The TOP of popular performers who began their creative journey in the mid-90s will not be complete without Valery Meladze. He ranked among the public's favorites not only thanks to his talent and pleasant voice, but also to the melodic songs that his older brother wrote. Konstantin Meladze generally played a big role in his fate: he indicated the direction of his activity, enriched his repertoire with hits, and lured him into the producers of the Via-Gra group.
By the way, the brothers’ wives are the lead singers of this group, with whom life, in general, turned out successfully to varying degrees. All of them are millionaires, not only in terms of the number of albums sold, but also in terms of the size of their bank account. Last year, Valery Meladze earned $2.5 million. Life always smiled at him: a happy life in all two marriages, five children, public recognition and trophies from the musical Olympus, collected over 30 years on stage.
On June 23 he will celebrate 53 years, but is this the age for a real genatsvale? He is always in the circle, now of the masters, whose opinions are usually taken into account. In February, he was again invited to the “Voice” program. Children”, where, together with Pelageya and Basta, he took an honorable place as a mentor of young talents.
Valery Meladze: biography
Valery Meladze is a Soviet and Russian singer, TV presenter and producer of Georgian origin. The performer is one of the most popular pop singers in the post-Soviet space and the winner of a large number of prestigious awards and prizes.
Singer, producer and TV presenter Valery Meladze
Valery has a rare voice with a wide range and timbre. The singer performs the compositions in a particularly passionate and expressive way, conveying all the emotionality of the songs to the listeners. The musician sincerely talks about love - sad and happy, insidious and passionate, unrealistic and inspiring.
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Apartments
In addition to houses, the singer has several apartments, where he periodically lives when he is in Moscow for a long time and cannot escape to New Riga.
One apartment was given to his ex-wife. The value of the given property is estimated at one million dollars.
The exact location of the housing is unknown, however, the singer himself said that the apartment is located in one of the residential buildings near Red Square.
Photo of the singer, his ex-wife and daughters in the apartment
After his divorce from Irina, Valery purchased three apartments in Moscow, each of which was intended for his three daughters. Meladze purchased them in 2008-2010 and took out a mortgage for the purchase.
Due to the economic crisis, Valery had some difficulties in paying debts to banks. The singer’s total debt today is about 5 million rubles.
Arina, Sofia, Irina and Inga (from left to right) at home in the Moscow region
Since the bank no longer has any claims, we can say that Valery regularly pays the mortgage on all three houses. The apartments are located in the central part of Moscow.
In addition to the above real estate, the singer stated that his parents purchased a new house in Tbilisi in 2010.
Childhood and youth
Valery Meladze was born on June 23, 1965 in a small village near Batumi. The Black Sea, warm sun and salty wind - one could only dream of such a childhood. Valery grew up as a naughty and restless child, who was much happier wandering the streets than sitting at school. The boy, along with his friends, constantly became involved in incidents, ending up in places where children were prohibited from entering: construction sites, basements, barges and ships.
Valery Meladze with his brother and parents in childhood
One day Valery climbed onto the territory of the Batumi oil refinery. There he found a broken tractor. The boy at that time was interested in electronics and wanted to assemble an ohmmeter, so he removed a couple of parts from the tractor. But in the end he was registered with the police.
Parents - Shota and Nelly Meladze - had nothing to do with music. All my relatives worked as engineers.
Valery Meladze with his brother Konstantin
In addition to the regular school, which the future singer attended without joy, he also attended a music educational institution where he studied piano. He was accompanied by his older brother Kostya, who simultaneously mastered the skill of playing the violin and piano.
In addition to music, Meladze loved sports: he played football and was fond of swimming. After graduating from school, he tried to get a job at a factory, but soon realized that this was not his calling. Having not entered the institute in his homeland, Valery decided to follow in the footsteps of his older brother and went to Ukraine, where, following Konstantin, he entered the Nikolaev Shipbuilding Institute.
Valery Meladze in his youth
Nikolaev is a city that played a special role in Valery’s fate. Here he met the woman who later became his wife. In addition, the man became interested in an activity that became a profession that brought fame and financial independence.
