Leps is a Jewish surname. Grigory Leps (Grigory Lepsveridze) - biography, family and discography of the singer

whose biography began in the city of Sochi, was born on July 16, 1962 under the sign of Cancer. His father Victor, a Georgian by origin, worked at a local meat processing plant as a cutter, and his mother Natella worked as a nurse in a Sochi clinic.

Today, Grigory Leps remains one of the most popular performers in Russia. Biography, the nationality of the artist became the object of close attention of fans.

The real name of the singer is Lepsveridze, he is Georgian by nationality. Grigory studied at an ordinary secondary school No. 7 and, according to his own recollections, was that other problem. The teachers, who tried in every possible way to set the young Leps on the right path, unanimously spoke of him only as a "damned loser."

The only thing that the future singer Leps succeeded in, whose biography is full of events, is active sports and music. After graduating from a secondary school, Grigory enters a music school and is fond of playing percussion instruments. After graduating from college, Leps goes to the army, then, after demobilization, he sings in Caucasian restaurants and plays in many rock bands. In the early 80s, he even managed to solo in the Index-398 group.

Grigory Leps - biography. moving

In restaurants in Sochi, the singer sang all night long. He removed the accumulated fatigue and stress only with alcohol, because other means simply did not help him and did not work.

Grigory began to understand and comprehend that if in the near future he could not climb the career ladder higher, then he would simply run out of steam as an artist. Therefore, after some deliberation, the singer decides to move to Moscow, where, as he himself emphasizes, he was going to find not so much fame as himself.

Grigory Leps - biography, nationality and problems

Moscow met the singer with far from the most rosy colors. By virtue of his roots and origin, Gregory was of little interest to anyone. Desperate, he began to abuse alcohol and even became addicted to drugs for a while.

The appearance of the singer who lowered his hands was appropriate - Grigory's weight approached the mark of 100 kilograms, and specific bruises lay under his eyes. In addition, the people who promised to help the artist in the capital simply disappeared.

But Grigory Leps, whose biography did not develop in the best way, recalls that even having problems with alcohol and appearance, he did not consider himself a poor man. There was enough money for gatherings in restaurants, although infrequent.

Career

The creative growth and recognition of the artist falls on the beginning of 1995. Literally a year before, Grigory began recording his first solo album, God Bless You. This album included one of the most famous songs of the artist "Natalie". After the song gained public recognition and became recognizable, a video clip was shot for it. True, Grigory himself saw him for the first time in the hospital ward, when he was hospitalized with a stomach ulcer in the Botkin therapeutic department. For the same reason, he could not attend "Song-95".

Only forward

The artist also saw positive moments in his long hospitalization. The disease saved him from 35 kilograms of weight gain. After being discharged, Grigory vowed to take both alcohol and drugs.

A little later, in 1997, Grigory Leps, whose biography already included one successful album, released a second disc called "A Whole Life". And in the same year, at the pre-season of the concert "Song-97", the artist performed his composition "My Thoughts". One more year later, Gregory gets to Alla Pugacheva's "Christmas Meetings", where he performs several solo songs.

Without a voice

Two years later, the artist releases a collection, and a new composition called “Thank you, people” sounds. Then, in 1999, the shooting of clips for the songs "Rat", "So what", "Rustle" and "First Birthday" begins.

In early 2000, Grigory loses his voice and goes into surgery. After the rehabilitation and restoration of the vocal cords, the artist presented to the public a new album, “On the Strings of Rain”, at the same time, videos were shot for the song “I Believe, I’ll Wait” and a constant hit, which still holds on to the top lines in all clubs and bars - karaoke - "A glass of vodka on the table."

Joint creativity

At the end of 2004, the artist's new record saw the light of day, consisting of songs by Vladimir Vysotsky called "Sail". On the flagship of the record, the song "Sail", a video clip was shot six months later. In March of the same year, Grigory entered the Kremlin stage with a three-hour program "Parus.Live". At this concert, the singer performed compositions by Vladimir Vysotsky and hit tracks from past albums.

In 2005, the artist presents to the public a collection of songs called "Selected for 10 Years", and in 2006 he begins recording his solo album "Labyrinth", simultaneously shooting clips for the compositions "Blizzard", "Labyrinth" and "She". By the way, one interesting fact is worth noting: Grigory took the song “Labyrinth” into his repertoire only after long persuasion from Alla Pugacheva.

