded life and flatly refuses to communicate with journalists. There are incredible rumors about her life, which she neither confirms nor denies.
She is known among producers for her strict demands, so she often plays this role herself. With her creativity, she set the musical tone for budding musical groups in the early 2000s.
Despite her sometimes shocking appearance, Zemfira was included in the magazine’s lists in the “One Hundred Most Influential Women of Russia” category.
Height, weight, age. How old is Zemfira
Since Zemfira changed her images many times during her musical career, fans are in a hurry to find out not only her biography, but also her parameters: height, weight, age. How old Zemfira is also remains a pressing question, because due to the fact that she weighs only fifty-seven kilograms, with a height of one hundred and seventy-three centimeters, it is difficult to correctly name her age.
Here, fans of Russian rock performed by Zemfira are in luck - the singer does not try to hide these data from the public. This year, in August, the singer will turn forty-two years old. She does not (like most singers) go on strict diets and does not like to visit sports clubs. It’s just that Zemfira is constantly on the move and that’s enough for her to be in excellent physical shape.
Biography of Zemfira
Zemfira's biography began in the city of Ufa. While still a child, she began to develop a passion for music. At the age of five she is sent to a music school. There the girl studied piano, then sang in the choir and was a vocalist. Two years later, little Zemfira wrote her first song. The choice of musical genre was influenced by his older brother Ramil.
Music was not the child's only hobby. Despite her average height, she was the captain of the women's basketball team.
In addition to school, she graduated from a music school in her hometown, the vocal department. She managed to work as a radio presenter.
In parallel with work, the girl creates her own group, called “Zemfira”. In 1998, she decided to move to the capital in order to be able to further develop her musical career.
The producer of the already well-known group “Mumiy-Troll” at that time, after listening, invited her to record an album. From this moment the rise of a new star in the world of show business begins.
The singer's debut album was released literally the next year. Many songs from the album began to be played on popular radio stations. Zemfira shot a video for one of her songs in Prague.
The girl instantly became popular. Her songs “Speed”, “London Sky” and “Snow” won the love of millions of listeners in a short period of time. At the end of the same year, the singer went on a concert tour, which ended only in January of the following year.
Zemfira presented her second album in the spring of 2000. It was called “Forgive me, my love.” This album became the most successful in the singer’s career and the best-selling. Thanks to the songs included in the album, the girl and her group were awarded several awards. She planned another tour. However, such popularity also brought negative results. At her concert, which took place in the city of Yakutsk, more than ten people were injured due to a large crowd of people. The authorities blamed the performer for this, but she was not to blame for what happened. It wasn’t her who sold the tickets and it wasn’t the singer who filled the stadium to capacity. This incident unsettled the artist a little; she apologized to the fans and did not appear on stage for almost a year.
The singer’s next album took first place in the “Album of the Year” category, organized by Muz-TV in 2003.
In 2005, the fourth album “Vendetta” was released, which was highly praised by critics and fans.
Zemfira released a live album, which included about ten hits from previous albums.
Several more albums were released in subsequent years. They included new songs and already beloved hits, but in a new arrangement.
As mentioned earlier, the performer does not like to give interviews and rarely appears in her videos. In 2012, Zemfira closed her official website due to dirt and gossip that was addressed to the singer. Many criticize her lifestyle, image and behavior. However, millions of fans of the extraordinary artist sincerely wrote to her not to pay attention to the opinions of others and wished her creative success.
In 2016, her album “Little Man” was released. During the tour in support of her album, Zemfira announced her intention to end her touring activities. Nevertheless, she continues to delight fans with new songs. Last year, directors began negotiating with her about having the singer record and perform the soundtrack to the film “Sevastopol 1952.” Whether Zemfira agrees to this proposal - time will tell.
Singer Zemfira and Renata Litvinova got married photo 2015
Information about the singer’s unconventional orientation appears in the press quite often. People, when the behind-the-scenes life is carefully hidden from them, begin to fantasize in order to somehow satisfy their curiosity.
In 2007, the girl began to communicate closely with Russian actress Renata Litvinova. They gave an interview together for a fashionable glossy magazine, Renata acted as the singer’s producer, and she, in turn, recorded soundtracks for her films. After this they were often seen together.
It even got to the point that a few years later they started talking about the singer Zemfira and Renata Litvinova getting married - a photo from 2015 was supposedly attached and it all happened secretly in Stockholm. Ramazanova and Litvinova did not react to this statement. Listeners can only guess: is this true, or just another “duck” of unscrupulous “scribblers”.
