Lena Katina
| Lena Katina | |
|---|---|
 Lena Katina in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Elena Sergeevna Katina |
| Born |
October 4, 1984 (age 34) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Piano and vocals |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Katina Music Inc., Maqueta Records, T.A. Music, Such Much Productions |
| Website |
www |
Elena Sergeevna Katina (Russian: Елена Сергеевна Катина, born 4 October 1984), better known as Lena Katina, is a Russian singer and songwriter who is best known for her work with Russian duo t.A.T.u. She started her career at the age of eight joining the Russian children's act Avenue, and soon after that, joining Neposedi. In 1999 Ivan Shapovalov chose Lena Katina for his project, t.A.T.u., as well as Julia Volkova. The duo would later become Russia's most successful pop music act. The group produced several hits including "All the Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All About Us". Their first single "All The Things She Said" peaked at number one in 19 countries including the UK, Russia and Australia.[1][2][3][4]
In 2009 Katina began a solo career, which caused t.A.T.u. to go into a hiatus. In 2011 Katina and Volkova officially split to pursue solo careers. That year Katina released her first mainstream single "Never Forget", which in 2011 reached No. 1 on the MTV Russia Top 10 and also won the MTV Russia – 2011 Video Of The Year.[5] The track also reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and reached No. 1 in Greece.
In 2014, she released her debut album, This Is Who I Am.
Early years
Katina was born in Moscow on 4 October 1984 to the musician, Sergey Katin – who collaborated with "Dyuna", Marina Khlebnikova and other representatives of Russian show-business. Starting at just 4 years old, on her father's initiative, Katina began to attend various sport and music clubs for the purpose of fostering plastic arts and artistic talents. When she was seven Katina entered an ordinary school and within a year she entered music school for piano classes. When she was ten she joined the child-group "Avenue" as a soloist, where she would sing for the next 3 years. When she was 13 she became a member of vocal and instrumental group "Neposedi" (Fidgets) where she met Yulia Volkova with whom she became friends. At the casting, she sang a song in French and the jury were astonished by the quality of her voice. Soon Lena left the group due to her age – children sing in "Neposedi" up to 14 years old. At the age of 14 she was successfully cast as a member of the pop duo "t.A.T.u.".
Music career
1999–2014: t.A.T.u.
Creator and then-manager of t.A.T.u., Ivan Shapovalov stated that the idea of t.A.T.u. stemmed from the common fascination and fantasy of school-girl lesbian lovers among men, knowing that the duo would be highly appealing to a diverse fan-base.
After auditioning 400 girls, Shapovalov selected Katina for t.A.T.u. at the age of 14. With the project still in development, Katina had the opportunity to record demos (credited as t.A.T.u.), like "Belochka" and "Yugoslavia". The then 14-year-old Julia Volkova was added to the project some time afterward, and in 2001, the duo rose to popularity in Russia, and later in the world.
Feeling satisfied with his choices, Shapovalov signed Volkova and Katina to t.A.T.u., but the contract with Shapovalov also demanded that the girls present a lesbian image. After breaking away from Shapovalov in 2004, the girls came clean and stated that Shapovalov had created the lesbian image, and that they were even told what to say in interviews.
t.A.T.u. soon became the most successful Russian group of all time, leaving a number of hits behind them, such as "All the Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All About Us". They also took part in Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and finished third with Ne Ver', Ne Boysia. In 2007, Katina, along with her bandmate, Yulia Volkova, starred in a film You and I, with Mischa Barton playing the lead role. The film was directed by Roland Joffe and was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. The film was released in 2011 and 2012.
She has recorded in several different locations such as Los Angeles, New York City and her hometown Moscow. She was known to be mostly recording in Los Angeles. It was confirmed by the official t.A.T.u. website that Katina was to undertake a solo career under the guidance and management of the T.A. Music label. She started working with t.A.T.u. band-members in mid-2009 and was expected to release an album in 2011.[6] In March 2011, t.A.T.u. officially disbanded. The group celebrated their 12 years together, and released two remix albums entitled Waste Management Remixes pt. 1 and Waste Management Remixes pt. 2.
