Legendary rock musician, leader of "DDT" group Yuri Shevchuk celebrates his anniversary

On May 16, the Russian musician, singer, poet, composer, actor, People's Artist of Bashkortostan, founder and permanent leader of the DDT rock band Yuri Shevchuk celebrates his 65th birthday.

Ufa residents rightfully consider Shevchuk their countryman. Despite the fact that Yuri Yulianovich was born on May 16, 1957, in the village of Yagodny, Magadan Region, at the age of 13 he moved to Ufa with his parents. It was here that he spent his formative years.

Since his childhood, Yuri was engaged in creativity - drawing, and playing the button accordion. In his school years, he independently mastered the guitar. After leaving school in 1975, Yuri Shevchuk entered the graphic arts department of the Bashkir State Pedagogical Institute. At the same time, Yuri Yulianovich began to study music, and performed cover versions of Western rock bands.

Having received a diploma as an artist, Shevchuk left for a rural school in the Bashkir village of Iglino, where he gave drawing lessons and at the same time played in bands, performed at school parties, holidays in cultural centers.

In 1980, Shevchuk, who wrote poetry and performed them with a guitar, began to play as part of a rock group that became known as DDT. Since that time, Yuri Shevchuk has been its permanent leader.

In the summer of 1988, the group performed at the 6th Leningrad Rock Festival and made their first concert tour around the country - from Belarus to the Far East. The "Melody" company recorded the first official DDT record "I got this role" (1988), which sold about 2 million copies. The song that gave the name to the album became the anthem of the Soviet rock movement for a long time.

In the 1990s, the programs of the group "Black Dog Petersburg" (1992), "This is all ..." (1994), "From and to" (1995) were prepared and the albums "Thaw" (1990), "Plastun" (1991) were recorded ), "Actress Spring" (1992), "That's All..." (1994), "Whistled" (1999). The group successfully toured Hungary, France, Japan, the USA, England, Germany, Australia, Canada, and other countries.

In 1994, DDT participated in the White Nights of St. Petersburg festival, held in Berlin, and received the Ovation National Russian Music Award in the Best Rock Group of the Year nomination, and Yuri Shevchuk won the title of Best Rock Singer of the Year.

In the 2000s, the albums "Uniloneliness 1, 2", (2002-2003), "Missing" (2005), "Beautiful Love" (2007) were released. Performers of folk songs and wind instruments, not typical for rock music, were involved in the recording of songs. In October 2011, Yuri Shevchuk and the DDT group in a new line-up presented the concert program “Otherwise”.

Yuri Yulianovich repeatedly visited the trouble spots of the planet. He performed in Chechnya, Tajikistan (1996), Belgrade (1999), Kosovo (2000), and Afghanistan (2002).

Yuri Shevchuk has released several collections of his poems. In 1999, the publishing house "Foundation of Russian Poetry" published his first book "Defenders of Troy". In 2009, a book of poems "Solnik" was published.

In the cinema, as an actor, Shevchuk played a major role in the film Spirits of the Day (1990), as well as roles in the films Vovochka (2002), Ataman (2005), Antonina Turned Around (2007), Once Upon A Time There Lived A Woman" (2011), TV series "Father" (2008) and others.

In 2007, Shevchuk became the winner of the Russian Triumph Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of literature and art. He donated all the funds received from the award to servicemen who suffered during the Chechen wars.

 Bashinform congratulates Yuri Shevchuk on his jubilee and wishes him good health, long life, new creative achievements, and peaceful skies.