The artist's next album was released in 2006 and was called the disc "In the Center of the Earth". In October of the same year, Grigory Leps gives a grand concert at the Olimpiysky, the same name for the released album, where he sang both new and already well-known compositions.

"I'm alive!"

By the end of 2007, the artist releases a series of the best video clips, calling it "I'm alive!". A few months later, on the threshold of 2008, Grigory gives a concert in which he presents a new album, Second, which includes his compositions from the repertoire of Vladimir Vysotsky.

A little later, the singer sang a duet with Irina Allegrova, and a new hit saw the light - "I don't believe you." In the same year, after a duet with Stas Piekha, the video “She is not yours” appeared.

In early November 2008, the artist was urgently hospitalized in the Dmitrov hospital with a diagnosis of "open stomach ulcer". But literally two weeks later, Grigory is discharged and on December 1 he gives a solo concert in the Palace of St. Petersburg.

Confession

Until 2011, the singer releases another album called “Waterfall”, and a little later publishes a collection of the best songs “Shores. Favorites". And already on October 18, 2011, Grigory Leps was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

The artist himself calls his songs a cross between pop music and elements of rock. Since the singer has a specific timbre and a "growling" voice, many fans very often ask him why he did not stay in chanson, but chose the stage. As the artist emphasizes, answering these questions, it is never too late to return to chanson, but now he is simply not interested in this direction.

Personal life

For an artist like Leps, biography, family and divorce will always be the No. 1 topic on the pages of yellow magazines. But any person is not alien to mistakes, and Gregory was no exception.

The first wife of the artist, Svetlana Dubinskaya, met the singer at a music school, where they studied together. But the marriage with her did not last long, and soon the young fled. However, the couple managed to have a daughter, Inga (born in 1984). Gregory to this day pampers her and takes care of his first daughter.

The second wife of Leps (the biography of a professional artist begins under the guidance of Laima Vaikule) met the singer during the celebration of the birthday of Andrei Latkovsky (Vaikule's husband). at that time she was a dancer in the Laima ballet, and during the celebration, Gregory simply approached her and directly asked for her hand and heart.

In total, the singer has four children: the youngest Ivan (2010), Nicole (2007), Eva (2002) and the eldest daughter from her first marriage, living in the UK - Inga (1984).

Grigory Leps is a famous Russian singer of Georgian origin. He was born on July 16, 1962. The birthplace of Grigory Viktorovich is the city of Sochi. Leps himself writes poetry and music for his songs, and also promotes them. He is the author of several dozen hits. The main musical genres are rock, chanson, rock-pop and pop.

Childhood and youth

The mother of the famous singer was an ordinary nurse, and his father worked at a meat factory. At school, the boy did not show much success. Since childhood, Gregory's main hobby has been music. After graduating somehow from school, Leps entered the music school the city of Sochi. After serving in the army, the young man worked for some time in restaurants. With great difficulty, he managed to get into the rock group "Index-398". It was one of the most original symphonic rock bands in the Soviet Union. Gregory became her vocalist at the peak of his fame.

Musical career

However, soon the leader I. Sandler disbanded Index-398 and left for England. Leps had to return to restaurants. According to the musician, working at night among a noisy audience took a lot of his strength, and in order to somehow relax, the guy began to drink alcohol. If it were not for the change of residence, then he could drink himself and die.

First album

After moving to Moscow, things went pretty well for Leps. He was already over 30 and he had enough experience as an artist and his own vision of music. He called the first album "God bless you." It included the song "Natalie", which instantly fell in love with the audience, as well as "Nostalgia", "Afterword", "Player", "Do not be sad, my girl", "I listened to the rain" and others.

The video that was filmed for the song "Natalie" Leps did not see. Moreover, he had to miss participation in the recording of the program "Song-95". Unfortunately, the singer began to have health problems (heavy youth and a passion for alcohol affected him). Doctors managed to heal a stomach ulcer and put the singer on his feet. After this incident, he gave up alcohol for a while.