Personal life of Zemfira
The singer herself is a secretive person. She is categorically against any interviews. Journalists have long come to the conclusion that Zemfira’s personal life is generally a closed topic. Nevertheless, this part of the biography worries not only the press, but also her fans. There are a lot of rumors, gossip and speculation about what is happening with the musician on the love front. In part, Zemfira herself provoked such increased attention from fans when she announced her supposedly upcoming engagement. The matter did not go further than talk and it became clear to everyone that this was just a PR move to attract people’s attention to his person.
The public was quite surprised when they learned about the acquaintance of Zemfira and Roman Abramovich. If you believe the information that was circulating on the Internet, it turns out that they were connected not just by friendship, but by something more.
The private side of the singer’s life raises many questions, both from representatives of the press and from ordinary people. However, people are not one hundred percent sure that they will ever hear true information regarding Zemfira’s personal life.
Husband of singer Zemfira
Singer Zemfira's husband - does he really exist? Knowing the secretive nature of the producer, fans of her work write that they would not be surprised if it suddenly turns out that the girl has been married a long time ago. Be that as it may, Zemfira is now alone and has not yet found a life partner.
Zemfira and Vlad Kolchin - the singer’s youthful passion Zemfira is an interesting person both as a singer and as a person. Her musical works are often subject to negative criticism. However, she does not pay attention to comments from the outside and continues to sing as she likes. Fans hope that the singer will find her soul mate and it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, the main thing is that their idol is truly happy.
Zemfira's family
Zemfira's family consists of numerous relatives. She is a Tatar, and the people of this nation are known to be very friendly. Zemfira’s father, Talgat Talkhoevich Ramazanov, worked at school all his life. Mother - Florida Khakievna Ramazanova is a doctor by training.
The singer has an older brother and two paternal half-brothers. The fact is that for Talgat Talkhoevich this was the third marriage. Being young, he was the first handsome man and enjoyed success with women. In his first two marriages he had a son, but he became happy only with his third family.
Zemfira is kind to her loved ones. When she came to her hometown for concerts, she always left seats in the front row for her family. In one of her father’s interviews, he said that his daughter achieved everything in life on her own; they could not help her financially. Ramazanov boasted that Zemfira, having received one of her first fees, did not buy housing for herself in the capital. The daughter bought her parents an apartment in one of the central districts of Ufa, renovated it and furnished it. He also proudly recalled when, at the beginning of 2000, his daughter was awarded the youth award named after Sh. Babich. Then he first came to the Bashkir White House, where the Prime Minister handed this award to him.
The spring of 2009 can be called tragic for Zemfira. Her beloved father died of a massive heart attack. Ramil Talgatovich's health has deteriorated greatly over the past four years. The fact is that his two sons from previous marriages died suddenly. On top of that, while working at the dacha, he tripped and fell, resulting in a concussion. The body could not stand it and on May 10, Zemfira’s father passed away.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, the series of losses in the singer’s family was only gaining momentum. A year later, Zemfira’s brother Ramil dies. He was an entrepreneur, worked as the director of a well-known retail chain. My brother was fond of spearfishing. During one of these “forays” something went wrong and Ramil tragically dies. For the singer, this was a real blow, because she and her brother were very close, they trusted each other with all the secrets.
Zemfira began to worry about her mother, about her health after the loss of her husband and son. She was going to transport Florida Khakievna to her place in Moscow, but did not have time. The woman could not bear the pain of loss and died in 2015. The parents were buried together, according to all Islamic laws.
Zemfira had a hard time with the death of loved ones and refused concerts and tours, no matter how tempting they were. But still, she found the strength to move on.
Children of Zemfira
Zemfira's children are her nephews Arthur and Artem. Probably only thanks to them, the girl did not withdraw into herself, continues to perform on stage and delight the audience. After the tragic death of the twins' father, Zemfira considers it her duty to take care of her brother's children.
Although the two brothers are similar, their characters are radically different: one was an aloof, well-educated child at school, and the other was the life of the party, who was not at all interested in knowledge or grades. They graduated from a prestigious gymnasium; their father wanted to send them to London, but did not have time. Zemfira fulfilled her brother's wish. The nephews went to study directing abroad. In 2013, my aunt performed with her nephews at a concert in Luzhniki. This was the only performance of the Ramazanov brothers. They returned to Ufa, are recording songs in the studio, but are not yet trying to advertise their activities. They plan to go to England again, this time to gain knowledge in the field of pop vocals.
The singer loves her nephews and tries to take an active part in their lives. They, in turn, wish their aunt to become a mother and please them with brothers or sisters.
Photo of Zemfira before and after plastic surgery
Very often the singer changes her appearance and clothing style. Since she herself is a reserved person and does not like to talk with journalists, often the latter, together with fans, begin to think up or invent something that does not actually exist. When the girl began to lose weight sharply, someone posted two photographs online from different periods of her life and captioned them “photos of Zemfira before and after plastic surgery.” In fact, the singer believes that she does not need plastic surgery. She is of the opinion that if someone is not satisfied with her appearance, then don’t look at her, it is impossible to please everyone.
Zemfira only once starred in a photo shoot. She agreed to this only to promote her new album. She was not comfortable in long dresses, high platform shoes and a ton of makeup on her face. Be that as it may, for her it became a kind of test, which she passed with honor. The artist herself does not favor printed publications, believing that it is a waste of time.
Instagram and Wikipedia Zemfira
Knowing the musician’s pathological dislike for her person, it would be ridiculous to think that she has a page on Instagram and Zemfira’s Wikipedia, in fact, is the only official page on the Internet where you can find reliable information about the singer.
Still, Zemfira has an Instagram page: it was made by the singer’s fans. They mainly post photos from concerts and parties in which the singer takes part.
The official website is more like a “business card reminder”. Here you can find all Zemfira's songs and albums.
She is the face of youth music of the late 90s and the standard of a new style. A singer who quickly burst into the world of Russian music and became the idol of millions. It is with her name that the birth of “female rock” in Russia is associated. She still does not allow the media and people who are eager to know at least something about her orientation and connections into her personal life.
All this is about the singer, the outstanding musician Zemfira, whose biography is filled with a rocker mood of protest, seriousness and not at all rocker-like subtle female feelings, resulting in songs that have not lost popularity for more than 17 years.
Zemfira still attracts huge audiences; she is interesting to her fans, who unconditionally accept their idol without a modern, fashionable appearance or details of her personal life. She is who she is: alive, sincere and feeling.
The beginning of the journey
The future rock star Zemfira Ramazanova was born in the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the city of Ufa, at the end of August 1976 into a family that had nothing to do with music. Her father was a historian, and her mother was a specialist in physical therapy.
At school, Zemfira was an excellent student. Studying came easily to her. That is why the girl had plenty of free time and hobbies. In addition to secondary school, she also studied at a music school in the piano department and sang in the choir.
The girl also had achievements in sports, as at school she loved to play basketball. Despite her short stature, she became the captain of the Russian junior team. However, when the time came to choose what to connect her destiny with after graduating from school, Zemfira decided to plunge headlong into music. And she entered the Ufa Music College in the pop vocal department.
A work colleague helped her record her first demo disc, who encouraged the singer to create a group. This is how the Zemfira group appeared. The tracks recorded in the mid-90s “blew up” the youth of Bashkiria. They not only began to sing about Zemfira, but they also began to write about her. Many local newspapers wanted to interview the young musician, whose songs captured the youth. And a year later, Zemfira decides to leave to conquer Moscow.
Path to the Top
Zemfira personally conveyed her first works through familiar journalists to the lead singer of the Mumiy Troll group, Ilya Lagutenko, who was delighted with the young, little-known musician. And soon, thanks to Ilya and the producer of his group, Zemfira’s debut album of the same name was recorded. This happened in 1998.
And six months later, Zemfira went on her first tour of the CIS countries. True, the singer did not want to reveal her soul to journalists even then. She conveyed all her feelings exclusively through music and symbolic objects at concerts: a daisy, a guitar, a butterfly.
A year after the presentation of the first album, the second, “Forgive me, my love,” is released. The girl once admitted that it is especially difficult for her to give names to her songs, which is why it often turns out that tracks have two names. Songs from this disc again topped the country's charts, and some became film soundtracks.
At the end of 2000, singer Zemfira, after another concert in Yakutsk, was accused of riots that occurred in the city square. So many people gathered to look at the idol that a stampede began, as a result of which many people were injured.
However, by 2002 the singer returned again with a “bomb”. The third album, entitled “14 Weeks of Silence,” was released, which sold a record number of copies – more than a million copies.
Zemfira has seven albums in total:
- "Zemfira".
- "Forgive me, my love."
- "14 weeks of silence."
- "Vendetta".
- "Thank you".
- "Z-sides".
- "Live in your head."
Personal life
As already mentioned, Zemfira does not let strangers into her life. Therefore, little is known about her relationships with men. However, some facts did leak to the media.
This may seem strange, but the rock singer was also associated with Roman Abramovich. Rumor has it that the oligarch was the sponsor of the then aspiring singer. Whether this is true or not is not known for sure.
Renata Litvinova is of great importance in Zemfira’s life. Although the girls claim that they are just friends, their frequent appearances together give the media a reason to talk about more. There is a rumor that Renata and Zemfira secretly got engaged in Sweden. Despite her age of 41, Zemfira has no children.
2009 was a tragic year for the singer’s family. The girl lost her father, who died of a heart attack. However, this was only the beginning; a year later her dear and beloved brother Ramil drowned. And in 2015, not recovering from the loss of her husband and son, Zemfira’s mother died. Since then, the singer herself has been trying to take care of her twin nephews, left behind after the death of her brother. Together with them, the singer created the musical project “Uchpochmak”.
Today Zemfira does not like to appear on television and tells practically nothing about herself to the press. She places the main emphasis on her lyrics and music. Her wardrobe contains only black and white clothes and a permanent short haircut, symbolizing minimalism, seriousness and steadfastness. Author: Anastasia Kaykova
Zemfira Ramazanova is a famous rock singer, author and performer of her own songs, producer. Zemfira's biography began on August 26, 1976. Talgat Talkhoevich, the singer’s father, taught history to schoolchildren, her mother, Florida Khakievna, was a doctor and physical therapy instructor. Zemfira is Tatar by nationality. By now her parents and brother have died. The only close relatives are nephews Artur and Artem Ramazanov, musicians who studied to become directors and now live in the UK.
The beginning of a creative journey
The girl became interested in music from early childhood and at the age of five she was enrolled in a music school to study piano. Zemfira's family supported the active life position of the future star. While studying at school, the future singer took part not only in musical concerts, but also actively participated in basketball matches, practiced choral singing and was a member of seven more clubs.
As a child, she made her debut on a local music program on television. In 1990, Zemfira graduated from music school with honors, and in the same year she was elected captain of the Russian women's junior basketball team.
At this time, the future rock star turned her attention to the guitar and began taking lessons on this instrument. Performing compositions by her favorite singers right on the street became both a rehearsal for her and a kind of preparation for the future.
After graduating from school, after much thought, Zemfira decided to continue professional music studies and entered the specialty “Pop Vocals”, and she was accepted into the art school immediately as a 2nd year student.
After graduating with honors, the girl worked for a short time as a restaurant musician, and then got a job at the Europe Plus Ufa radio company.
There she worked as a sound engineer and gradually mastered the latest computer programs for creating and arranging music. After recording several commercials, Zemfira tried her hand at writing her own songs and tracks. Subsequently, some of these compositions, in particular “Snow”, “Rockets”, “Why”, were included in Zemfira’s albums.
The beginning of the singer’s career coincided with her work at the radio station.. Her first demo disc was recorded here. The sound engineer was the famous Ufa musician Arkady Mukhtarov. To conquer the musical Olympus, Zemfira assembled her own team. With him she went to conquer Moscow and all of Russia.
Moscow and first success
Since 1997, from the moment of the first publication in the press about the group, Zemfira began promoting the group and left for Moscow. One of the copies of the recordings accidentally fell into the hands of the Mumiy Troll producer. Leonid Burlakov took the risk of starting a collaboration with a little-known group and recording their first album.
At that time, Zemfira worked with the following musicians:
- Akhmadiev Rinat (bass guitar);
- Sozinov Sergey (drummer);
- Mirolyubov Sergey (keys);
- Soloviev Vadim (guitarist).
The singer herself was the lead singer of the group. She attracted the attention of the public and the press - the group experimented with genres, developed their own style, which helped Zemfira's songs become real hits.
After the release of her first album, the young performer became an idol of youth in the late 90s. They recorded the album with the assistance of professional musicians of the popular group Mumiy Troll, mixed the material at their home studio in London, Ilya Lagutenko personally participated in the work on the sound of the album. It all ended with the release of an original music product.
With this album, the singer made her debut in front of the Moscow public at the 16 Ton club. It was May outside the windows, and the musicians in the hall created the illusion of the coming spring. Zemfira performed the song “Chamomile” with a chamomile woven into her hair, tearing off the petals in front of the audience, as if during fortune telling. With their debut album, the group went on concerts throughout the CIS cities. Musicians began to earn decent fees.
Significant promotion milestones
The year 2000 was significant for the group and its leader. The team was noted by the press as the best group, and favored by the public for the best debut album. According to the media, Zemfira became the winner in 4 more categories. She became breakthrough of the year, brawler of the year, performer of the year. Her songs attracted ordinary listeners so much that the famous film director Alexei Balabanov drew attention to this, who included the composition “Iskala” in the cult film “Brother-2”.
The performer actively worked on the group’s image, participated in photo shoots, and received the title “Person of the Year.” In the same year, one of the landmark albums, “Forgive Me, My Love,” was released, after the release of which Zemfira went on a concert tour. The beginning of the tour was marked by a solo concert at the Olimpiysky.
The album sold thousands of copies and became the most financially successful in the singer’s career. The songs were among the ten most popular compositions of the year. The group was awarded the Ovation Prize, Zemfira was awarded the State Youth Prize of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the field of culture.
The concerts brought massive popularity, from which the singer simply got tired, canceled the remaining concerts and went on sabbatical. At the end of 2000, the team took part in a project dedicated to the memory of Viktor Tsoi, and recorded the songs “Every Night” and “Cuckoo” for him.
Over the next two years, Zemfira worked on her next album, which was released in 2002. Extreme fatigue from the incessant, exhausting tours and aggressive behavior of the public at concerts gives Zemfira doubts about the very possibility of releasing this disc. The opinions of critics after the release of the album also differed.
However, the compositions “Infinity” and “Traffic” once again proved Zemfira’s inexhaustible creative potential as a composer, lyricist and performer. By the summer of 2002, the album had sold a million copies and became another bestseller for the Russian rock legend.
Over the following years, Zemfira released albums:
- "Venedetta" (2005);
- “Thank you” (2007);
- collection of b-sides “Z-Sides” (2009);
- “Live in your head” (2013).
After this, the list of studio albums has not yet been replenished. In 2016, during the “Little Man” tour, a live album was recorded.
Introduction to the world of cinema
In 2004, the singer met with director, screenwriter and writer Renata Litvinova. Working on the soundtrack for her film “Goddess: How I Loved You” became a turning point in the rock star’s work. Collaboration with Renata Litvinova opened the world of musical cinema to the singer, and her acquaintance and collaboration with arranger Igor Vdovin opened new horizons of professionalism.
The artist’s filmography includes the following films:
- “Green Theater in Zemfira” (2008) - music, producer;
- “Bird-Gogol” (2009) - voice acting;
- “Rita’s Last Fairy Tale” (2012) - music, co-producer.
The music of a rock star sounds not only in the films of Renata Litvinova. Kira Muratova used several songs in her films.
Experiments in the genres of rock music, indie rock and pop rock made her work in demand among different categories of listeners. The influence of blues was expressed in the appearance of jazz harmonies. Zemfira also uses the bossa nova style, and this brings rhythmic variety to her music. By synthesizing genres and styles, the performer finds new fans.
Communication with Renata Litvinova and Nastya Kalmanovich led to changes in the singer’s appearance. According to her, during this period she became more feminine and beautiful. A performance at the Maxidrom festival, where she performed the song “Bear” together with Ilya Lagutenko, led the singer into complete delight with high-heeled shoes and a bright dress, unusual for her wardrobe. During this period, she conducted a photo shoot for Citizen K magazine, where she appeared on the cover in a feminine and sexy image. The magazine's editors noted Zemfira's high performance during filming.
Personal
Zemfira carefully hides her personal life from prying eyes. Fans were always interested in when her husband and children would appear in her life, what her sexual orientation was and whether there was true love in her life. Famous for her shocking actions, Zemfira constantly misleads everyone. She was credited with having affairs with both men and women.
According to popular rumor, Zemfira’s lovers were: oligarch Roman Abramovich, saxophonist Vlad Kolchin, film screenwriter Renata Litvinova. However, none of the rumors were fully confirmed, and the facts of an unconventional approach to sexual relations were not confirmed. Fate decreed that Zemfira never managed to find happiness in marriage and create her own family.
While working with Renata Litvinova, in the mid-2000s, Zemfira sharply lost weight. Her height is 173 cm, weight is 58 kg. The pages of the yellow press were full of headlines about the singer’s incurable illness. Living at the pace that Zemfira lived in those years is not easy. Youth passes, and it becomes difficult for the body to cope with the stress of constant concerts and tours. But over time, rumors about the disease died down.
With age, the story of Zemfira’s creativity acquired an increasingly mature character.. She is no longer compared to representatives of the domestic rock scene Nastya Poleva and Yanka Diaghileva. She is no longer a “girl with a player.” Now Zemfira is a legend, the founder of her own style in “female rock”.
It is difficult to overestimate the significance and influence of her songs on an entire generation of youth in the 2000s. A complex character, an open voice that conveys the meaning of words to the very heart - this is not just music, it is a lifestyle. Zemfira recalled her childhood: “I was small, but the most important.” The singer remains like this even now. It was she who set the bar to which young talents are measured today. For example, the young Tatar performer Hakim, in whose work critics find motifs first discovered by his great fellow tribesman.