On 13 December during a live chat, Katina was asked what she thinks of Volkova's new video "All Because Of You" to which she replied "I think it [all because of you] is very Julia. Julia is Julia." The rest of her comments were lost due to technical issues on the live chat.
2010–2016: Solo career, "European Fan Weekend", "This Is Who I Am" and "Esta Soy Yo"
Katina hosted a fan event at The Trail in Los Angeles on 29 May 2010[7][8] and gave her first solo performance on 30 May 2010 at the Troubador in Los Angeles.[9] Katina was the opening act of PrideFest in Milwaukee on 12 June 2010.[10] On the day of her performance at Pridefest, Katina released a free download of a song from her upcoming album called "Lost in this Dance".[11] On 17 September 2010, Katina performed at the San Francisco club 1015 Folsom.[12] On 3 February, Katina was scheduled to give her first performance of 2011 at the XLV Party in Dallas, Texas' Cotton Bowl, with The Village People, Cazwell, Lady Bunny, DJ Hector Fonseca and DJ Enferno.[13] The concert, however, was canceled on 31 January when only 13 tickets for the show had sold.[14] In 2011, the film featuring her acting debut, You and I, was released in Russia. The film also featured t.A.T.u.'s other half, Yulia Volkova, as well as actress Mischa Barton.
Alongside the release of Lost In This Dance, she recorded the single "Guardian Angel" with the Canadian post-hardcore band, Abandon All Ships, which was featured on their 2010 debut album Geeving, which was released in October. On Friday, 17 June 2011 Katina's single "Never Forget" premiered on the Mexican radio station FMTU 103-7 in Monterrey, Mexico.[15] On 1 August 2011, the singer revealed the trailer for the music video. On 2 August the official video was leaked on Perez Hilton's blog[16] On Friday, 5 August 2011, Katina officially released her music video for "Never Forget"[17] and released the song on iTunes as a single, which also includes her song "Stay".[18]
Katina and her band appeared on Rawsession, where she performed original acoustic versions of Owl City's "Deer in the Headlights", Alexandra Stan's "Mr. Saxobeat", and her own "Never Forget".[19] All videos were released officially via YouTube[20] and eight months later, the songs were released in the EP "RAWsession 07-14-11".[21] She also collaborated with Mexican synthpop band Belanova and filmed a video for the song they recorded together titled "Tic Toc".[22]
On 19 September 2011, Katina released a new song, "Waiting", while being interviewed by Echo of Moscow Radio.[23] On 9 December 2011, Katina released a new song, "Keep On Breathing" via Kroogi, which was used as a fund-raising song for helping Japanese children who had been suffering from the earthquake and tsunami.[24]
During a video conference with her fans on 13 December, Katina was asked by a fan for information on when her album would be released, to which she replied: "I also would like to know the answer to this question [laughs]... I am trying to find a label, but they don't want me, for some reason..." Katina's connection to fans went down at this point and the remaining comments made by her were lost.
Lena's single Never Forget reached number one in MTV’s "Russian Top 10 – Year in review" chart.[25] The song failed to enter the top 100 airplay charts in Russia, peaking at number 244.[26]
Since then Katina has released several songs including "Waiting", and "Lost In This Dance", and has performed several songs live such as "World", "Just A Day", "The Beast (So Not Cool)", and "Fed Up (IRS)" in both English and Russian. The song "Keep On Breathing" was released to support Japanese children victims of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
On 30 September 2012, Katina's collaboration with rapper T-Killah, "SHOT", was released on Love Radio. In April 2013, the Russian version "Ya Budu Ryadom" was released.[27]
In December 2012, Katina parted ways with Boris Renski and his team, moving to Los Angeles to work on a limited edition triple CD for release in early 2013 and a Spanish language EP. The project never materialized, but Katina released her second solo single Lift Me Up.
In 2014, Katina made a series of performances with her former bandmate Julia Volkova as t.A.t.u which ended with a TV performance for the Olympic Games in Russia. However, shortly after this performance Katina accused Volkova of blackmailing her, putting an end to t.A.T.u as a band. Volkova denied the accusations. The single "Lyubov v Kazhdom Mgnovenii" -"Love in every moment"- was released as a collaboration of the two singers, but was not listed as a t.A.t.u song.