Video clips for the songs “God bless you” and “My thoughts” were also shot. According to friends, the last song surprisingly coincides with the life situation that Leps was going through. The singer was sick for a long time and was literally on the verge. After recovery, his morale was depressed, and friends had to make a lot of effort to restore his joy of life.

Stages of creativity

Since then, the musician has released one album every two years, and almost every one of them has been a resounding success. The complete discography includes 17 albums. Here are some of them:

• In 1997, A Whole Life was released. It included the following well-known compositions “I’ll see you anyway”, “Romance”, “I can’t sleep”, “Queen”.
• In the millennium, the next album saw the light called "Thank you, people." According to the singer himself, in each song he put a part of himself, his experiences and real events from his own life. Therefore, they turned out to be very piercing and at the same time romantic. Clips were shot for the songs "Rat", "Rustle" and "First Birthday".
• Two years later - the collection "On the Strings of Rain". It included the beloved by many “A glass of vodka on the table”, as well as “On the strings of rain”.

Duets with other artists

In 2007, Leps, together with Irina Allegrova, recorded a song called “I don’t believe you,” and a little later, the artist sang a duet with Stas Piekha. The composer Viktor Drobysh also participated in the creation of the musical composition “She is not yours”. Four years later there was a joint song with Timothy "Requiem for Love", and a year later - "London", also co-written with this musician.

Inspired by the success, Grigory Leps recorded a whole collection of songs sung together with other performers. In addition to those already listed, he has such compositions as “Captivity” with Artyom Loik, “Brother Nicotine” with Timothy and “Mirrors” with Ani Lorak.

Prizes and awards

Grigory Leps was repeatedly awarded various titles. He is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Karachay-Cherkessia and Ingushetia. By nationality, Grigory Viktorovich is Georgian, and therefore it is not surprising that in the Caucasus he is considered one of his own. Leps awards:

• 2002 brought the musician a victory in a competition organized by Radio Chanson. The award was called "Chanson of the Year". Gregory received it twice - in 2002 and in 2004.
• Thanks to the song "I Don't Believe You", sung together with Irina Allegrova, Leps won the Golden Gramophone award. A year later, for this composition, he was awarded another award from Muz-TV.
• The musician was awarded two prizes at once in 2008. At the beginning of the year from "Record-2008", as the best-selling performer and at the end - from the "Golden Gramophone" for the song "She is not yours."
• In 2009, two prizes were received, including another award from the Golden Gramophone and the Utyosov Prize.
• A year later, there was again a victory in the Golden Gramophone. And also the singer was awarded a diploma for a duet with Meladze in the nomination "Best Song of 2010".
• In 2011, there were three awards at once: from the "Best Song of 2011", the "Golden Gramophone" and the Russian Prize RU. TV.

Thus, every year the musician collects many prizes and awards. Among the latter, one can distinguish "Artist of the Year" in 2017 and "Best Performer" according to Muz-TV. The last one was received in 2018.

Personal life

His first love is Svetlana Dubinskaya. They met while studying at a music school, where Svetlana was a student of the vocal department. The girl waited for him from the army and the lovers got married. At that time, both were only 20 years old. Unfortunately, their marriage did not last long, and soon the young wife left her husband's house with her little daughter Inga, who was barely a year old. The reason for the separation was the conflict with the father of Gregory. In this situation, Leps Jr. sided with his father and tried with all his might to reconcile both.

Svetlana did not forgive the choice of her husband and harbored a grudge. In a word, the musician failed to save the marriage. According to the woman, the singer did not help them financially with their daughter and did not take part in the life of the child. When Inge Lepsveridze turned 16, her father helped her move to the capital. Now the girl lives in London, but often visits Russia, where she tries to make an acting career. As for Svetlana, she stayed in the city of her childhood - Sochi. The first wife of Leps works as an administrator at the club.

Second marriage

According to the official biography of Leps, ballerina Anna Shaplykova became his next wife. True, before the second marriage, the musician had a huge break. Disappointed in family relationships, he was in no hurry to start a serious relationship. He led a wild life, as a result of which he again became addicted to alcohol. The singer's health, like the first time, let him down. Grigory ended up in the hospital again with an exacerbation of a stomach ulcer.

During this difficult period, he met Anna. She danced in Laima Vaikule's ballet and was her favorite. The artist has long noticed a pretty girl, but for the first time they managed to talk to each other only at the birthday party of the famous artist.

