Mikhail Zakharovich Shufutinsky (; born 13 April 1948) is a Russian pop singer. He is currently the pre-eminent singer of

Russian chanson Russian chanson (; from French "chanson") is a neologism for a musical genre covering a range of Russian songs, including Russian romance, city romance songs, Bard (Soviet Union), author song performed by singer-songwriters, and blatnaya pesnya ...

music. He was awarded the title of

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist, Honored Artist, etc., is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union Republics, and autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern Bloc states, as well as in a number of post-Soviet states. In Russian language ...

of Russia in 2013.

Biography

Shufutinsky was born on 13 April 1948 in Moscow. His father, Zakhar Davidovich Shufutinski, was a Jewish

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

doctor and veteran. When he was five years old, his mother died and he was then raised by his grandmother, Berta Davidovna, and his grandfather, David Yakovlevich. Majoring in the accordion, Shufutinsky graduated from the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute with a specialization in the choral

Coryphaeus In Classical Athens, Attic Theatre of ancient Greece , drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios (Greek language, Greek κορυφαῖος ''koryphaîos'', from κορυφή ''koryphḗ́'', the top of the head) was the leader of the Greek ...

style. He appeared with different bands in Moscow and Magadan, performing songs by

Alexander Vertinsky Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (; – May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing. Early years Alexander Vertinsky ...

and

Pyotr Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Петро Константинович Лещенко; ; 2 June 1898 Isayeve, Odessa oblast, Ukraine, Isayeve, Odessa uezd, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – 16 ...

, and later became leader of the instrumental band "Leisya, Pesnia", which usually played songs by

Vyacheslav Dobrynin Vyacheslav Grigoryevich Dobrynin (, born Antonov (); 25 January 1946 – 1 October 2024) was a popular Russian composer and singer also known as ''Doctor Shlyager''. He was awarded the People's Artist of Russia in 1996.

. At some point, Mikhail visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for a concert and immediately fell in love with the city. This was during the boom of the Russian restaurant business in Los Angeles. As a famous singer and musician, Shufutinsky was offered a job in th
Arbat
restaurant in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Shufutinsky had surprising success as an immigrant performer despite American expectations against Russians. In 1981, Shufutinsky and his family immigrated to the USA. Within 10 years, he had appeared with many bands in different restaurants, and created his own show, "Ataman-band" (named after the restaurant Ataman). Nowadays, he regularly tours in Russia. In 1990, he accepted an invitation to visit Russia and sang concerts in 75 sold-out stadiums. In 1998, Shufutinsky wrote an autobiography named ("Here I stand at a line)"). In 2003, Shufutinsky returned to Russia as a permanent resident. (while remaining a US citizen https://ria.ru/20210928/shufutinskiy-1752131197.html) His repertoire contains songs by songwriters

("Two candles" []), Igor Krutoy ("The 3rd of September" []; "Palma de Mallorca"; "Moscow taxi" []; "Moscow doesn’t believe in tears" []), Oleg Mityaev ("Night guest" []), Aleksandr Rozenbaum ("Khreschatik", "Zakhodite k nam na ogoniok" - "Visit our place", "Gop-stop"),

Oleg Gazmanov Oleg Mikhaylovich Gazmanov (; born 22 July 1951) is a Russian singer, composer and poet, specializing in patriotic and nationalist songs, as well as songs which cover more conventional pop themes. Gazmanov is the lead singer of the pop group "Э ...

Igor Zubkov Igor may refer to: * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name Arts, entertainment, and media *Igor (character), a stock character * Igors (''Discworld''), a fictional humanoid family in the ''Discworld'' ...

, Vatslav Lisovskii, Olesia Atlanova,

Karen Kavaleryan Karen Kavaleryan (; ; born 5 June 1961 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian-Armenian lyricist. He is known for his work in the Eurovision Song Contest. Karen Kavaleryan is widely considered as the most successful Russian lyricis ...

, and many others. In January 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Mikhail for his support of

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Discography

Filmography

Roles

*1984 —

Moscow on the Hudson ''Moscow on the Hudson'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy-drama film, written and directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Robin Williams as a Soviet circus musician who defects while on a visit to the United States. It co-stars María Conchita A ...

as an unnamed restaurant singer.

Soundtracks

*2012 —

Brave Brave(s) or The Brave(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Brave, an adjective for one who possesses courage * Braves (Native Americans), a Euro-American stereotype for Native American warriors Film and television * ''Brave'' (1994 film), a concept ...

— King Fergus (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

dubbing; originally voiced by

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

) *2014 — Vacation of Little Nicole — director of school (original voice - Francis Perren)

Books

*1997 — Михаил Шуфутинский. «И вот стою я у черты...» (Here I stand at a line) (Thrien publishing — ) *2004 — Михаил Шуфутинский. «Лучшие песни. Тексты и аккорды» (Best songs. Texts and accords) () *2021 — Даниил Ветлужских, Влад Максименко. «3 сентября» (The 3rd of September) ()

Recognition and awards

*1997 — Silver Rubber Shoe Award «Серебряная калоша» *2013 — Honorary title of recognized Russian performer («Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации»), for artistic achievements.

Sanctions

In January 2023 Ukraine imposed sanctions on Mikhail Shufutinsky for promoting Russia during the

References

External links

Shufutinsky's home pageBiography at Foreign Language School ZNATOK
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shufutinsky, Mikhail 1948 births Living people 20th-century Russian male singers 21st-century Russian male singers Honored Artists of the Russian Federation Russian chanson Russian Jews Russian record producers Singers from Moscow Soviet male singers