Biography
The birthplace of the famous singer, producer and TV presenter was a small Georgian village located near Batumi, where he was born in June 1965.
Like most of his peers, Valery grew up as an active, restless child, who took much more pleasure in kicking the ball around the stadium and wandering around the dusty streets than in school.
Together with his friends, equally inquisitive adventurers, he explored all the local construction sites, basements, abandoned garages and barges.
The Meladze couple had nothing to do with music, but they sent their two sons, Valery and Kostya, to a music school for piano class.
Unlike secondary school, Valery attended it with great pleasure. After finishing school, Valery got a job at a factory , but quickly realized that he had gone overboard with this decision.
He followed his older brother to Ukraine, where he entered the shipbuilding institute in Nikolaev.
Music
Valery and Konstantin Meladze began their musical careers in the amateur performances of the institute. This is how they became part of the April ensemble. A few months later, it was difficult to imagine the group without the Meladze brothers, and the popularity of the ensemble soon spread beyond the boundaries of the university, and then the city.
Valery and Konstantin Meladze
In 1989, talented brothers were invited to the Dialogue group. The leader of the group, Kim Breitburg, noted that Valery’s voice is similar to the voice of John Anderson from the group “Yes”. Two albums were released along with Dialogue.
And in 1993, at the Roksolana festival in Kyiv, Meladze’s solo debut took place. Valery’s first hit was the song “Don’t disturb my soul, violin.” After the premiere of this song in the cult program “Morning Mail,” the singer woke up famous. In 1995, Meladze’s first album “Sera” was released, which immediately became one of the best-selling in the country, and the public called most of the songs hits. This has never happened before in Russian popular music. Subsequently, the compositions “Samba of the White Moth” and “Beautiful” only consolidated the performer’s success.
Valery Meladze and ViaGra - “There is no more attraction”
By the end of the 90s, Valery became a popular performer in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Meladze became a singer who filled the hall at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex for several days in a row.
In the early 2000s, Valery Meladze’s creative career was associated with the creation of the ViaGra group, which, as soon as it appeared on air, immediately won the hearts of millions of listeners and won regular fans. Then the singer, together with the soloists of the group, recorded two songs - “Ocean and Three Rivers” and “There is No More Gravity.” These compositions instantly broke through to the first positions of the charts.
Valery Meladze - “Girl from High Society”
In 2002, as part of the support of the album “The Real,” Meladze gave a performance in the concert hall of the Kremlin Palace. The performer also participated in the New Year’s television projects directed by Dzhanik Fayziev, “Old songs about the main thing.”
Since 2005, Valery Meladze has been a permanent member of the jury of the New Wave music competition, and in 2007, together with his brother, he became the music producer of the Star Factory project. The following year, the singer released another album called “In Contrary,” the main song of which was the composition “Salute, Vera.”
Valery Meladze - “No fuss”
The singer’s discography includes 8 full-length albums, the fate of which is no different from the results of the first album called “Sera”. All records sold in huge quantities. Valery regularly appears on television, not only at concerts, but also in musical films (“Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Cinderella”, etc.), most often dedicated to the New Year, which indicates Meladze’s unfading popularity among music fans.
In the creative biography of the celebrity, 2003 became a landmark year. 4 records were reissued: “Sera”, “The Last Romantic”, “Samba of the White Moth”, “That’s How It Was”. In December of the same year, a new disc by the artist called “Nega” appeared.
Valery Meladze ft. Ani Lorak - “Bring Back My Love”
In 2008, the Meladze brothers delighted their Ukrainian fans. A creative evening of Konstantin Meladze took place in the capital of Ukraine. The composer's songs were performed by Alla Pugacheva, Sofia Rotaru, Kristina Orbakaite, Ani Lorak, as well as graduates of Star Factory 7. Valery Meladze also acted as the host of the evening.
In 2010, fans especially remembered Valery Meladze’s video for the song “Turn Around.” The singer performed this composition together with Grigory Leps. The same year the hit “Heaven” was released.
Already in October 2011, the singer performed at the Moscow concert hall Crocus City Hall. A solo concert called “Heaven” took place at the new venue. Since 2012, Valery has been hosting the show “Battle of the Choirs”.
Valery Meladze - “Just Below Heaven”
In 2015, another notable video appeared called “Love and the Milky Way.” Sergei Bezrukov and Marina Alexandrova, prominent representatives of Russian cinema, took part in the filming of the video.
Also in 2015, on the occasion of Valery Meladze’s 50th birthday, the Velvet Music production center presented the artist with an album with his songs covered by other Russian pop stars. At the same time, the anniversary evening of Valery and Konstantin Meladze “Polsta” took place.
Prominent representatives of Russian show business came to sing with their brothers: Dima Bilan, Vera Brezhneva, Valeria and Grigory Leps. In turn, Valery and Konstantin Meladze jointly performed the song “My Brother”. The following year, a video version of this concert was released on the Velvet Music YouTube channel.
Valery Meladze - “White Birds”
It is simply impossible to collect all the music of Valery and Konstantin in one concert. Talented brothers do not set themselves such a task.
According to the musicians, a joint performance is not a summing up or a milestone of activity, but “a way to show the facets of creativity on one stage in order to present the audience with music in a concentrated form.”
Valeriy Meladze
The Meladze brothers have always tried to present those compositions that resonate in the hearts of fans with close and dear motives that awaken feelings.
At the same time, critics argue that the performer often performs to a soundtrack. In September 2020, a video from the closing of the New Wave festival in Sochi appeared on the Internet. Users who watched the video said that Valery was not included in the soundtrack because he was late in performing his part of the song. Meladze was supposed to take over third after Igor Krutoy and Nikolai Baskov.
Valery Meladze with the Golden Gramophone award
The incident was noticed by the initiators of the “Silver Galosh” award for dubious achievements in art. Later, the organizers of the event stated that this happened solely for technical reasons, and the video was not planned to be aired at all.
Valery Meladze is a multiple winner of the Golden Gramophone, Song of the Year, Ovation and Muz-TV music awards. In 2006, the musician was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and in 2008 he became People's Artist of the Chechen Republic.
Success
At some point, the group decides that their producer is not doing enough with them, and he himself believes that the guys are not making enough hit music. Contrary to popular belief, supposedly producers always have a hard time breaking up with their charges, this breakup took place in a civilized manner.
According to Meladze, the parties initially entered into a contract and had a certain morality. According to the artist, he and his brother never aimed only at making money. According to the singer, you cannot engage in creativity just for the sake of money. The basis of such work should be the desire to express oneself.
In 1995, Valery Meladze’s debut solo album “Sera” was released. The album enjoys unprecedented success among listeners. Soon after this, two new records by the musician were released. Valery Meladze is winning more and more listeners.
The singer performs songs that will become his calling card in the future. These will include such a composition as “Samba of the White Moth”. Soon the artist will take his own place on the national stage. However, unlike many of his colleagues, he will manage not to get lost among the new performers.
Cooperation with the group “VIA Gra” (The group’s producer is Konstantin Meladze. - Ed.) will draw the attention of young listeners to him. Lyrical ballads will instantly become hits. Collaboration with singers will be rewarded with prestigious music awards. They will be “Song of the Year”, victory in the “Best Duet” category at the national music award “MUZ-TV”, as well as the “Golden Gramophone” and “Best Song” awards according to the MTV Russia Music Awards.
Valery Meladze strengthens his position as one of the most famous Russian pop artists.
Personal life
The personal life of Valery Meladze has long been connected with his wife Irina, who gave birth to the man three daughters. An acquaintance at the institute with an ordinary Nikolaev girl turned into a 20-year marriage. But in the early 2000s, their previously happy union began to crack, and in 2009, Irina and Valery decided to divorce.
Valery and Irina Meladze
The reason for the divorce is banal - Meladze had an affair with the ex-soloist of the group “VIAGRA” Albina Dzhanabaeva. Soon the media reported that the secret wedding of Valery and Albina took place.
In 2004, Dzhanabaeva gave the singer a son, Konstantin. Close people from the circle of the star couple claim that the relationship between Valery and Albina is far from ideal. Although what exactly they mean by “non-ideal” is unclear. In 2014, Albina gave birth to the musician’s fifth child, son Luka.
Valery Meladze and Albina Dzhanabaeva
Albina and Valery are considered one of the most private couples in Russian show business. They rarely appear at events together. Perhaps this is due to the fact that not everyone approved of his betrayal of his wife Irina and the birth of an illegitimate son. One way or another, in 2011 there was an unpleasant incident related to photography. The Komsomolskaya Pravda photographer tried to photograph the artist and Dzhanabaeva leaving the restaurant, to which Meladze reacted aggressively. The man chased the photographer, while she fell, and wanted to take the camera away. A criminal case was opened against Valery, which was subsequently dismissed by the magistrate.
Valery Meladze with his wife
Artists don’t like to talk too much about their family. But sometimes in interviews they still lift the veil of secrecy. This is how Meladze spoke about little Luka. According to the musician, the boy is already developing a strong character, as the baby confidently overcomes difficulties and problems. According to the performer, if a baby falls, he never cries.
According to the celebrity, so far none of the sons has shown creativity. Perhaps Luka is simply too young, but the elder Kostya is clearly inclined towards the exact sciences. Valery assumes that in the future he will become an inventor or engineer.
Valery Meladze in the gym
Valery admitted that sometimes he is a strict father. At certain moments, Meladze talks to children as equals, conveying to them information that he considers important and useful. At the same time, the singer admitted that he tries to be kind and attentive.
The star leads a healthy lifestyle. In March 2018, the singer decided to please his fans by sharing a series of photos and videos on Instagram, which showed him exercising in the gym. By the way, the musician is in good shape - with a height of 183 cm, his weight is about 90 kg.
First songs
Valery Meladze never dreamed of the stage; his elder brother Konstantin showed a craving for creativity in the family. Nevertheless, he had a reserved character and was in no hurry to demonstrate his talents. However, the path to the stage for both Meladzes began at the same time.
During the Soviet era, students were often sent to work on collective farms. The Meladze brothers did not escape this fate either. Valery was ready to go, but Konstantin resisted. Like, I don’t want to dig onions and that’s it. The younger brother realized that his relative would not have the courage to lie about his illness in the dean’s office, so he himself went to the deputy dean to tell him allegedly about Konstantin’s poor health. Valery Meladze is ashamed to give a bribe to an adult and he leaves with nothing.
Valery Meladze at 19 years old (far right). Instagram @meladzevalerian
Both brothers go to work on the collective farm, and there they meet a musician. Soon they will make a good duet with Konstantin. Later, the elder Meladze will meet him again, walking around Nikolaev. An acquaintance will invite him to a rehearsal of the institute ensemble “April”, to which the previously shy and reserved young man will agree.
At first, Valery Meladze is not allowed to work in the ensemble; he only helps the sound engineer. However, one day he finally ends up at the microphone and starts singing. Colleagues who heard his voice offered to hire the young man for backing vocals. In addition, Meladze stated that he can play the keyboard.
According to the artist, even then he was unable to stand calmly on stage. He simply had nowhere to put his hands. Soon the young man becomes a vocalist in the institute ensemble and gains his first stage experience.
While studying and performing as part of a group, Valery Meladze reflects on his future. After studying, he had the opportunity to return home, but there he had to go to work at an enterprise and devote the rest of his life to a monotonous occupation. According to the performer, this prospect frightened him. The matter was complicated by attacks from friends towards Valery.
They say that others go to perform in other countries and are already earning money, when he has neither a name nor money. It would seem that such statements should hurt the artist and excommunicate him from the stage. However, Meladze admits that at that time he had great hope that all their efforts would definitely lead to something big.
After graduation, Meladze entered graduate school, while continuing to study music. During this period, he and his brother became members of the Dialogue group. Konstantin writes music, Valery performs songs.
The band's debut album was released in 1991. Today it is considered a rarity among fans of musicians. Ahead of Valery Meladze is the conquest of new professional heights. These include a performance in Europe and an invitation to Alla Pugacheva’s “Christmas Evenings.”
At that time, Valery Meladze was offered to take a pseudonym - Meladov. Like, it matches a Bulgarian. Producer Evgeniy Fridlyand feared that after the collapse of the USSR, society would begin to dislike Georgians. Nevertheless, Meladze managed to win the hearts of listeners no matter what. However, real success will come a little later.
Valery Meladze now
In February 2017, Valery Meladze became a mentor in the “Voice” project. Children". His colleagues were singer Nyusha and Dima Bilan. In season 4 of the show, the singer helped highlight the “best of the best” and select worthy finalists who are capable of winning in a large-scale music show.
In 2020, he again took part in the TV show “The Voice. Children,” this time Basta and Pelageya found themselves in the mentor’s chairs with him.
Valery Meladze in the project “Voice. Children"
Recently, joint photos with Albina began to appear on the Internet more and more often. It seems that the couple decided to interrupt their “seclusion.”
At the end of July 2020, they walked together on the red carpet of the “Heat” music festival, during which Valery Meladze’s creative evening took place. By the way, last year the couple also attended “Heat” and were unanimously recognized as the most beautiful couple. And in 2018 they didn’t lower the bar.
The musician even published photos from the festival on his Instagram. For fans of the couple, this is a real event; there are very few family photos in the singer’s account. His youngest son turned 4 years old on July 2, 2020, and fans still haven’t seen him. The star parents also did not show their son Kostya for a long time. In 2020, the teenager turned 14 years old.
Valery Meladze with his wife and son Kostya
Do not forget that the artist has three more adult daughters. In the fall of 2020, Meladze married his eldest daughter Inga.
His son-in-law was London-based financier Nori Verghese. The young man was born in the UK, but he has Moroccan roots. Therefore, the wedding celebration took place in Marrakech.
Their wedding was widely discussed in the media. It is known that the ceremony was held in four languages - Russian, English, Arabic and French. Over 100 people attended the celebration. According to Russian tradition, Inga and Nori were greeted by their parents with a loaf of bread, and their father led the happy bride to the altar.
Wedding of Valery Meladze's daughter
In the fall of 2020, an unusual season of “The Voice” – “60+” – will start on Channel One. This time the project involved talented performers whose age is more than 60 years. The panel of judges included four people: Valery Meladze, Leonid Agutin, Pelageya and Lev Leshchenko.
In August 2018, information appeared on the Internet that the musician had filed an application
to obtain Georgian citizenship.
The artist emphasized that this does not mean giving up
his Russian passport. The singer recalled that he was born and raised in Georgia, but then there were no borders between the two countries.
Meladze brothers with their wives
On August 15, amendments to the law came into force in Georgia, according to which natives of Georgia have the opportunity to restore citizenship lost after receiving a passport from another country. Valery decided to take advantage of this right - as a result, he will have dual citizenship. The artist is also confident that he does not cause moral damage to anyone with his decision.
Now the singer is actively performing, his tours are scheduled for six months in advance.
Attack on a journalist
In 2011, the network was rocked by information about Valery Meladze’s attack on a Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent. Later, a video leaked online showed a man resembling Valery Meladze running after a girl with a camera, and then allegedly trying to strangle her.
The incident occurred at the wedding celebration of Yana Churikova. In addition to famous guests, journalists were invited to the event. One of them took photographs of visitors to the celebration and managed to photograph Albina Dzhanabaeva with Valery Meladze, which, according to KP.RU, the latter did not like very much.
According to KP.RU, the singer chased the photographer down the street. Having caught up with the girl, he began to strangle her until a random passer-by arrived in time. The next day, Valery Meladze stated that he only asked to delete the photos because he looked bad at them. In addition, the girl strangled herself. The artist added that he had not fought since school and, moreover, had never raised his hand to a woman.
According to Valery Meladze, he left the restaurant not in the best condition, but the journalist managed to photograph him. The contractor approached her to ask her to delete the pictures, but she started screaming and ran away. According to the musician, the correspondent fell before he approached her.
The KP.RU journalist subsequently developed severe pain in the neck; she also suffered from dizziness and was unable to eat or drink. Later she wrote a statement against Meladze to the police, but the case was never opened.