The novel developed rapidly. The singer showered his beloved with flowers and gifts, called endlessly and confessed his love. However, Anna has been dating someone else for quite some time. It was going to the wedding, and Grigory was clearly superfluous. Nevertheless, Leps' perseverance did its job - the girl gave up. Even before marriage, the future wife of Leps gave birth to his daughter Eva. A year later, they signed, and three years later they had a second child. Anna Shaplykova at the time of their acquaintance was 29 years old, and Grigory's age was 38. In total, the couple has three children: two daughters - Eva and Nicole and son Vano.

All children of Leps are surprisingly artistic. The eldest daughter from her marriage to Svetlana participated in the Voice contest, where her father was present on the jury. However, this did not help the girl. According to the musician, he did not specifically vote for Inga. The second daughter attends the theater of the young actor, writes music and composes poetry. The two youngest are studying at a specialized school. According to relatives, this time he turned out to be a good parent.

Artist business

In addition to concert activities, Leps is engaged in a business that brings him a good income. He is a co-founder of the Vodka Glass restaurant, as well as the organizer of the Christmas on Rosa Khutor festival. In addition, since 2011, the singer has a restaurant in Kyiv called Gleps, a karaoke bar in Moscow, and a Grigory Leps production center. Also, the singer's fans can purchase exclusive optics with his name.

Many publications are trying to calculate the singer's income, but this is not easy to do. The Leps family lives in a chic house furnished with various antiques. In 2018, he made an exhibition at the historical museum, consisting entirely of his treasures. Eyewitnesses claim that we are talking about tens of millions of dollars.

Since 2013, Leps has been banned from entering the United States. In this country, he is on the "black list" as a person sponsoring the mafia. The Americans claim that the singer has extensive connections in the criminal environment under the nickname "Grisha", but for the artist himself this news came as a surprise. . There are other interesting facts about Leps:

• He is an active participant in the election campaign of the current president and the United Russia party.
• His real name is Lepsveridze.
• In 2013, Leps held a charity concert and donated all the money to the Balashikha Cancer Center.
• The singer calls his style of performance pop music with elements of rock.
• The range of his voice is three octaves.
• In 2000, he lost his voice and underwent surgery to repair his ligaments.
• One of his albums consists entirely of the repertoire of Vladimir Vysotsky.
• His villa in Thailand is one of the five most expensive real estate in this country.
• Throughout the history of Leps' presence on the Russian stage, many singers have tried to fake his performance style. But the peculiar growling baritone of this artist is extremely difficult to portray.
• He is the owner of a collection of three hundred sunglasses. Characteristically, the frames are exceptionally round.
• His height is 178 cm, and his weight has fluctuated within 70 kg for several years. There were times when Gregory weighed 100 kg.

He has a philosophical mindset, and among his friends there are a lot of people from the seminary. According to the musician, he himself sometimes thought about giving up everything and going to serve God.

“...his name is Werner, but he is Russian. What's so amazing? I knew one Ivanov, who was a German.
Lermontov. "Hero of our time".

