Biography
Sergey Lazarev is a Russian singer and actor, born in Moscow. When he was 9 Sergey sang in an ensemble with his brother Paul, doing that for two years. At the same time he played in the theater of Boris Pokrovsky. In
1995, he became one of the participants in the Neposedy children’s ensemble. This ensemble performed in several television shows. In the same year, he starred in a sitcom.
In
2001, Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Topalov formed the musical project Smash!!. The idea to make their own duet project came to the guys during their work in the Neposedy ensemble. At first, their manager was Simon Naper Bell, who was previously the manager of Wham!. In August
2002, they won the New Wave contest in Jurmala. Their first video “Belle”, lasted on the top of the MTV charts for six months.
At the same time, Lazarev took part in the play “Romeo and Juliet”. In February of that year, Smash!! released a debut album, which almost instantly acquired the status of gold. In
2004, the second and last album of Smash!! was released. At the end of that year Sergey Lazarev left the group and began a solo career. He also returned to the Pushkin Theater to participate in the play “Odolzhite tenora!”.
Sergey’s debut album as a solo singer,”Don’t Be Fake”, was released. At the end of
2005, Lazarev won two theater awards. In
2006, he was nominated for best artist at the MTV
Russia Awards. In May
2007, Lazarev’s second album was released. Sergey dubbed several films.
In
2008, he participated in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Flyer” reached the 4th place. In March
2010, Sergey Lazarev signed a contract with the music company Sony Music Entertainment. March 31 of the same year, he released a new album that received the status of gold in June
2011. In December
2012, Sergey’s fourth studio album, called “Lazarev.”, Was released. Soon it became the best-selling in
Russia, and in March
2013 it acquired the status of a golden disc.
In April
2014, the Pushkin Theater premiered the play “Zhenit’ba Figaro” which became the third major role for Lazarev in this theatre. In December
2014, he released the video album “Shou Lazarev: Live in Moscow”. In
2015, Sergey Lazarev became the host of the project of Channel One, “Tantsuy!”, And also released a new single, “Eto vso ona”.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of his solo career on April 1,
2015, Sergey Lazarev released a collection of his best songs in Russian, The Best (Russian Edition).
In
2016, Sergey Lazarev represented
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “You’re the only one”. Being one of the top favourites to win the contest, he became third in the end.
In December
2017, Lazarev presented his fifth studio album “V episentr”, which was his first album entirely in Russian. The album immediately topped the Russian iTunes chart, becoming platinum on the basis of sales. The album received the Muz-TV award as the best album of the year. A few months later, the next album, “The One”, was released. This album also topped the Russian iTunes chart and received the same Muz-TV award. In support of both albums, Lazarev organized a new concert program “N-Tour”, named after his son Nikita.
In 2019, Sergey represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest again. This time, the song was called “Scream”. And again, he reached a third place. In August of the same year, Lazarev presented his first mini-album “Ya ne boyus”, consisting of eight songs. The disc once again topped the Russian iTunes chart.
In November 2019, a new album called “Eto ya” was released. Already two hours after the release, the album hit the second place in the Russian iTunes chart, and by the morning it had risen to the first. The album also topped the iTunes chart in Greece and Estonia.
On April 29, 2020, the single “Posledniy den’ Pompeii” was released.
On November 26, 2021, the eighth album was released under the name “8” (on the cover instead of a number there is an infinity sign), which included eight songs, including a cover version of Dima Bilan’s song “Mechtateli”. Previously, the songs “Ne odinochki”, “Ya ne mogu molchat” and “Aroma” were released as singles.
In February 2022, he spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling for a swift peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, later on, he began adopting a pro-war stance, spreading narratives aligned with pro-Kremlin propaganda. In May 2022, it became known that Lazarev had started providing humanitarian aid to the children affected by the conflict in Donbass. On June 1 of the same year, he criticized the boycott of Russian culture worldwide in his Telegram channel. Alongside other artists from the Russian music industry, he performed the song “Vstanem” by SHAMAN in a music video released on November 4, the Day of People’s Unity.
On January 7, 2023, he was included in Ukraine’s sanction lists against individuals “who publicly call for aggressive war, justify and acknowledge the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territory.” These sanctions involve asset freezes, complete cessation of commercial operations, and the halt of economic and financial obligations.
