Sofia Rotaru age. Sofia Rotaru - biography, personal life, new husband. The best songs of Sofia Rotaru

Singer Sofia Mikhailovna Evdokimenko-Rotaru (erroneously: Sofia Rataru, Sofia Rotaru) was born in the village of Marshintsy, Chernivtsi region, Ukrainian SSR on August 7, 1947. The future artist was born the second of six children in a family of winegrowers. Sofia Mikhailovna celebrates her birthday twice. Due to an error by the passport officer, the singer’s passport states that she was born on August 9. Rotaru was taught to sing by his blind older sister Zinaida, who had unique hearing.

As a child, Sofia Rotaru was actively involved in sports and athletics, and even became the school champion in all-around. By the way, thanks to her sports skills, Rotaru, without stunt doubles, performed roles in the film “Where Are You Love?”, where she rode along a narrow embankment into the sea on a motorcycle, and in the film “Monologue about Love,” where she was windsurfing.

Sofia Rotaru's musical gift was revealed quite early. At first, the 7-year-old singer sang in the school and church choirs (for this they even threatened to expel her from the pioneers).

Young Rotaru was attracted to the theater. The girl even attended classes in the drama club, and at the same time sang folk songs in the circle amateur performances. And at night she took the only school button accordion and went into the barn to select her favorite Moldavian songs.

Sofia Mikhailovna's father loved to sing and had perfect pitch and a beautiful voice. It was he who taught her to sing. And at school, the young singer learned to play the domra and button accordion, and also performed concerts in neighboring villages.

The beginning of Sofia Rotaru's career

The first success came to Rotaru already in 1962. It was this year that Sofia won the regional amateur art competition. It was he who opened the way for her to the regional review in Chernivtsi, where the singer also took first place. Because of the strength of her voice, her fellow countrymen called her the “Bukovina Nightingale.”

After the victories, Sofia Rotaru was sent to Kyiv to the Republican Festival of Folk Talents. Here, victory awaited the talented girl again. After the competition, the singer’s photograph was placed on the cover of the magazine “Ukraine” in 1965. By the way, after seeing the photo, her future husband Anatoly Evdokimenko fell in love with Rotaru. The man was also interested in music and dreamed of creating an ensemble. After the meeting, he created a pop orchestra for Sofia.

After graduating from school, Sofia Rotaru firmly decided to become a singer and entered the conducting and choral department of the Chernivtsi Music College.

In 1964, Rotaru sang for the first time on the stage of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Sofia’s first pop song was “Mama” by Bronevitsky.

World recognition of Sofia Rotaru

In 1968, Sofia Rotaru graduated School of Music and went to IX World Festival youth and students to Bulgaria. There she won gold medal and first place in the competition of folk song performers.


After college, Rotaru began teaching and, in the same 1968, married Anatoly Evdokimenko. In August 1970, the couple had a son, Ruslan.

In 1971, director Roman Alekseev shot the musical film “Chervona Ruta”, where Sofia Rotaru played the main role. The picture caused a huge resonance, after its release the singer got a job at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic and created her own ensemble “Chervona Ruta”. Together with composer Vladimir Ivasyuk, a number of songs were written, including folklore style in an instrumental manner of performance. Rotaru quickly became famous in Ukraine. A series of concerts in foreign countries began - the Germans, Czechs, Bulgarians, Yugoslavs received the Soviet singer with a bang.

In 1973, in Burgas, Bulgaria, Sofia Rotaru won first place in the Golden Orpheus competition. The artist performed the song “My City” by Evgeniy Doga and “Bird” on Bulgarian language. After the victory, the singer became an Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

Moldovan lyrics by Sofia Rotaru

Since the 1970s, compositions performed by Sofia Rotaru have invariably become “Song of the Year” laureates. The singer's words and music were written by the country's best composers and authors: Arno Babajanyan, Alexey Mazhukov, Pavel Aedonitsky, Oscar Feltsman, Alexandra Pakhmutova and others.


In 1974, the singer graduated from the Chisinau Institute of Arts named after G. Muzichescu, and then became a laureate of the Amber Nightingale festival, which was held in Poland. In the same year, the singer released an album with the simple name “Sofia Rotaru”. In addition, the musical television film “The Song is Always with Us” is being released.

In 1975, after the beginning of problems with the Chernivtsi regional committee Communist Party Ukrainian SSR, Sofia Rotaru, along with her ensemble, was forced to move to Yalta. The singer's father was expelled from the CPSU, her brother from the Komsomol and from the university because the family celebrated Old New Year- an unofficial holiday. In Crimea, the artist immediately became a soloist of the local philharmonic society.

In 1976, Sofia Rotaru received the status People's Artist Ukrainian SSR. At the same time, Sofia Mikhailovna became a permanent participant in the New Year’s “Blue Lights”. She received this honor after she performed the song “Winter” at one of the holidays.

In 1977, the long-playing album “Songs of Volodymyr Ivasyuk Sung by Sofia Rotaru” appeared. This record has become a symbol in the discography Ukrainian celebrity. For her, the singer received the Komsomol Central Committee Prize. And two years later, two albums “Only for you”, “Sofia Rotaru” and the giant disc “Sofia Rotaru - Mu tenderness” were released at once.

Career of actress Sofia Rotaru

In 1980, Sofia Rotaru won first prize at a competition in Tokyo for her performance of the Yugoslav song “Promise”, and also received the Order of the Badge of Honor. At this time, the singer was actively experimenting with her image and was the first among female artists to appear on stage in a pantsuit with the song “Temp” by Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov. By the way, this composition was written specifically for the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow and even became the soundtrack to the film “The Ballad of Sports” by Yuri Ozerov.