You should not rely on the last name and appearance if you want to determine the nationality of a famous person. It is better to find his biography on the Internet or books.
I used to think (and, I'm sure, not only me) that the revolutionaries Inessa Armand and Larisa Reisner, statesman Anatoly Lunacharsky, chairman of the OGPU Vyacheslav Menzhinsky, military leader Mikhail Tukhachevsky, scientist Eduard Tsiolkovsky, writers Yuri Olesha, Boris Pilnyak and Konstantin Simonov, composers Lev Knipper, Azon Fattakh, Andrey Eshpay, Alexander Bronevitsky and David Tukhmanov, musicians Svyatoslav Richter and Stas Namin, directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Rou, actors Zinaida Reich, Rostislav Plyatt, Georgy Millyar, Georgy and Maya Menglet, Sergey Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, singers Eduard Khil and Grigory Leps are Jews, that diplomat Maxim Litvinov, military leader Dmitry Karbyshev, writers Mikhail Shatrov and Anatoly Rybakov, singer Vladimir Bunchikov, actors Roman Bykov, Mikhail Kozakov, Tatyana Samoilova, Tatyana Drubich, Vladimir Basov, Vladimir Vysotsky are Russians, that the composer Vano Muradeli is Georgian, that the singer Anna German is Polish, that the pilot Nikolai Gastello is an Italian, an actress Vija Artmane is Latvian and chess player Garry Kasparov is Azerbaijani.
In fact, Reisner, Meyerhold, Knipper and Anna German are Germans by origin. Richter is three-quarters German and a quarter Russian. Reich, Pilnyak and Gastello are German by father and Russian by mother. Artmane is German by father and Polish by mother. Armand is French. Millyar is half French, half Russian. Menglets are Russians with French roots. Menzhinsky, Tsiolkovsky, Olesha and Plyatt are Poles. Litvinov, Shatrov, Rybakov, Drubich and Bunchikov are Jews. Rolan Bykov is half Jewish, half Pole. Kozakov is half Jewish, a quarter Greek, a quarter Serb. Kasparov is half Jewish, half Armenian. Konstantin Simonov and Tukhmanov are Armenian by father and Russian by mother. Muradeli and Namin are Armenians. Leps - Georgians. Fattah is a Tatar. Karbyshev from Kryashens, that is, baptized Tatars. Eshpay is a Mari. Rowe is Irish by father and Greek by mother. Bronevitsky is a quarter Belarusian, a quarter Pole, a quarter Latvian and a quarter German. Smoktunovsky said that he was Belarusian by blood. Khil is Belarusian by father and Russian by mother. Tukhachevsky, Lunacharsky and Yursky are Russians. As for Basov, Samoilova and Vysotsky, I was half wrong here. Basov is Russian by mother and Finn by father, Samoilova is Russian by father and Jewish by mother, Vysotsky is Russian by mother and Jewish by father.

Russian Federation, popular singer, composer, performer and producer Grigory Leps in Russian show business is one of the brightest personalities. Therefore, very often people are interested in the question, who is Grigory Leps?

His nationality also raises many questions. It is worth noting that Leps is a deeply religious person; according to rumors, up to 150 Orthodox icons are located in his house. He can be called lucky, and now we'll figure out why.

Grigory Leps: nationality, biography

Viktorovich was born on July 16, 1962 in the resort town of Sochi. Father - Viktor Antonovich worked at a meat processing plant, mother - Natella Semenevna - as a nurse. The singer's sister's name was Eteri Alavidze.

What was it like in childhood His nationality, as it turned out, is Georgian. As a child, he was distinguished by a restless and stormy character, as, indeed, were many of his peers. True, at school he was a loser, but he was very passionate about football and music. At the age of 14, he went to study at a music school in a class of percussion instruments.

Then there were the army years in Khabarovsk. Upon returning to Sochi, Leps begins to work as a musician either on the dance floors of the city, or in the Riviera Park, or in restaurants.

In the late 80s, he became the soloist of the Index-398 group. And in the early 90s he began to sing in one of the restaurants of the Zhemchuzhina Hotel. The audience began to gather at Leps. Among the vacationers were often celebrities such as Gazmanov, Rosembaum, Shufutinsky, Kalyanov, who advised him to go to Moscow. Leps never experienced a passion for wealth, and even at that time he earned a lot of money every day, so he easily spent it.

Moscow, the beginning ... 1992

But then he decided not to waste his talent in vain and went to conquer Moscow. At that time he was 30 years old. The capital does not like visitors much, and Leps immediately felt this. Here he turned out to be useless to anyone, he began to drink, gained weight up to 100 kg, in general, he looked, to put it mildly, very badly, and the people who promised to help him immediately disappeared somewhere. However, the singer did not live in poverty, he continued to earn money in restaurants.

After many failures, he, in collaboration with Manshin, Kobylyansky and Dolzhenkov, recorded his first debut album, God Bless You. Then the song and video "Natalie" appeared. With this, the starry path of the great maestro began.

And then, in the midst of work, due to a busy schedule and excessive alcohol consumption, the musician became very ill and was taken to the hospital with a diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis and already thought that he would never see the white light. But God was merciful, he had an operation. Doctors strictly forbade him to drink. From that day on, he really stopped drinking alcohol. He overcame the fear of dying young, he lost 35 kg. But another blow to Leps' health was already in 2008, when he had a bleeding ulcer, but Leps also coped with this disease.

In 1997, his new album "The Whole Life" was released, and Leps for the first time participated in the music television festival "Song of the Year-97". In 1998, Pugacheva herself invites him to Christmas meetings.

A little later, the audience will admire his talent at a concert dedicated to Vysotsky, where he will perform the song "Sail" in a very original way. After that, his collaboration with Alexander Solokha begins.

Big stage since 2000

And then it started and went: solo concerts, recording albums and videos. In 2000, he again undergoes surgery, only on the vocal cords. But everything worked out, and again he performs and in 2001 receives the Chanson of the Year award.

Grigory Leps, whose songs can no longer be counted, can rightfully be called the king of the hit. What are his duets with Alegrova - “I don’t believe you” (2007), with Stas Piekha - “She’s not yours” (2007), Rosembaum - “Gop-stop” (2008), Meladze - “Turn around” (2010) , Timati - "London" (2012), etc., not to mention his numerous solo albums and concerts.

He is the owner of many prestigious prizes and awards, as well as honorary titles. In 2011, President D. Medvedev awarded him the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

Grigory Leps: family

If we talk about the artist's family life, his first wife was with whom they studied at a music school. In this marriage, a daughter, Inga (1984), was born, she now lives in the UK. But after a while they divorced. The second time Leps married in 2000 Anna Shaplykova, a dancer from the Laima Vaikule ballet. Now they are raising three children: Eva (2002), Nicole (2007) and son Vano (2010).

Millionaire

Interestingly, according to Forbes magazine, by 2011 alone, his income amounted to 15 million US dollars. However, Grigory Leps was not only involved in music, whose songs were played on all radio stations and television, he also turned out to be a good businessman, as he became the owner of restaurants in Moscow and Kyiv, began to manufacture glasses under his own brand.

The United States, of course, could not forgive the singer for this, so he was accused of mafia connections and blacklisted. Leps has no accounts or property in America, so he took these accusations as an irony of fate.

The singer has an unusual timbre of voice, if I may say so, growling. “A pop song with elements of rock,” as Grigory Leps himself spoke about his style. Nationality played a big role in Gregory's life. It should be noted that the most musical and subtly sensitive performers on our stage are Georgians. The brothers Valery and Konstantin Meladze, Tamara Gvartsiteli and, of course, Grigory Viktorovich Leps can serve as an example.

Performing works in various genres, including "chanson". The most widely known to the public are his compositions "Natalie", "A glass of vodka on the table" and some others that are loved by the Russian public.

The origin of the singer

However, few people know that Grigory Leps is not Russian. He is one of the few representatives of singers of Georgian origin on the Russian stage. Both of his parents, father - Viktor Antonovich Lepsveridze and mother - Natella Semyonovna, were from Georgia, but the singer himself was born already in Russia, in the city of Sochi, on July 16, 1962. Parents named Grisha: thus, the real name of the singer is Grigory Viktorovich Lepsveridze.

Nickname

From the above facts, the singer becomes clear: it is an abbreviation of his real Lepsveridze, which seemed too long to the pop star. One of the versions of the appearance of the pseudonym claims that its roots lie in the childhood of the singer. At 14, he became a student at a music school, choosing percussion instruments as his specialty. Having mastered the necessary skills, he later began to put them into practice, playing in various musical groups. In one of them, his bandmates came up with the nickname “Leps”, which was a sonorous and memorable way to designate a novice musician. It was to this conclusion that he himself subsequently came, choosing for himself a pseudonym, which he planned to use already in his solo career.

Further development of events showed that the choice he made was absolutely correct. Today, even people who are far from the modern Russian stage have heard his abbreviated surname at least once, acting as a pseudonym, and remember this fact, because it is short, bright and memorable. Yes, and his songs today are familiar to almost every resident of Russia and many of our compatriots living abroad.

True, it is worth recognizing that he owes this not only to a well-chosen pseudonym, but also to a well-chosen repertoire, as well as a memorable voice timbre. One of the proofs of his popularity outside our homeland is the active touring activity of the artist, during which he has already traveled a significant part of the world. At the same time, Leps is not only a performer, but also the author of some of his works. In addition, his discography includes several soundtracks to famous Russian films.