Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova (russian: Земфира Талгатовна Рамазанова, tt-Cyrl, Земфира Тәлгать кызы Рамазанова; born 26 August 1976) is a Russian rock musician. She has been performing since 1998 and has been popular in Russia and other

former Soviet republics The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. To date Zemfira has sold over 3 million records.

Biography

An ethnic

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after ...

, she was born in a typical middle-class family – her mother is a doctor, and her father is a history teacher. At the age of 4, Zemfira became interested in music and entered a music school the following year (where she studied piano performance and voice) and writing her first song when she was seven years old. Her older brother Ramil introduced her to rock music, which became her real passion – she listened to

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, learning to play the guitar. In the 7th grade, Zemfira split her time between music and basketball, becoming the captain of the Russian Girls’ Junior Basketball Team by 1990. She began to lose interest in classical music, preferring instead to hang out with friends in the streets of

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

and covering songs by Russian rock groups such as

Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entiti ...

Nautilus Pompilius The chambered nautilus (''Nautilus pompilius''), also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it ...

and

Aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

(who reached the peak of their popularity in the early 1990s). At the urging of her mother, Zemfira continued with piano studies and graduated music school with honors. In her last year of high school, basketball competed with school work, and the singer abandoned the sport in favour of music. She took the entrance exams for the Ufa College of Fine Arts and was admitted into the second year, studying vocal performance. During college, she performed

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

standards in various local bars and restaurants accompanied by her friend, saxophone player Vlad Kolchin. She graduated with honors, and in 1996 took a job as a sound engineer at the Ufa subsidiary of the radio station "Europe Plus". For the next couple of years Zemfira spent her days making advertisement recordings at the station and her nights on a computer, where she recorded the songs that would later become the singles "Why" (Почему), "Snow" (Снег), and "Weatherman" (Синоптик). In early 1998, Zemfira invited Rinat Akhmadiyev, Sergei Sozinov, Sergei Mirolyubov, and Vadim Solovyov to join Zemfira. Their first professional gig took place on 19 June 1999 as part of a festival celebrating the anniversary of a local radio station Silver Rain Ufa. Shortly after Zemfira sent out promo tapes to multiple Moscow producers, one of whom (

Ilya Lagutenko Ilya Igorevich Lagutenko (russian: Илья́ И́горевич Лагуте́нко; born 16 October 1968) is the founder and lead singer of the rock band Mumiy Troll. Career He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union. Soon after his birth his fa ...

from Mumiy Troll) was smitten with the material, and invited the band for some sessions in Moscow.

Career

1999–2005

Recording and production work on the debut album took place at Mosfilm Moscow until 10 May 1999, when the debut was finally released. The promotion of ''Zemfira'' prior to the release included heavy rotation of singles "AIDS" (СПИД), "Arrivederci" (Aриведерчи), and "Rockets" (Ракеты) as well as the video clips for those songs. The band immediately went on tour, starting a tradition of celebrating their beginnings with a summer concert in Ufa while recording their second album '' Forgive Me My Love'' (Прости Меня Моя Любовь). The group enjoyed popularity from the start, in part because of heavy rotation on radio and television, and in part because a female rocker is a fairly rare and unusual concept for the Russian music scene (which to this day is dominated by scantily-clad female pop singers). After the release of ''PMML'' (Russian abbreviation for ''Forgive Me My Love'') in March 2000, what can only be described as “Zemfiromania” swept the country. "Searching" (Искала) and "Ripe" (Созрела) became instant hits, and the group was invited to headline the festival

Maxidrom Maxidrom (russian: Максидром) was an annual international musical festival organized by Radio Maximum station. History References External linksOfficial website Rock festivals in Russia Music festivals in Russia {{music-fe ...

. Constant touring wore down on the band, and after the release of '' 14 Weeks of Silence'' the band took a break. In September 2004, Zemfira began studies towards a degree in Philosophy at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, but after the first semester she took a sabbatical and did not resume her studies thereafter. On 16 October on the MTV Russia Awards show the singer performed "

We Are the Champions "We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album ''News of the World'' (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems.

" together with the rock group

. The fourth studio album, ''

Vendetta Vendetta may refer to: * Feud or vendetta, a long-running argument or fight Film * ''Vendetta'' (1919 film), a film featuring Harry Liedtke * ''Vendetta'' (1950 film), an American drama produced by Howard Hughes * ''Vendetta'' (1986 film), an ...

'', which consists of 15 tracks, was released on 1 March 2005. The recording became a result of Zemfira's collaboration with several musicians: Igor Vdovin, Korney, Vlad Kreymer, Yuri Tsaler and Oleg Pungin. Primarily the album was going to be named "Oil", but the title was changed few days before the official release. "Vendetta" got many positive reviews.

