Mikhail Zakharovich Shufutinsky (russian: Михаи́л Заха́рович Шуфути́нский; born 13 April 1948) is a Russian pop singer. He was once a citizen of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1990 to 2003, but now lives in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He is currently the pre-eminent singer of

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 ...

music. He was awarded the title of

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 Attic drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios (Greek κορυφαῖος ''koryphaîos'', from κορυφή ''koryphḗ́'', the top of the head) was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term (sometimes in an Anglicized form "coryphe") is ...

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

Alexander Vertinsky Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (russian: Александр Николаевич Вертинский, — May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Ru ...

and

Pyotr Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (russian: Пётр Константинович Лещенко; 2 June 189816 July 1954), a singer in the Russian Empire, and later Romania, is universally considered "the King of Russian Tango" and specifically kno ...

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

Vyacheslav Dobrynin Vyacheslav Grigoryevich Dobrynin ( rus, Вячесла́в Григо́рьевич Добры́нин, born Antonov/Анто́нов on January 25, 1946, Ryazanskaya oblast, Russia) is a popular Russian composer and singer also known as ''Docto ...

. At some point, Mikhail visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. 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" Две свечи, Igor Krutoy ("The 3rd of September" Третье сентября "Palma de Mallorca"; "Moscow taxi" Московское такси "Moscow doesn’t believe in tears" Москва слезам не верит,

Oleg Mityaev Oleg Grigorievich Mityaev (, 19 February 1956) is a Russian bard, musician and actor. He was awarded the People's Artist of Russia award in 2009. He is also a member of Russian Writers Union. Mityaev is the author and first performer of the po ...

("Night guest" Ночной гость, Aleksandr Rozenbaum ("Khreschatik", "Zakhodite k nam na ogoniok" - "Visit our place", "Gop-stop"), Oleg Gazmanov,

Igor Zubkov Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

, Vatslav Lisovskii, Olesia Atlanova, Karen Kavaleryan, and many others. In January 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Mikhail for his support of

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. An ...

Discography

Filmography

Roles

*1984 — Moscow on the Hudson as an unnamed restaurant singer.

Soundtracks

*2012 — Brave — King Fergus ( Russian dubbing; originally voiced by Billy Connolly) *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