In 1980, the film “Where Are You, Love?” was released. There, Sofia Rotaru sang the song “First Rain” and also rode on the back seat of a motorcycle along the sea shallows without an understudy.

The tape was watched by 22 million people. In the same year, a double album of songs from the film was released. The song from the “Red Arrow” record was banned from broadcast on All-Union Radio. All because the leader music edition I didn’t like the way the singer sang. However, the composition became famous even without radio airplay. It is worth noting that Sofia Rotaru’s debut as an actress was called a failure, however, the film won the love of the audience. Then Sofia Rotaru began to look for a new style again.

The singer performed rock songs and took part in the filming of the film “Soul” together with Andrei Makarevich and “The Time Machine”. After this, Alexander Borodyansky and Alexander Stefanovich wrote an autobiographical story about the singer’s life, the loss of her voice and her state of mind during this period. Sofia Mikhailovna temporarily refused concert activities for the sake of filming a film. The partners in the film were Rolan Bykov and Mikhail Boyarsky. The film was watched by about 54 million people.

In 1983, Sofia Rotaru and her band gave a number of concerts in Canada and released an album in Toronto, Canadian Tour 1983. After this, the musicians were banned from traveling abroad for five years. And in the same year, the singer was given the title of People's Artist of Moldova.

In 1984, “Tender Melody” was published. This album returned the singer to her original image. In 1985, Rotaru received the Golden Disc prize. It was this year that the albums “Tender Melody” and “Sofia Rotaru” became the best-selling albums in the Soviet Union. They sold millions of copies. At the same time, Sofia Mikhailovna received the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

Europop and hard rock in the work of Sofia Rotaru

In 1986, the musical film “Monologue about Love” was released. Here Rotaru sang the song “Amor” and swam on a board in the open sea without an understudy. The album “Monologue about Love” was released the same year. At the same time, the Chervona Ruta ensemble returned to the Ukrainian song, which became for Sofia Rotaru and her artistic director Anatoly Evdokimenko was a complete surprise. The next album, “Golden Heart,” was recorded in collaboration with Moscow musicians.

Rotaru began performing compositions in the Europop style (“Moon”, “It Was, But It’s Gone”) and even with elements of hard rock (“Only This Is Not Enough”, “My Time”). In 1988, the singer received the title of People's Artist of the USSR for her great services in the development of the Soviet Union. musical art. Rotaru switched to the Russian-language repertoire, for which they began to push her away in Ukraine.


In 1991, the album “Caravan of Love” was released. Here you can feel the influence of hard rock and even metal, which were at the peak of their popularity at that time. At the same time, the musical film of the same name and the program “Golden Heart” were released.

The work of Sofia Rotaru in the dashing 90s

In 1991, Sofia Rotaru gave anniversary concert at the State Conservatory "Russia", dedicated to the 20th anniversary creative activity. The program used laser graphics, candles and fantastic decorations, in particular the moving red flower from Chervona Ruta. After the collapse of the USSR and the beginning of commercialization of the music space, the artist did not lose her position in show business. In 1993, Rotaru released two collections best songs“Sofia Rotaru” and “Lavender”, and then “Golden Songs 1985/95” and “Khutoryanka”.

In 1997, Sofia Mikhailovna took part in the filming of the film “10 Songs about Moscow”, produced by NTV, where she sang the song “Moscow in May” together with the group “Ivanushki International”. In 1998, Sofia Rotaru’s first numbered (official) disc “Love Me” was released, and a little later a program of the same name was presented at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. In the same year, the singer was awarded the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker “For increasing goodness on Earth.” A year later, two more albums of the singer were released in the “Star Series”.

Leadership of Sofia Rotaru in the 2000s

In 2000, Sofia Rotaru in Kyiv was recognized as “Man of the 20th Century”, “Golden Voice of Ukraine”, “Best Ukrainian pop singer XX century", "Woman of the Year".


In 2002, with the song “My Life, My Love,” Sofia Rotaru opened “New Year’s Light” on the ORT channel. Came out the same year new album entitled “I Still Love You.” The songs on the record are of different styles and for the first time remixes of old songs appear on the disc. In the spring, the “Star of Sofia Rotaru” was lit in Kyiv, and in the summer she was awarded the highest title in Ukraine - Hero of Ukraine. After the death of her husband (October 23 from a stroke), Sofia Rotaru stopped active touring. At the end of the year, a collection of the singer’s songs “ The Snow Queen" By the way, at the end of 2002, Rotaru became the second most popular domestic performer in Russia.

On December 25, the official release of Sofia Rotaru’s song collection “The Snow Queen” took place, released on the “Extraphone” label (Moscow, Russia). Part of the album's circulation came with an exclusive gift - a poster of the singer. In 2003, in Moscow, a personalized star was laid on the alley in front of the Rossiya State Concert Hall. In 2004, the albums “The Sky is Me” and “Lavender”, “Khutoryanka” were released. 2005 was marked by the release of the disc “I loved him.”

60th Anniversary of Sofia Rotaru

On August 7, 2007, Sofia Rotaru turned 60 years old. Hundreds of fans from different corners light to congratulate the singer. And the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko awarded the singer the Order of Merit, II degree.

Stage name Sofia Rotaru

Until 1940, the village of Marshintsi, where the singer was born, was part of Romania. This was the reason different spellings first and last name Sofia Rotaru. In the credits of the film “Chervona Ruta” the artist’s surname is Rotar. And on earlier filming they wrote the name Sophia. Edita Piekha advised Rotaru to write his last name in the Moldavian way, that is, with the letter “y” at the end.