2007–present

On 14 February 2007, a collection of music videos ''Zemfira.DVD'' was released. It contains all the singer's clips, except ''AIDS'' and ''Traffic.'' In May and June 2007, Zemfira embarked on a short concert tour titled 'Déjà Vu', with performances held in smaller venues (clubs and small theatres). The tour culminated with a Moscow performance at the Green Theatre which was filmed by

Renata Litvinova Renata Muratovna Litvinova (russian: Рената Муратовна Литвинова; born 12 January 1967) is a Russian actress, film director, and screenwriter. Biography Litvinova was born in Moscow to Volga Tatar father Murat Aminovic ...

. The tour program focused on stylish remakes of the singer's top hits, often reworked in styles such as

, ska,

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

. A new album, ''Thank You'' (Спасибо), was released at the beginning of October. It is described by Zemfira herself as 'very positive', in contrast to what she terms the 'restlessness' of ''Vendetta''.31.12.05 поздравляю)
('31.12.05 congratulations') The concert movie ''Green Theatre in Zemfira'', which mixes Zemfira's monologues with selected songs shot during her live performance at the open air show in Moscow, was released in several Russian digital movie theatres on 21 February 2008. Later it was also released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

The final concert in support of ''Thank You'' was staged on 1 April 2008 at the Olimpiysky stadium in Moscow; some journalists considered it as the best performance in her career. Later in June Zemfira was awarded an independent Steppenwolf prize established by a musical critic

Artemy Troitsky Artemy Kivovich Troitsky (; , born 16 June 1955 in Yaroslavl) is a Russian journalist, music critic, concert promoter, radio host, and academic who has lectured on music journalism at Moscow State University. "He is an anarchist, pacifist and one ...

. She won in two categories: The Best Performance (for the Olimpiysky show) and The Best Album (''Thank You''). The movie-concert ''Green Theatre in Zemfira'' by Litvinova was named the best musical movie of the year. On 21 March 2009, an album of b-sides ''Z-Sides'' leaked into the net. In June 2010, Zemfira wrote on her official website: "vacation is over" and announced a mini-tour in support of a deluxe-edition of her first three albums (''Zemfira'', ''PMML'' and ''14 Weeks of Silence''). On 1 August she performed a set of 4 songs on the closing concert of a pop-music contest New Wave. It was her first performance since January 2009. The arrangements of this set were used in the mini-tour in September that included 5 cities:

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

and Moscow. Critics admitted that her old songs became more rhythmic and resembled demo-versions due to the new minimalistic style of arrangements. In October Zemfira took part in two tribute concerts "20 Years without KINO" in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg that were dedicated to the memory of

Viktor Tsoi Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (russian: Виктор Робертович Цой; ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of ...

. Her gig of four covers on Tsoi's songs was seen by some journalists as the most noticeable performance in the program. On New Year's Eve 2011, the video version of two Moscow concerts staged in Crocus City Hall and Strelka Institute in September 2010 was broadcast on Dozhd' (Rain) TV channel. The video was directed by Renata Litvinova. Then the singer informed her fans that the release of her sixth album had moved to Fall 2011. The first single ''No Chance'' (Bez shansov) was presented on

Nashe Radio Nashe Radio (russian: Наше радио, ''Our Radio'', pronounced ''Nashe radio'') is a Russian Rock music radio station. It was designed to promote Russian rock bands, as opposed to pop and Western music. Nashe is based in Moscow and broadca ...

on 15 April. During the next three months she gave three performances: on 28 May Zemfira took part in the international rock festival

along with

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional ...

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

, Brainstorm and other artists; then she became a Russian headliner of a ''Muz-TV Awards'' ceremony show at Olimpiysky stadium on 3 June; on 23 July Zemfira performed at the

Afisha Picnic The Afisha Picnic was a one-day outdoor festival held in Moscow, Russia, every summer. It takes place on the territory of Kolomenskoye, a former tsar's estate, now a state-owned historical, architectural and nature reserve museum, located south-e ...

outdoor festival in Moscow as the Russian headliner of the main stage. During that gig she presented a new song called "Money". At her April 2013 concert in

, she was joined by several leading figures of Ukrainian showbusiness on stage, including Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. She offended some audience members by comparing Kyiv to Moscow, in that she had to work hard, rather than Odessa and St Petersburg where the crowd do the work. In July 2015, Zemfira unfurled Ukraine's national flag at a

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide var ...

in the Georgian capital of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, drawing criticism from Russian media, while several promoters in Russia abandoned their plans to include her in their programs. However, in 2016, in a concert in Lithuania, Zemfira demanded the audience to remove a huge Ukrainian flag that was unfolded by fans. She said, "I'm Russian, we're in Lithuania. I'm asking you, get rid of that flag. Whilst you love your country, I love mine." In February 2016, during her "Little Man" (Маленький человек) tour Zemfira announced that she would stop touring, which was misrepresented in the media as her abandoning musical performance altogether. Musical critic Troitsky commented that while he does not doubt that the announcement was made in earnest, he believed that since Zemfira is an emotional person, she may change her decision later. , the "Little Man" tour continues in North America. On 6 September 2020, Zemfira performed as a headliner at the Stereoleto festival in St. Petersburg. In 2021, Zemfira's music video "остин (Austin)", directed by Alexey Krupnik, was the overall winner of the

Berlin Music Video Awards The Berlin Music Video Awards (BMVA) is a festival and networking event for filmmakers, directors, artists, musicians, and music video fans held annually in Berlin, Germany. The four-day event consists of music video marathons, live performances, ...

, while it also won the award for the Best Concept category. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, officially forbidden to be called a war in Russia, her website featured only the statement "нет войне" ("no to war"). Though she performed a concert in Moscow on the day the invasion began, she was reported to have left the country. On 21 March, she released an anti-war music video to her 2017 song "Don’t Shoot", while also removing all of her other songs from her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel. The video contained footage of Russia’s military assault on Ukraine and of anti-war protests in Moscow. She is currently residing with her partner,

, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Discography

Albums

*'' Zemfira'' (Земфира) (1999) *'' Forgive Me My Love'' (Прости Меня Моя Любовь) (2000) *'' 14 Weeks of Silence'' (14 Недель Тишины) (2002) *''

'' (Вендетта) (2005) *'' Zemfira.Live'' (2006) *''

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

'' (Спасибо) (2007) *'' Z-Sides'' (2009) *'' Zemfira.Live2'' (2010) *'' To Live in Your Head'' (Жить в твоей голове) (2013) *'' A small man. Live'' (Маленький Человек . Live) (2016) *''Borderline'' (Бордерлайн) (2021)

Singles

* "Snow" (Снег (Sneg)) (1999) * "Goodbye" (До Свидания (Do svidania)) (2000) * "Traffic" (Трафик (Trafik)) (2001) * "10 Boys" (10 мальчиков (10 mal'chikov)) (2008) * "No Chance" (Без шансов (Bez shansov)) (2011) * "Money" (Деньги (Den'gi)) (2012) * "Coffeewine" (Кофевино (Kofevino)) (2013) * "Joseph" (Джозеф) (2018) * "Crimea" (Крым) (2020)

Filmography

* ''Goddess: How I Fell In Love'' ( Богиня: Как я полюбила) (2004) * ''Green Theater in Zemfira'' ( Зелёный театр в Земфире) (2008) * ''Moscow. Crocus/Strelka'' ( Москва.Крокус/Стрелка) (2010)

Awards and nominations

MTV Europe Music Awards , - ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

, rowspan=4, Herself , rowspan=3, Best Russian Act , , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, , - , rowspan=2,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, , - , Best Eastern European Act , Russian National Music Awards , - , 2015 , Herself , Best Rock Artist , Muz-TV Awards !Ref. , - , rowspan=2, 2003 , '' 14 Недель Тишины'' , Best Album , , rowspan=2, , - , "Бесконечность" , Best Song , , - , 2005 , rowspan=2, Herself , rowspan=2, Best Female Act , , , - , rowspan=2, 2006 , , rowspan=2, , - , '' Вендетта'' , Best Album , , - , rowspan=5, 2008 , Herself , Best Female Act , , rowspan=5, , - , ''Tour'' , Best Show , , - , '' Спасибо'' , Best Album , , - , rowspan=2, "Мы разбиваемся" , Best Song , , - , Best Video , , - , 2012 , rowspan=4, Herself , Best Female Act of Decade , , , - , 2014 , rowspan=2, Best Female Act , , , - , rowspan=2, 2016 , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Rock Act , , - , 2017 , "Жить в твоей голове" , Best Song of 15 Years , , Zolotaya Pchela !Ref. , - , 2005 , Herself , Artist of the Year , , Berlin Music Video Awards

References

External links

*
YouTube channel

An article on Zemfira from 2000

Zemfira at Forbes.ru
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zemfira 1976 births Living people 21st-century Russian women singers 21st-century Russian singers Musicians from Ufa Tatar people of Russia MTV Europe Music Award winners Russian pop singers Russian rock singers Russian women composers Russian women singer-songwriters Tatar musicians LGBT entertainers from Russia Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Indie rock musicians