Grigory Viktorovich Leps (full surname Lepsveridze; genus. 1962) - Soviet and Russian singer, composer, producer and member of the International Union of Pop Art Workers.
Honored Artist of Russia, Honored Artist of Ingushetia and People's Artist of Karachay-Cherkessia. Winner of a large number of prestigious prizes and awards.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Leps, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Grigory Leps.
Biography of Leps
Grigory Leps was born on July 16, 1962 in Sochi. He grew up and was brought up in an ordinary Georgian family.
His father, Viktor Antonovich, worked at a meat-packing plant, and his mother, Natella Semyonovna, worked at a bakery. In addition to Grigory, the girl Eteri was born with the Lepsveridze family.
Childhood and youth
At school, Leps received rather mediocre grades, showing no interest in any of the disciplines. At that time, the biography, the boy was fond of football and music, playing in a school ensemble.
Having received a certificate, Grigory entered the local music school in the percussion class. After that, the young man was called up to the service, which he served in Khabarovsk. Returning home, he worked as a restaurant singer and played in rock bands.
Not long before the collapse of the USSR, Grigory Leps was the vocalist of the "Index-398" group. In the early 90s, he sang at the famous Sochi hotel "Pearl" located on the Black Sea coast.
Unlike his compatriots, who were going through hard times at that time, Leps earned decent money. However, he spent all his fees on booze, women and casinos.
When Grigory was about 30 years old, he went to Moscow, wanting to realize himself as a singer and musician. However, in the capital, no one paid attention to the talented guy, as a result of which Leps began to drink and take drugs.
Music
The first success in the creative biography of Leps happened in 1994. He managed to record his debut album "God bless you", where the famous song "Natalie" was present.
Having gained a certain popularity, Grigory began filming clips for the compositions "Natalie" and "God bless you", however, due to the busy schedule and regular performances on stage, his body seriously malfunctioned.
According to the artist, due to prolonged abuse of alcoholic beverages, he was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis. He underwent an urgent operation, while the surgeons did not give any guarantees that the patient would survive.
Nevertheless, the doctors were able to put Grigory on his feet, but they warned that if he did not stop drinking, it would end in death for him. Since that time, the artist practically does not drink alcohol.
In 1997, Grigory Leps recorded the 2nd disc "A Whole Life". In the same year he appeared on the stage of "Songs of the Year", performing the composition "My Thoughts". Soon he sang the song "Sail" by Vladimir Vysotsky at a concert dedicated to the work of the Soviet bard.
After 3 years, the release of Leps's third disc "Thank you, people ..." took place. Then he suddenly lost his voice, as a result of which he had to operate on his vocal cords.
Thanks to the successful operation, Grigory was able to go on stage in a few months. In 2001, major concerts were organized at the Rossiya State Central Concert Hall. The following year, he won the Chanson of the Year Award for the song Tango of Broken Hearts.
In 2002, Leps presented his 4th album "On the Strings of the Rain", where, among other compositions, there was the hit "A Glass of Vodka on the Table". This song gained all-Russian popularity and was one of the most frequently ordered in karaoke bars.
A couple of years later, Grigory recorded another disc "Sail", which consisted of Vysotsky's songs. It was performed in the genre of chanson and hard rock. In 2006, the artist delighted his fans with two new discs at once - "Labyrinth" and "In the Center of the Earth".
By that time, Grigory Leps had become one of the most famous and highly paid artists in Russia. He sang in duets with Irina Allegrova, Stas Piekha and Alexander Rosenbaum.
In November 2008, the musician was urgently hospitalized with suspected open stomach ulcer. A couple of weeks later, the doctors discharged him from the hospital, after which the man again went on stage.
In 2009, Leps, together with Irina Grineva, participated in the famous music show "Two Stars". At the beginning of the same year, he gave 3 concerts in a row in the Kremlin, which was attended by over 15,000 spectators. A month later, the man was admitted to hospital with acute bronchitis.
In 2011, the release of Leps's 10th album "Pensne" took place. Then he opened a karaoke bar "Leps" and was awarded the title of "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation". Soon he delighted his fans with the song "London", performed in a duet with rapper Timati.
Later, Grigory Viktorovich founded his own production center, designed to help budding talents. In 2012, he received the RU.TV 2012 award in the Best Artist of the Year nomination, as well as the Golden Gramophone and Best Singer of the Year at the Song of the Year competition.
Then Leps released a new disc "Full speed ahead!", Which gained great popularity. In 2013, he was again named Best Singer of the Year and was awarded two Golden Gramophones.
Simultaneously with his successes on stage, Gregory heard accusations against him from the US Treasury Department, which "caught" him in connection with the mafia. This led to the fact that the US authorities banned the musician from entering the country, as well as any cooperation with its citizens.
In 2014, Leps presented a new album "Gangster No. 1", which became a kind of response to America's accusations. A few years later, together with Emin Agalarov, he opened the Shot Glass of Vodka and the LESNOY restaurant.
After 3 years, the man recorded a new album, "YouThatTakoySerious". For the hit “What have you done” he won the Golden Gramophone award.
In 2015, Grigory began hosting the Main Stage TV show together with Garik Martirosyan. Then he was invited to the judging panel of the music show "Voice".
Personal life
Gregory's first wife was Svetlana Dubinskaya, with whom he studied at the school. In this marriage, which soon fell apart, the girl Inga was born.
Later, Leps met a dancer from the Laima Vaikule ballet named Anna Shaplykova. Their meeting took place in 2000 in one of the nightclubs. Young people began to meet and eventually got married. In this union, a boy, Ivan, and two girls, Eva and Nicole, were born.
The artist has repeatedly talked about his family on various television programs. In addition, 4 autobiographical films were made about Leps, which mentioned interesting facts from his personal and creative life.
Grigory Leps today
The outrageous musician is still actively touring and participating in various festivals and TV shows. In 2018, he was named Artist of the Year, and also received the Muz-TV 2018 Award in the Best Performer nomination.
After that, Leps publicly announced that he was refusing all further nominations and awards, saying: "Everything that I should have received from life, I have already received." After that, he presented video clips for the songs "Amen", "Without You" and "LIFE IS GOOD".
In the second half of 2019, Grigory went on a tour with the Come and See program. At that time, he opened a line of farm products and vodka "LEPS" under the brand name "Khlebosolny Podvorie Grigory Leps".
Today the musician is one of the richest Russian stars. According to Forbes magazine, he earned over $ 8 million in 2018.
Lepsa Photos