Sofia Rotaru on video

“No, no one came up with this, this is due to the fact that this village in which we were born once belonged to Romania, it was the territory of Romania, and after the war this territory was annexed to Ukraine and in connection with this, dad was summoned to military registration and enlistment office and said that Romanian surname need to change to Russian. They removed the letter "u" at the end, instead of Rotaru it became Rotar with soft sign, and now we all have the surname Rotar. But in fact, Rotaru is the correct surname…” says Sofia Rotaru’s sister.

Personal life of Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Rotaru married Anatoly Evdokimenko in 1968. And they lived their whole lives together, helping and supporting each other. Her husband became not only a support for Sofia Rotaru, but also a person who helped her achieve success. At his suggestion, the group “Chervona Ruta” was founded, in which Sofia Mikhailovna became a soloist. Endless tours and concerts left almost no time for Sofia Rotaru’s personal life, but thanks to the fact that her husband was always there, she did not feel separated from her family. They lived together for more than thirty years - until the death of Anatoly Evdokimenko.

The singer took this loss very hard; she stopped performing and appearing at special events. A year after the sad events, Rotaru appeared on stage for the first time, dedicating her first performance to the memory of Evdokimenko.

Rotaru Sofia Mikhailovna is Ukrainian by nationality with Moldavian roots. She was born on August 7, 1947 in the village of Marshintsy, Chernivtsi region of the Ukrainian SSR, which until 1940 was under the control of Romania, hence the Romanian pronunciation of the surname (ending in - y). Sofia's father was a foreman of winegrowers, and her mother worked in the market. There were six children in her family, among whom Sofia was the second oldest. It’s curious that the passport office has the wrong date of birth future star put the ninth number. Since then, Rotaru has celebrated its birthday twice.

Sofia Rotaru with her sister

In everyday life, the family spoke Moldovan. In general, the multicultural environment had a huge influence on the future singer. So, her sister Zina, who is early age she became blind and therefore had excellent, subtle hearing, memorized Russian songs on the radio and taught Sofia to sing them, and at the same time to communicate in this language. It was her sister who became Rotaru’s first vocal teacher and guide to the world of music and art. Her father, who had excellent hearing and voice, also taught her to sing - he already knew then that his daughter had a great future as an artist.


Possessing great energy and curiosity, Sofia Rotaru as a child had many different hobbies in which she achieved high achievements: went in for sports - became an all-around champion among the students of her school, was fond of theater and attended a drama club, played the button accordion, domra, sang in the choir, participated in amateur art groups at the rural and regional level.

Even then she had a strong contralto, approaching a soprano, and already on her first tours to neighboring villages she received the nickname “Bukovinian nightingale” that suited her.

"Chervona Ruta"

Fame came to her literally in three years. In 1962, when Sofia Rotaru was only fifteen, she won the district amateur art competition. This gave her the opportunity to compete for championship at the regional level. In 1963, the “Bukovinian nightingale” was able to win first place in it, and already in 1964 compete for the title at the Republican Talent Festival, winning there too. Rotaru soon gained fame on an all-Union scale - in the same year she performed at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, and her photo was chosen for the cover of the magazine “Ukraine”.


In 1968, Sofia Rotaru reached the global level, winning the IX World Festival of Creative Youth in Bulgaria. There she was noticed by prominent pop figures, and Bulgarian newspapers were full of her name.

In 1971, Sofia Rotaru’s songs were included in the acclaimed musical film “Chervona Ruta” by Roman Alekseev, which gave her not only national success, but also became the beginning of her career as part of the same name variety ensemble from the Chernivtsi Philharmonic.


Sofia Rotaru in the ensemble "Chervona Ruta"

The authors of her songs were Valery Gromtsev, Levko Dutkovsky, Arno Barabadzhanyan, Alexey Mazhukov, and others. With their compositions she participated in concert programs ah in Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, song competitions in Poland.

In 1973, she received first place in the Golden Orpheus competition, for the first time became a laureate in the finals of Song of the Year, after which for more than four decades she missed only one festival in 2002 due to the death of her husband. In the same 1973, she received the title of Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR - at that time she was twenty-six years old.


Sofia Rotaru on stage

In 1974, Rotaru's first song album was released. In 1975, due to disagreements with the Chernivtsi regional committee, the Communist Party of Ukraine was forced to move to Yalta, but the move did not at all affect the singer’s career - she immediately became a soloist of the Crimean Philharmonic, and in 1976 she received the title of People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

After recording a small album of two songs in 1976 on German, Sofia Rotaru has become very popular in Western and Central Europe. In 1977, 1979, 1983 Several of her new albums are being released in Russian, Ukrainian and English: “The songs of Volodymyr Ivasyuk are sung by Sofia Rotaru”, “Sofia Rotaru”, “Only for you”, “Sofia Rotaru - My tenderness”, as well as an album recorded in Canada. Because of these records, the team was issued a five-year ban on traveling abroad. The artists spent this time organizing a wide tour of collective and state farms in the Crimean region. In 1983, the girl received the honorary title of People's Artist of Moldova.

Solo career

In 1986, the Chervona Ruta ensemble broke up; the group decided to continue their career without Sofia Rotaru, returning to the old role of folk song. For the singer, this came as a surprise and caused difficult experiences. Rotaru begins to look for himself again, changes the direction of his creativity. This is largely due to the name of composer Vladimir Matetsky, who over the next 15 years created rock and Europop compositions for her, which quickly became popular.

In 1986, the singer performed the hit song “Luna Moon”, a year later - “It Was, But It’s Gone”, a year later - “Only This Is Not Enough”, which also forever entered the golden fund Soviet stage. In the mid-80s, active touring activities artists. All this made her the number one singer on the Soviet stage, the crown of which was her awarding the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1988.

The end of the eighties passed in close cooperation with dance group“Todes”, which has established itself largely due to its performances at all the artist’s concerts. Creative Union artist and ballet lasted for five years.


In 1991, on the wave of the popularity of hard rock, perhaps the singer’s heaviest album, “Caravan of Love,” was released. At the same time, the premiere of the musical film of the same name took place. In the same year, Rotaru celebrated 20 years of creative activity at the Rossiya State Conservatory. The concert featured innovative special effects for that time - laser graphics and unusual moving scenery.

After the collapse of the Union, the artist by no means lost her popularity. In the first years after the great and mighty passed away, she released several collections of her best songs. Despite her age, the singer not only does not lose her position, but also amazingly remains on the wave of popularity even among young people.

In 1997, she participated in the film “10 Songs about Moscow,” where she performed the composition “Moscow Mayska” together with Ivanushki International, which was at the peak of its popularity. A year later, the performer’s first official disc, “Love Me,” was released, and then a concert program took place under the same name in the Kremlin Palace. In the same 1998, Rotaru was awarded the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker “For increasing goodness on Earth.”

At the turn of the 2000s, Rotaru became the owner of a number of different titles. She is recognized as “Woman of the Year”, “Man of the 20th Century” and the best Ukrainian pop singer of the twentieth century. She receives the title of “golden voice” of Ukraine. In 2002, she was awarded the highest title - Hero of Ukraine. In general, that year became a landmark year for the singer, both with a plus and a minus sign.

Rotaru’s popularity reached its peak; with the song “My Life, My Love” she opened “Blue Light” on Channel One. At the same time, a new successful album, “I Still Love You,” was released. However, in October, a misfortune happened in her family - her husband Rotaru died of a stroke in a Kyiv clinic. After this, the singer canceled all tours and performances and missed the final concert of the Song of the Year festival for the only time in almost 30 years.

In 2003, Rotaru got a personalized star on the Walk of Celebrities in front of concert hall"Russia". In 2004 and 2005, new albums “The Sky is Me” and “I Loved Him” were released. In 2007, Rotaru celebrated its 60th anniversary. Held in Yalta grand concert, and President Yushchenko awarded Sofia Mikhailovna the Order of Merit, II degree.

Rotaru was noted not only for solo performances, but also for successful duets with and. In 1998, Rotaru sang the song “Zasentyabrilo” with the lead singer of the group “Lyube”, and in 2005 and 2012. - with the “golden voice of Russia” songs “Raspberry Blossoms” and “I will find my love.” In 2011, Rotaru performed at a concert in Chechnya dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the head of the republic and the opening of the Grozny City complex.

Movies

In 1980, Sofia made her film debut as an actress, playing the almost autobiographical role of a provincial singer. The film "Where are you, love?" raised it to the peak of popularity, the songs from the film fell in love with the audience and were included in the double album of the same name.

At the same time, Rotaru became the winner of an international competition in Japan with the Yugoslav song “Promise”. At the same time, she performs the song “Temp”, written specifically for the Olympic Games in Moscow. Later it becomes the soundtrack to the film “The Ballad of Sports”.

By the way, Rotaru performed the song “Temp” for the first time on stage in a trouser suit. Before her, no one in the USSR risked changing their image so radically for that time. Not all of Rotaru’s songs were allowed through official censorship. Thus, one of the songs from the album “Red Arrow” was banned on Soviet radio because the head of the music editorial office did not like the style of performance. However, this did not stop her from conquering people's love.


This was immediately followed by filming in the autobiographical drama film “Soul”, which became a new decision in the direction of arranging Sofia’s songs (rock music), revealing the tragic and philosophical sides of the artist’s life. Her partners were and, accompanied by the group “Time Machine”.

In 1985, she participated in the filming of the film “Sofia Rotaru Invites You.” In 1986 - in the romantic musical television film “Monologue of Love”, in which Sofia starred in dangerous scenes without an understudy. In 2004, the artist played one of the main roles in the musical “Sorochinskaya Fair”, where she sang the song “But I loved him.”

Rotaru and Pugacheva

During her career, Rotaru practically never found herself in scandalous news. And the most serious conflict she had a relationship with a prima donna and eternal competitor. Or rather, it is generally accepted that it was Alla Borisovna who was afraid of competition and was always jealous of Sofya Mikhailovna. Ever since the second husband of Alla Pugacheva, director Alexander Stefanovich, made the film “Soul” with Sofia Rotaru in the title role (she played herself).


They say that it was at the instigation of Alla Borisovna that Rotaru was banned from performing in Moscow at one time. After this, the press for a single decade exaggerated the unspoken enmity of the two pop divas. True, to the credit of both, the performers never raised this topic.

Public reconciliation took place in 2006 at the “New Wave” in Jurmala. It is difficult to say whether it was sincere, but subsequently the artists always behaved friendly and even warmly towards each other. The apotheosis of reconciliation was the joint performance of the Tatu group’s song “They Won’t Catch Up with Us,” which for a long time fans discussed.

Personal life

Sofia Rotaru was married to, who served as the director of the Chervona Ruta ensemble, and was the director and organizer of all the artist’s concert programs. Future husband I first saw my beloved on the cover of Ukraine magazine in 1964. The young man was also passionate about music, graduated from music school, was a trumpeter and dreamed of creating an ensemble. This prompted Anatoly to find Sofia, who, in his opinion, would be perfect for the role of the lead singer of the new group.


In 1968, Rotaru married Evdokimenko and went with him to Novosibirsk, where he was supposed to undergo student internship. There she worked as a teacher and together with her husband performed at the local Otdykh club. Two years later, a son, Ruslan, appeared in their young family.

Anatoly Evdokimenko died of a stroke in 2002, Sofia Mikhailovna took his death seriously, canceling all performances, filming and tours for some time.


The only son Ruslan is now working music producer. The grandchildren of Sofia Rotaru are apparently named after their grandparents - Anatoly (1994) and Sofia (2001).

Sofia Rotaru now

The actress looks no less impressive today than in her youth. Few people are able to believe that the year of birth of the singer is 1947. Rotaru is in excellent shape, although, of course, the matter could not have happened without the intervention of plastic surgeons.


Sofia Rotaru now

Now she continues to be active, performs, and appears in videos. In 2016 in New Year's broadcast Rotaru performed the song “Don’t Forget Me,” which became a hit. A year later, on the eve of the anniversary of 2017, in “Blue Light” on the “Russia” channel and on “First” it was heard new hit"On the Seven Winds"

On new year holidays The Evdokimenko family went on vacation to Spain. Since Sofia Mikhailovna is not an active user social networks, this function was taken over by son Ruslan and daughter-in-law Svetlana. So, in one of the photos that was leaked online, the singer is posing in a swimsuit. However, only a part of the beach outfit is visible in the photo, so this news was not included in the scandalous chronicle.


Sofia Rotaru at sea

Meanwhile, Rotaru fans do not forget about her even for a second. While the singer was vacationing in Spain, one of them called the police and reported that he had taken Rotaru hostage and was holding her in one of the Moscow apartments. Of course, this turned out to be a fiction. The singer was amused by the news, although there have been worse cases in her career when she had to cancel concerts because of crazy fans. Sofia Rotaru always refuses repeated proposals to assign security to the singer, citing the fact that “a people’s artist should always be with the people.”

Discography

  • Sofia Rotaru sings 1972
  • Chervona Ruta
  • Sofia Rotaru sings songs by Vladimir Ivasyuk
  • Only for you
  • Caravan of Love (album)
  • Lavender (album)
  • Farmer
  • Night of love
  • Love me
  • I still love you
  • Teche water
  • The sky is me
  • I'm your love!
  • And my soul flies

Sofia Rotaru has the title of People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Ukraine. Recently, singer and actress Sofia Rotaru celebrated her 70th birthday, and her music career remains at the highest peak, the performer is welcomed to concerts and loved everywhere.

Childhood

Sofia Rotaru was born in Ukraine (former Ukrainian SSR) near Chernivtsi, in a village called Marshintsy. This joyful event happened on August 7, 1947. The Moldovan family in which the future singer appeared was very large and had many children. Besides her, her parents had five more children. Sofia was the second oldest. The girl's father worked as a winegrower.

By nature he had an ideal musical ear and voice, which is why he became the first teacher who instilled in Sofia a love of music. Already during her studies, the girl began to actively participate in musical life schools. She sang in the choir and performed at amateur art evenings. Also at home, the whole family organized musical evenings with performances, which Sofia loved so much. All six children sang in chorus harmoniously and beautifully. Sofia's older sister named Zinaida taught her Russian folk songs, which she studied while listening to the radio.

Music appeared in Sofia Rotaru’s life almost from birth. According to her, music was everywhere - at wedding celebrations, at evening gatherings, and at dances. In addition to singing, young Sofia Rotaru went to a theater group, dreaming of the stage. She also played the accordion.

It should be noted that in her youth Sofia Rotaru was a talented athlete. She devoted many hours to athletics, and also won the school all-around championship. Once, having gone to participate in the Olympics, which took place in Chernivtsi, it was Sofia who took first place, running the 100 and 800 meters the fastest. Thanks to her sportive childhood, Sofia Rotaru, being an actress, performed complex scenes that required the involvement of stuntmen on her own. For example, she overcame a narrow embankment on a motorcycle in the film “Where Are You, Love?”, and also rode a surfboard on the waves in a film called “Monologue about Love.”

The beginning of Sofia Rotaru's musical career can be dated back to 1962. At her young age - 15 years old - she became the winner of one of the regional amateur art competitions. The winner was sent to Chernivtsi - to the next stage of the competition, where she also won.

This was followed by a trip to the capital of Ukraine - here, at the republican festival of folk talents, the talented singer was able to loudly declare herself and again took first place. Thereby, young talent appeared on the cover of a magazine called “Ukraine”. All these victories in her youth gave Sofia Rotaru faith in her strength and determined her life choice- become a singer. Therefore, after graduating from school, she became a student at the music school in Chernivtsi, enrolling in the conducting and choral department.

After graduating from the Sofia College of Music, Rotaru was lucky enough to go with musical ensemble to Bulgaria, where the World Youth Festival took place. Here she performed several songs, including a composition in Ukrainian. She also performed a Moldovan song about spring and a composition dedicated to the first woman to fly into space. The performance of the young artist was highly appreciated by the festival jury and gave her first place.

Returning to Chernivtsi, the singer began teaching theory and solfeggio at her music school. A few years later, in 1971, Sofia Rotaru played the main role in the musical Chervona Ruta. The picture became popular and made the singer a real star. As a result, she was invited to become a member of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. Here Rotaru performed with her own ensemble “Chervona Ruta”. She sang pop-folk songs, which only added to her popularity. A special feature of the work of Sofia Rotaru and her ensemble was that in their songs they harmoniously combined folklore works with modern rhythmic music.

Gradually, Sofia Rotaru’s popularity brought her to the stage of the Rossiya Central Concert Hall, and then to the Kremlin Palace. The author of Sofia Rotaru's songs was Vladimir Ivasyuk, a famous composer. With the program “Chervona Ruta” Sofia Rotaru became a frequent guest in Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, where the public loved her very much.

The work of Sofia Rotaru was promoted and Soviet authorities, presenting her as an example of a singer who popularizes international Soviet culture. Millions of people fell in love with Rotaru, its concerts were very popular. Also, Sofia Mikhailovna’s performances were shown on television, her songs were played on the radio.

1973 became a landmark year for Sofia Mikhailovna. The young singer took part in the Golden Orpheus competition! in Bulgaria, where she became the winner, after which she was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. Of course, the honored artist was expected and invited everywhere. She regularly participated in “Song of the Year” concerts, and her hits became winners of music awards.

Being a popular artist from her youth, Sofia Rotaru, however, did not give up her studies and completed her studies at state institute Arts named after G. Muzichescu in Chisinau, specializing in choral conductor.

Sofia Rotaru's songs have become legendary" Swan fidelity" and "Ballad of Mother", written greatest composer Evgeny Martynov. In addition to her amazing songs, which often show a dramatic plot, the presence of characters, the development of their relationships, as well as morality, the singer was known for her ability to establish contact with the public at concerts. It was Sofia Rotaru who went into the hall during the concert and sang among the audience. According to her, the most important thing for an artist is the recognition of the public, and not prizes and awards.

In 1974, the singer’s first disc was released under the simple and succinct title “Sofia Rotaru”. The singer also starred in musical film"The song is always with us." This was followed by a move to Yalta, where Rotaru got a job singing in the city philharmonic. A year later, the singer already had the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. The reason for the artist’s move to Yalta was considered to be that Sofia Mikhailovna’s family began having problems with the Communist Party.

On the other hand, there were rumors that the singer had asthma or suffered from tuberculosis. She lost too much weight and sometimes her voice caught a cold and she couldn’t sing. Therefore, she supposedly needed sea air and lived on the coast. Since 1976, Sofia Rotaru began to regularly take part in the filming of the New Year's “Blue Lights”.

In 1976, Sofia Mikhailovna was invited to Germany to record German songs, and then tours around Europe followed. With her concerts, Sofia Rotaru traveled to Romania, Germany, and Yugoslavia. Later she was offered to release a disc with songs in Italian and French. The 80th year in the biography of Sofia Rotaru was remembered for the victory at international competition in Tokyo. The singer even received an award in the form of the Order of the Badge of Honor.

Sofia Rotaru also became the first Soviet artist to appear on stage in trousers. Fulfilling her dream of acting, Sofia Rotaru starred in the film “Where Are You, Love?” She performed a song there and performed a stunt on a motorcycle. The film became very popular - more than 20 million people watched it, which ensured the growth of the artist’s popularity as an actress. A disc was also released, which today would be called the soundtrack to the film. It was a recording of songs from the film.

In the eighties, rock and metal became popular, which also affected the work of Sofia Rotaru. She took part in the filming of the film “Soul” with the group “Time Machine,” although it was at that moment that the singer lost her voice and rumors about tuberculosis began to circulate again. In 1983, Sofia Rotaru toured Canada and released a disc dedicated to this tour. A year later, the singer’s lyrical album entitled “Tender Melody” was released.

At the end of the eighties, the singer turned to the Euro-pop style in which her famous songs“Moon”, “Only this is not enough”, “It was, but it’s gone.”

In 1988, Sofia Rotaru became People's Artist of the USSR. Since then, mainly Russian-language compositions began to appear in her repertoire. Her discography has been replenished with two new albums - “Golden Heart” and “Caravan of Love”.

After the collapse of the USSR, the singer was able to stay on the wave of success and took her place in the show business of the new generation. She released collections best compositions and sang a song with the extremely popular group “Ivanushki International” at that time. In the late nineties, Sofia Rotaru’s disc entitled “Love Me” was released. The singer again receives awards and becomes the owner of the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Now singer Sofia Rotaru still remains famous, popular and in demand.

Personal life

The love of Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru’s life was her only husband Anatoly Evdokomenko. He also studied music. It was Anatoly who first organized a pop orchestra for Sofia and created the Chervona Ruta group, and then was the director of Rotaru concerts. The couple married in 1968. Two years later their son, Ruslan, was born.

Sofia and Anatoly lived in marriage for 30 years. In 2002, Sofia Rotaru’s husband died, after which she temporarily canceled all concerts and tours. Until now, the singer, who celebrated her 70th birthday, lives alone. Now free time she spends with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Rotaru Sofia Mikhailovna (b. 1947) – Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian singer stage. He is of Moldovan origin, Ukrainian citizenship, and permanently resides in Yalta and Kyiv. In addition to Ukrainian, Moldavian and Russian, he also sings in English, Spanish, Bulgarian, French, Italian, Serbian, Polish, German. Her repertoire includes about 400 songs. She has the titles of People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Ukraine, and is one of the highest paid singers in the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Childhood

Sofia was born on August 7, 1947 in the Ukrainian SSR in the village of Marshintsy, Chernivtsi region.

Dad, Rotar Mikhail Fedorovich, had Moldavian roots. During the war he served as a machine gunner, reached Berlin, was wounded after the war, so he returned home only in 1946. In the village, he was one of the first to join the party and worked as a foreman among winegrowers.

Mom raised children, of whom there were six in the family, ran the household and garden, and sold the products she grew at the market.

Little Sonya was the second child in the family, and she had many responsibilities around the house, caring for her younger brothers and sisters, and had to help her mother. Sofia’s mother woke her up while it was still dark, because by six in the morning she had to arrive at the market, take a seat and lay out the food. The girl was terribly sleepy, and she finally came to her senses only when lively trade began. There was always a queue outside them, my mother was incredibly clean, people knew her products and constantly bought them.

Many years later, in one of her interviews, Sofia will later say that her childhood memories remained very strong, how she wanted to sleep in the morning, and now she doesn’t get out of bed before 10 am, as if trying to make up for the lack of sleep from childhood. And Sofia Rotaru never bargains at the market with people who sell their homemade products: she knows how hard work it is, because before you sell, you need to grow everything.

For such hard work, mom and dad earned the title of drummer socialist labor and an exemplary mother-housewife.

The girl's father loved to sing in his youth, he had beautiful voice and exceptional hearing. Dad became her first teacher, teaching Moldovan folk motifs.

A special role is that Sonya loved music so much early childhood, my sister Zina also played. She suffered from typhus and completely lost her sight, the disabled girl could not help her mother with housework, her only joy was the radio, which she listened to for hours and then sang exactly all the melodies she heard. She taught these songs to her younger sister Sofia, and she easily picked up any composition and sang. Her father, looking at her, joked: “Our Sonya will be an artist.”

Studies

Having started school, the girl signed up and sang in the school choir from the first grade.

A few years later, on weekends, she also began singing in the church choir, but the Soviet school at that time did not welcome the church, and Sofia was even threatened with expulsion from the pioneers.

Sonya grew up as a very active child, and in addition to music, there were many other hobbies in her childhood life. She liked sports, especially athletics, the girl was even a school champion in all-around. In high school, she went to Chernivtsi for regional sports competitions, where she achieved victories in running at distances of 100 and 800 meters.

In addition to sports, Sofia was very attracted to the theater; at school she enrolled in a drama club. She took part in all amateur art shows and taught herself to play the button accordion.

The girl really liked it when their amateur art group traveled to neighboring villages with concerts. She liked the feeling of standing on stage, looking at auditorium. Her strong contralto, which almost approached a soprano, was liked by listeners, and soon Sofia Rotaru was nicknamed the “Bukovinian nightingale.”

Start of a musical journey

She experienced her first success in 1962, when, as a very young fifteen-year-old girl, she won an amateur art competition in the region.

Then, having won the regional show, Sofia received a referral to the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, for the republican festival of folk talents. It was 1964, here she again became the first, and her photograph was published on the cover of the magazine “Ukraine”.

After winning the festival, the girl firmly decided to connect her life with music and become a singer. Just after graduating from school, she went to Chernivtsi, where she entered the music school. There was no vocal department there, and she became a student in the conducting and choral department.

Victory at the republican festival opened the way for Sofia Rotaru to the all-Union, and then the world level.

In 1964 she was invited to sing in Kremlin Palace congresses.

After graduating from music school, she received a ticket to the World Festival of Youth and Students in Bulgaria, where she represented Soviet Union. Among performers of folk compositions, she received first prize and a gold medal.

All the newspapers in Bulgaria the next day came out with the headlines: “21-year-old Sofia conquered Sofia.” Then the legendary Lyudmila Zykina was on the jury. Having seen and heard Sofia Rotaru, she said about her: “This is a singer with a great future”.

In 1971, the film “Chervona Ruta” was released on the screens of the country, where the main character there was Sofia Rotaru. The success of the film among the audience was deafening, Sofia was invited to work at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic, where she and her husband Anatoly Evdokimenko created the VIA “Chervona Ruta”.

The group's debut performance took place in Star City before Soviet cosmonauts. This was the first statement of outstanding representatives of the Soviet stage, who decided to combine in their repertoire folk motives with modern rhythms.

Sofia Rotaru and the Chervona Ruta team were gaining popularity in a vast country, they conquered more and more new stages:

  • Central concert hall"Russia";
  • Variety Theater;
  • Kremlin Palace.

I came for concert tours, recordings on radio and television real success.

Worldwide recognition and fame

Then the musical career of the “Bukovinian nightingale” developed as rapidly as a mountain river in Sofia Rotaru’s homeland could rumble. whirlpool life events picked up a young woman talented singer and carried him to the heights of glory.

Year Event in the career of Sofia Rotaru
1972 Polish tour with the program “Songs and Dances of the Land of Soviets”.
1973 Receiving first prize at the Golden Orpheus competition in Bulgaria, participation in the final festival “Song of the Year”, the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine.
1974 Laureate of the International Song Festival in Sopot.
1975 Sofia Rotaru moved from Chernivtsi to Yalta and began performing under the auspices of the Crimean Philharmonic.
1976 Title of People's Artist of Ukraine.
1979 Deafening tour in Germany.
1980 First prize at the International Competition in Tokyo, presentation of the Order of the Badge of Honor.
1983 Title of People's Artist of the Moldavian SSR.
1985 Receiving the “Golden Disc” prize from the All-Union Recording Company “Melodiya” for the best-selling records in the USSR “Sofia Rotaru” and “Tender Melody”; they were released with a circulation of more than 1 million. Awarding the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
1988 Sofia Rotaru is the first modern pop singer to be awarded the title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union.

In 1986, the Chervona Ruta team broke up, and Sofia Rotaru began solo career on the stage. Her collaboration with composers Yuri Saulsky, Raymond Pauls, Evgeny Martynov and Alexandra Pakhmutova was very fruitful. But Vladimir Matetsky wrote especially many songs for Sofia, almost all of them were included in the final festivals “Songs of the Year” and “New Year blue lights».

The whole country knew by heart and sang such hits performed by Sofia Rotaru as:

  • "Swan Fidelity";
  • “And the music sounds”;
  • "Romance";
  • "Stork on the Roof";
  • "In my house";
  • "Moon, moon";
  • "Lavender";
  • “It was, but it’s gone”;
  • “Only this is not enough”;
  • "Caravan of Love";
  • "Melancolia";
  • "Farmer".

11 times Sofia Rotaru became the owner of the prestigious music award"Golden Gramophone Award".

