Boris Arkadevich Davidyan ( hy, Բորիս Դավիդյան; russian: Борис Аркадьевич Давидян; April 28, 1949 – July 20, 2020), better known as Boka, was an Armenian singer and songwriter, a well-known performer of " prison-style songs". He was born in

Soviet Azerbaijan Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

to an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

family.

Biography

Boris Davidyan was born on April 28, 1949, to an Armenian family in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

. His father Arkady Vartanovich was a war veteran who worked as a foreman at a factory. Boka lost his mother very early. Since childhood he was interested in music. He graduated from a music school, then studied and received a diploma from the

Tashkent Automobile and Road Institute Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous ...

. In 1972, he recorded his first music album in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. During the Soviet years, he became a very popular soloist with Armenian rabiz, Caucasian, and

Russian chanson Russian chanson ( rus, русский шансон, r=russkiy shanson}; 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 ...

lovers. In his albums, most of the songs are his own creation, although he also sang compositions by

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

and

Arkady Severny Arkady Dmitriyevich Severny ( né Zvyodzin ; 12 March 1939 – 12 April 1980) was a Soviet Russian folk singer. He was very popular in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, primarily because of his criminal songs. He sang more than 1,000 songs base ...

. He performed his songs with a special oriental flavor. Some sources call him a "classic of chanson". In 1988, he visited United States and recorded there his new and popular album, "The Thieves' Share" (russian: link=no, Доля воровская). The main composition of this album became a hit and was subsequently performed by many of his fellow soloists. He was forced to leave Baku due to

ethnic violence Ethnic violence is a form of political violence which is expressly motivated by ethnic hatred and ethnic conflict. Forms of ethnic violence which can be argued to have the characteristics of terrorism may be known as ethnic terrorism or ethnica ...

against Armenians there in December 1989. At the beginning of 1996 he lived in Yerevan. He then moved to Los Angeles. He died on July 20, 2020, in Los Angeles after a long illness of the lungs. He had a son, two daughters and five grandchildren.

Achievements and awards

* "Chanson of the Year 2006" for the song "Youth". * "Chanson of the Year 2007" for the song "My Soul".

Discography

*First Concert (russian: Первый концерт) (1972) *Second Concert (russian: Второй концерт) (1973) *Third Concert (russian: Третий концерт) (1974) *Fourth Concert in Baku (russian: Четвёртый концерт в Баку) (1979) *Fifth Concert "Back in Tbilisi" (russian: Пятый концерт «Опять в Тбилиси») (1981) *Sixth Concert (russian: Шестой концерт) (1982) *The Thieves' Share (russian: Доля воровская) (1988) *Nostalgia ( hy, Կարոտ) (1993) *Memory (russian: Воспоминание) (1995) *Hello from America (russian: Привет из Америки) (1996) *For All Friends (russian: Для всех друзей) (1997) *Mom, I'm your son... (russian: Мам, я твой сын…) (2002) *My Father (russian: Мой отец) (2003) *My Share (russian: Моя доля) (2007) *My City (russian: Мой город) (2008) *The Price of Life (russian: Цена жизни) (2011) *To Live and Love (russian: Жить и любить) (2016)

References

{{Reflist 20th-century Armenian male singers Soviet male singers 1949 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Baku Soviet Armenians 20th-century Azerbaijani male singers Russian chanson Armenian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Armenian male singers