On 17 March 2014, Katina released her first live album "European Fan Weekend 2013 Live", recorded on 6 October 2013 in Cologne. The album features performances of t.A.T.u. songs and her solo songs. On 2 September 2014, Katina announced via Facebook that her debut studio album, This Is Who I Am, would be released on 18 November 2014, preceded by her single Who I Am' on 7 October and "Fed Up" as a countdown single on 15 September. 'An Invitation' was released as a single on 12 March 2015.[28]
In July of 2016, Katina released her Spanish album, "Esta Soy Yo" to show appreciation for her fans from Latin-based countries.
2017–present: Upcoming second solo album
In October 2017, Katina released her new English-language single "Silent Hills". Later in December, she released her song "Here I Go Again", a collaboration with Daddy Mercury.
On March 3 2018, Katina released the Russian-language ballad song "Posle Nas" ("After Us"), as a nostalgic dedication to her past memories of being in t.A.T.u. with her former bandmate Julia Volkova.
She released two more Russian-language singles later in 2018, "Косы" and "Макдоналдс" ("Macdonalds").
Personal life
Since her early childhood, Katina's hobbies have included artistic gymnastics, ballroom dancing, figure skating, swimming and horse-riding. She is also a skilled pianist and also enjoys reading, especially romance novels. Katina stated in a 2006 TeleHit interview that she used to listen to artists such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Pink Floyd when she was younger. She has two half-siblings, a younger paternal half-sister Katya and a maternal half-brother Ivan. She had a religious upbringing, and was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Katina married her boyfriend of three years, Slovenian musician "Sash Kuzma" (Sasha Kuzmanović) of Serbian and Slovenian origin[29][30] in Moscow and Ljubljana in August 2013.[31]
Katina announced in November 2014 that she was 3 1/2 months pregnant with her first child during a concert in Rome.[32][33][34] On 22 May 2015, she gave birth to her first child, a boy named Aleksandr, in Moscow.[35]
Support for the LGBT community
In 2007, Katina participated in the gay pride in Moscow.
In September 2012, Katina and her band went to St Petersburg for support the international festival Queerfest in 2012. Katina said, "We all are very different people and we should celebrate our differences. We should not be silent when we see this intolerant aggression towards LGBT-community". The organisers noted that "Lena’s participation in Queerfest is a truly historic moment: For the first time such a high-profile Russian artists supports the festival" said organizers.[36]
In September 2014, her former bandmate Julia Volkova appeared as a contestant on a Ukrainian game show called Lie Detector, and made comments considered to be highly homophobic, especially towards homosexual men.[37][38] Katina reacted after the comments by her.[37][38] She said : "Hey, all! I am seeing some comments lately regarding my position about LGBT and my religion. I can say one thing: God is teaching us to live in love, to be tolerant and not to judge other people! And I do so! Love is love and it is a wonderful feeling! I think everybody should be free to love who they love and be with who they want to spend their life with! Xoxo"[39]
Acting career
Katina made her film début alongside Julia Volkova and Mischa Barton in the 2011 film You and I, the story of two teenage girls who meet and fall in love at a Moscow t.A.T.u. concert. The film is based on the novel t.A.T.u. Come Back, which was in turn based on true events.
Lena voiced the fairy Zarina in the Russian dub of the Disney film The Pirate Fairy which was released on Feb.13, 2014.[40]
The video of "Lyubov' v Kazhdom Mgnoveniy" (Love in every moment) was launched in 2014 as a short film named Together Apart[41] that is part of the Cornetto marketing project Cornetto Cupidity. In the film, Lena is one of the cupids that try to bring a young couple through a long distance romance together.