Sofia Mikhailovna was recognized as “The best Ukrainian pop singer of the twentieth century.”

Personal life

One and only and for life. This is exactly what her husband Anatoly Evdokimenko turned out to be for Sofia Rotaru.

He was her fellow countryman, also from the Chernivtsi region. In 1964 he served in the army in Nizhny Tagil. His father was a builder, and his mother was a teacher. The parents were perplexed as to where their son’s uncontrollable craving for music came from. After graduation music school Anatoly played the trumpet excellently, and after serving in the army he planned to create his own VIA.

In the army library, Anatoly came across the magazine “Ukraine”, where on the cover there was a miracle girl who won the Republican music competition. For him it was love at first sight.

Returning home after service, Anatoly continued his studies at Chernivtsi University, where he played the trumpet in the student pop orchestra, and began to look for his love.

He managed to win Sofia’s heart only after two years of courtship. He invited her to be a soloist in the student orchestra, they saw each other almost every day, and over time the relationship grew from friendship into something more.

In 1968, Sofia and Anatoly got married. And their Honeymoon took place in Novosibirsk in the dormitory of a military plant, where Evdokimenko was sent to practice from the university.

For Anatoly, his wife’s career always came first; he was never jealous of her stage and success. For Sonya's sake, he gave up science, although he was an excellent physicist and wrote many articles. For more than 30 years they were close, he became everything for Sofia: program director and producer, director and director, bodyguard and, of course, the only and most beloved man.

In the summer of 1970, their boy Ruslan was born. He bears his father’s last name – Evdokimenko. Also engaged musical activity, he is a producer.

But heavy long illness separated Sofia and Anatoly. He died in 2002, the singer could not come to her senses for a long time from what had happened, and refused to believe in her husband’s death. Having survived this tragedy, she stated that there could be no other men in her life, from now on she is entirely devoted to music.

Son Ruslan is married, he and his wife gave Sofya Mikhailovna two charming grandchildren.

In 1994, grandson Anatoly was born, and in 2001, granddaughter Sofia.

The singer and her son’s family live in Yalta. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, it did not accept Russian citizenship, stating that he has a permanent residence permit in Kyiv, but would not mind dual citizenship.

At almost 70 years old, Sofya Mikhailovna manages to maintain an amazing figure and beauty. Her secret is simple: to love life in all its manifestations and rejoice in every given day; it depends on the inner state of the soul. appearance.

How old is Sofia Rotaru? Probably, this question is a no-no, and it appears in our heads every time we see this unfading and complete vitality a woman who always keeps up with fashion. Is it true?

Section 1. How old is Sofia Rotaru? general information and stage name

World famous in Ukrainian origin Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru lives today in two cities at the same time: in the capital Kyiv and in sunny Yalta.

The star comes from the village of Marshyntsi, in the Chernivtsi region. The biography of Sofia Rotaru is quite interesting, although little known, because the singer prefers not to dwell on the topic, protecting her loved ones from unnecessary attention.

It is known that she was not the only child in the family, she famous actress there are two more brothers and three sisters. And not only Sofia Mikhailovna managed to shine on stage; her sisters Aurika and Lydia, as well as her brother Evgeniy, performed on the stage.

Her repertoire currently includes about five hundred famous songs, and Sofia Mikhailovna performs them in Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Moldavian, Polish, German, as well as Bulgarian, English and Spanish. She was the first singer to Soviet times dared to sing recitative and use a rhythm computer as a musical arrangement.

There was a slight confusion with the singer's name. Initially, her native village belonged to Romania, so Rotar was indicated in the surname line, and Sophia in the first name. Later, Edita Piekha advised the young performer to add the letter “y” to the end of her last name for euphony, and so a new star named Sofia Rotaru appeared on the stage.

Section 2. How old is Sofia Rotaru? Creative path singers

Little Sonya already sang in the choir as a child and was actively involved in sports. Her father became her first music teacher. At school, Rotaru played the button accordion and domra, and took an active part in amateur performances. The regional folk talent competition, held in 1962, became the first step in the development of the singer’s career.

Another six years passed, Rotaru graduated from the Chernivtsi Music College. And in 1971 she was invited to work as part of the Chervona Ruta group. This entailed performances at various festivals and tours to other cities and countries. She was lucky to collaborate with such famous composers, like David Tukhmanov, Vladimir Ivasyuk, and Yuri Rybchinsky.

Since the 1970s, the songs performed by Sofia Mikhailovna have almost constantly become “Song of the Year” laureates. A little later, films featuring famous singer. In the early 80s, Rotaru wins an award at an international competition and decides to radically change his image.

And a few years later, significant changes took place in the singer’s work.

Section 3. How old is Sofia Rotaru? Singer today: home, family, grandchildren

In August of this year, Rotaru turned 66, but her years have not stopped her from looking young and attractive. Sofia Mikhailovna does not consider herself a fan of noisy parties, so she prefers to celebrate her birthday at home, with her family.

She usually spends weekends and days off from touring surrounded by her closest people: her son Ruslan, daughter-in-law Svetlana, grandchildren Anatoly and Sofia. Unfortunately, the legal spouse of the star has been absent from this bright holiday for more than ten years. The fact is that Anatoly Evdokimenko passed away in 2002.

Sofia Rotaru has many fans, there is even a fan club where its members celebrate the birthday of their favorite singer on the night of August 6-7. At the end of the celebration, a crowd of fans goes to the mansion where Sofia Mikhailovna lives in order to leave gifts there.

Of course, we answered the question about how old Sofia Rotaru is. Now think about whether it’s worth talking about this at all, because it has long been known that a woman’s age depends not on the number in her passport, but on her state of mind. I would like this singer to delight us with her charm, charm and unique voice for many, many years to come.