Chris Kelmi died more than a year ago - tragically and absurdly. Today, April 21, he would have turned 65. The founder of the legendary groups “Leap Summer” and “Rock Atelier” in the last years of his life appeared more often in scandalous chronicles than in the “Culture” section, but this in no way detracts from his services to Russian rock - one of the creators of which he, in fact, was. Izvestia remembers the musician and composer, author of “Closing the Circle” and “Night Rendezvous”.
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Like many other heroes of Russian rock, Anatoly Kelmi was born into a family far from music - his father, Ariy Mikhailovich, was a Gidrospetsstroy specialist, an expert in tunneling, and a metro builder. The surname Kelmi is real, of dark origin, the musician himself had different versions on this matter. The rumor that the musician’s real name was Kalinkin was started in the 1990s - as Kelmi himself believed, by Alexander Gradsky.
He became Chris in 1972, taking up his musical career seriously - the name Anatoly seemed to him too inappropriate for a rock star. The pseudonym was chosen as a literary and cinematic one - in honor of the main character of Lem's Solaris, Chris Kelvin (Tarkovsky's film, which became a classic, was released in the same year).
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Photo: Global Look Press/Evguenii Matveev/Russian Look
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Kelmi began studying music as a child - already at the age of five he played the piano tolerably, and at eight he entered the Moscow Children's Music School named after I. O. Dunaevsky. His father still insisted on getting a “normal” profession - and Chris-Tolya entered the Faculty of Bridges and Tunnels at MIIT (which he successfully graduated in 1977 and even managed to complete graduate school).
The institute was dominated by a freedom that was unusual by the standards of the USSR in the early 1970s, including amateur rock ensembles. One of Kelmi's classmates was called Vladimir Kuzmin - and it was he who taught the keyboard player with a diploma from a music school real hard rock riffs. By that time, Kelmi had already been playing in VIA “Sadko”, the second line-up of the popular “Rubies”, for two years - and in the summer of 1972, together with bassist Alexander Sitkovetsky, he organized his first “serious” line-up. The group was called “Leap Summer” - and it was destined to play the role of a kind of laboratory in which the recipe for the future of Russian rock was created.
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Group “Leap Summer” (from left to right): Alexander Sitkovetsky, Valery Efremov, Chris Kelmi, Alexander Kutikov
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
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Sitkovetsky and Kelmi played music that was unusual even for the sophisticated (well, or considered themselves so) Moscow audience. In addition, they involved the young poetess Margarita Pushkina in composing songs, who became both Patti Smith, Bernie Taupin, muse and creator for our rock scene. "Leap Summer" in those days of stagnation promoted a strict example of Western European art-rock, flavored with a hefty portion of psychedelic poetry. For which it was periodically criticized by supporters of socialist realism,” Pushkina later recalled.
“Leap Summer” was one of the first in the country to use lighting effects, strobe lights and even elements of shock rock in the spirit of Alice Cooper at their concerts (Kelmi appeared on stage in a black gymnastics suit, on which a skeleton was painted with luminous paint). They were already too professional for an “amateur” group - and after triumphant performances at festivals in Tallinn and Chernogolovka, Leap Summer broke up in 1979. Kelmi in the fall of the same year joined “Autograph,” Sitkovetsky’s new team.
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Group "Rock-Atelier", 1985
Photo: TASS/Oleg Ivanov
“Autograph” was destined to become one of the first “official” Soviet rock bands, and even a certain fame abroad - they were released on tour, and not only in the countries of “people's democracy”. But Kelmi left the cast already in 1980 - he was attracted not just by theatricality, but by real theater.
With the blessing of Mark Zakharov, the chief director of Lenkom, the talented keyboard player is recruiting a new group to accompany the famous productions “Juno and Avos”, “Til”, “The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta”. The team was named “Rock Atelier”. At the same time, Melodiya released the first album with Kelmi’s songs. He becomes a professional and, what was important in the USSR, a “traveling” musician.
Chris Kelmi's mistress blames his wife for his death
Chris Kelmi // Photo: Legion-media
The musician made a will shortly before his death. He himself announced this at the end of last year. And on January 1, at the age of 63, he suddenly died of cardiac arrest. All property of the performer goes to his wife Lyudmila and 29-year-old son Christian. Despite the lack of concerts and bad habits in recent years, at the peak of his career Kelmi managed to acquire expensive real estate in the center of Moscow and a dacha.
“Chris had a four-room apartment on Smolensky Boulevard, in which his wife Lyudmila lived,” the artist’s director Evgeniy shared with StarHit. – Plus he owned a one-room apartment on Delegatskaya Street. In addition, several years ago he bought an apartment for Christian. He himself lived in a dacha 50 kilometers from Moscow.”