Modelling career
In January 2013, Katina had a photoshoot with the Russian edition of Maxim magazine.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| This Is Who I Am[42] |
|
| Esta Soy Yo |
|
Live albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| European Fan Weekend 2013 Live[43] |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| RAWsession – 07.14.11[21] |
|
| Never Forget (Remixes) (featuring THEE PAUS3)[44] |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Club | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Never Forget" | 2011 | 1 | This Is Who I Am | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Lift Me Up" | 2013 | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Who I Am" | 2014 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| "An Invitation" | 2015 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Levántame" | 2016 | — | Esta Soy Yo | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Silent Hills" | 2017 | — | TBA | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Posle Nas" | 2018 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Косы" | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "Макдоналдс" | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot Latin Songs | US Latin Pop Airplay | SPA | |||
| "Tic-Toc" (with Belanova) |
2011 | 32 | 2 | 12 | Sueño Electro II |
| "Here I Go Again" (with Daddy Mercury) |
2017 | — | — | — | TBA |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Lost In This Dance" (Pridefest Mix) |
2010 | Non-album single |
| "Keep On Breathing"[45] | 2011 | |
| "Just A Day" | 2013 | This Is Who I Am |
| "World (Demo)" | Non-album single | |
| "No Voy Olvidarte" (MZ Remix)[46] | ||
| "Fed Up" | 2014 |
Other appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Guardian Angel" | 2010 | Abandon All Ships | Geeving | |
| "Melody" | 2012 | Clark Owen | Melody – single | |
| "Shot"/ "Ya Budu Ryadom" | 2013 | T-Killah | Boom | |
| "Paradise" | Sergio Galoyan | Paradise – EP | ||
| "It's Christmas Time" | Orbit Monkey | It's Christmas Time – EP[47] | ||
| "Century" | 2014 | Re:boot | Century – Single | |
| "Любовь в каждом мгновении"
("Lubov v Kazhdom Mgnovenii") |
Julia Volkova & Legalize feat. Mike Tompkins | Lubov v Kazhdom Mgnovenii – Single | ||
| "Golden Leaves" | 2015 | Noemi Smorra | Trasparente – EP[48]/ "This is Who I Am" | |
| Новая любовь ("Novaya Lubov") | "Podnebeses" | Unreleased |
As songwriter
| Title | Year | Artist | Album | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Lucifer" | 2014 | Anna Tsuchiya | Lucifer – EP | co-writer |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| As lead artist | ||
| "Never Forget"[17][49] | 2011 | James Cox |
| "Lift Me Up"[50] | 2013 | David Lehre |
| "Who I Am"[51][52] | 2014 | Jason Wisch |
| "An Invitation"[53] | 2015 | Livia Alcalde & Francesco Sperandeo |
| As featured artist | ||
| "Tic-Toc"[54] (Belanova featuring Lena Katina) |
2011 | Daniel Robles |
| "Melody"[55][56] (Clark Owen featuring Lena Katina) |
2012 | Jason Wisch |
| "Shot"[57] & "Ya Budu Ryadom"[58] (T-killah featuring Lena Katina) |
2013 | Chopchop |
| "Lubov v Kazhdom Mgnoveniy"[59] (Julia Volkova, Lena Katina, Ligalize & Mike Tompkins) |
2014 | Elena Kiper |
| "Golden Leaves"[60] (Noemi Smorra featuring Lena Katina) |
2015 | Livia Alcalde & Francesco Sperandeo |
Video releases
| Title | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|
| This Is Who I Am – Live in Rome | 2015 | Live video, photos and mp3 |
References
- 1 2 Niet compatibele browser. Facebook. Retrieved on 10 February 2011.
- 1 2 Kanaal van lenakatinamusic. YouTube. Retrieved on 10 February 2011.
- ↑ "t.A.T.u. Album & Song Chart History | Billboard.com". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ↑ "Chart Stats – Tatu – All The Things She Said". chartstats.com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ↑ Never Forget is #1 on MTV Russia. Lena-katina.com. Retrieved on 27 April 2012. Archived 20 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Insider (21 March 2009). "t.A.T.u. forever". t.A.T.u. Blog. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ↑ Lena Katina Fan Weekend. lena-pan-american.com
- ↑ "Pictures of Lena Katina's Fan Weekend".
- ↑ 30 May Lena Katina debuts her brand new solo efforts with her band at the legendary Los Angeles club Troubadour Archived 19 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Lena-katina.com (26 April 2010). Retrieved on 10 February 2011.
- ↑ 12 June Lena’s first solo performance will take place at PrideFest / Milwaukee, USA Archived 22 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Lena-katina.com (19 June 2010). Retrieved on 10 February 2011.
- ↑ "Lena-Katina.com". Archived from the original on 15 June 2010.
- ↑ "Lena-Katina.com". Archived from the original on 16 August 2010.
- ