December 01, 2019

Russia's Pop Queen


Russia's Pop Queen

Pop musicians come and go, but there is one Russian pop singer who continues to grab headlines despite no longer giving live performances: Alla Pugacheva. This icon of Russian pop has been around since the mid-1960s, and remains a legend in the annals of Russian, and especially of Soviet,  music.

Pugacheva was born in 1949, in Moscow. She was just a student in a music school when she began her career with “Robot” in 1965. The song enjoyed modest success, and, in an effort to refine her musical style, Pugacheva traveled around the Soviet Union, experimenting. She finally developed a style with Western influences, but heavily Slavic, due to its “dramatic and emotional appeal.” Pugacheva made it big in 1975 with a performance in Bulgaria of “Arlekino” (“The Harlequin”), and the rest, as they say, is history.

Pugacheva's style is very diverse, ranging from a clear mezzo-soprano to “dramatic cabaret growls and sobs,” according to a New York Times article describing her sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall: “Mrs. Pugacheva tries to offer something for everybody, from rock and pop-funk to torchy ballads.” She even sang a song in English.  

Beyond her musical prowess, Pugacheva stays in the headlines because of her flamboyant private life. She is currently on her fifth husband, whose predecessors include a Lithuanian circus performer, a film director, a producer, and a pop singer. Her current husband is the comic Maxim Galkin, with whom she has twins delivered by a surrogate mother. The couple was married in 2011 after ten years of being together unofficially. Pugacheva also has daughter from her first marriage.

Tags: popsoviet

See Also

6 Things Russian Babushkas Disapprove Of

6 Things Russian Babushkas Disapprove Of

What comes to mind when you think of a Russian national icon? Vodka, matryoshkas, bears? Fyodor Dostoyevsky? Alla Pugacheva? Cheburashka? Surprisingly few people, including Russians themselves, mention babushkas, the omnipresent grandmothers in head scarves.  Yet their influence is huge. Red Square huge. Katyusha rocket huge. So it pays to know how to please them...
7 Banned Films from the 1960s

7 Banned Films from the 1960s

Where we discuss seven outstanding Soviet movies from the 1960s dealing with rural Russia, humaneness, and the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution that, instead of contributing to the revolution’s legacy, gathered dust for decades.
Self-Isolation Hymn

Self-Isolation Hymn

One of Russia’s beloved comedians wrote a song about quarantine, and performed it in an unusual manner.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955