Lyudmila and Christian will assume inheritance rights in six months // Photo: Persona Stars
According to the most conservative estimates, the singer’s fortune is estimated at 70 million rubles. The cost of a two-story cottage with three rooms is approximately 3 million. It was in the house that Kelmi's lifeless body was found. According to his brother, he celebrated the New Year in the company of his wife, who visited him regularly. They had not lived as husband and wife for a long time, but they had not officially divorced. He maintained an even relationship with his son. Christian is a non-public figure. Married, diving.
“Chris lived on royalties, which were only enough for food,” friend Mikhail Muromov told StarHit. – He rarely performed. Despite our many years of friendship, I saw his wife only at the cemetery; she gave Chris an unusual farewell - without candles or other attributes. And she even asked her friends to leave. Relatives remain."
Kelmi's ex-lover Polina Belova is sure that his wife did not give Chris a divorce because of real estate.
“Three years ago he tried to divorce, but she protested,” Polina admitted to StarHit. “Chris and I have been together since 2012, and Lyudmila was just scared that he would marry me.”
Polina // Photo: Still from the program
According to Belova, her wife slandered her, accusing her of stealing Kelmi’s money. In the fall of 2017, the whole country was discussing the scandal.
“She came up with that story, and Chris stopped communicating with me,” sighs Polina. “I only have soft toys left from my beloved.” In the near future I will go to the grave and leave a white kitten there. He adored the mustachioed striped ones. Once upon a time he had 22 pets at once. I suffer all the time. How many New Year's nights he was with me - and nothing... And then he ended up with her. See what happened."
Biography of Chris Kelmi
Chris Kelmi (real name Anatoly Arievich Kelmi) was born on April 21, 1955 in Moscow into a family of metro construction workers. He has an older brother, Valentin. For decades, the Kelmi family was forced to live in a truck trailer.
In 1960, the Metrostroy enterprise provided the parents of the future artist with the apartment they had dreamed of for so long. Later, the father decided to leave the family for another woman. In this marriage, he will have a son, Evgeniy, who in the future will work for Chris as an administrator.
Childhood and youth
Already in the early years of his biography, Chris Kelmi was distinguished by excellent physical and musical abilities. When he was only 4 years old, he began playing the piano and guitar. At the same time, the boy went to tennis school.
Chris made excellent progress in this sport, later becoming CCM in tennis. Soon he found himself in the USSR junior tennis team. However, Kelmi never left music. In 1963 he received a musical education in piano.
During this period of his biography, Chris Kelmi founded the musical group “Sadko”. Then he began collaborating with Alexander Sitkovetsky, with whom he later formed the Leap Summer group. During their existence, the guys recorded 3 records.
In 1977, Chris graduated from the Moscow Institute of Railway Engineers. In 1983 he became a student at the Music College named after. Gnesins. An interesting fact is that his classmate was the future leader of the “Dynamic” group, Vladimir Kuzmin.
Death
Chris Kelmi became the first domestic star to pass away in 2019. His death was reported to the press on January 2, but the singer died on the first. The 63-year-old musician died in his own home in the Moscow region.
Chris Kelmi died on January 1, 2020
Less than a month before his death, Chris gave an interview in which he spoke candidly about his health problems (heart pain and cirrhosis of the liver) and admitted that he had already drawn up a will. In the last years of his life, he could not overcome his addiction to alcohol. But it was not this that led the musician to a sad ending. According to official data, the cause of death of Chris Kelmi was cardiac arrest, although the version of death was initially put forward due to cirrhosis of the liver.
Relatives decided to bury Kelmi modestly, without honors or a civil memorial service. On January 8, they said goodbye to him at the Nikolskoye cemetery in Moscow, the singer’s body was cremated. 20 people attended the funeral.
Music
After a number of successful concerts, Kelmi decides to focus exclusively on music. It was during this period of his biography that he began to call himself “Chris” in honor of the literary character from the work “Solaris”.
Soon Kelmi becomes a member of the promising group "Autograph", which played progressive rock. In 1980, the group gained great popularity in the country. Before the collapse of the USSR, the guys recorded 4 records.
Later, Chris Kelmi leaves Autograph and becomes the founder of the new group Rock-Atelier. The team begins to actively record songs and participate in theatrical productions, including “Juno and Avos” and “Autograd 21”. An interesting fact is that the cartoon “Dog in Boots” was accompanied by songs of musicians.
In 1982, “Rock-Atelier” was invited to the famous program “Morning Mail”, where the group performed the song “If there is a snowstorm”. A few years later, Kelmi gathered dozens of popular USSR performers to record the legendary composition “Closing the Circle.” The song gained incredible popularity in a matter of days, which it has not lost to this day.
In 1989, the song “Night Rendezvous” appeared in the creative biography of Chris Kelmi, which played an important role in his career. Later, he again gathers his colleagues to record the compositions “I Believe” and “Russia is Risen!”.
After the collapse of the USSR, Chris, at the invitation of the American television channel MTV, left for the USA. An interesting fact is that Kelmi was the first Russian performer whose performance was shown on American TV.
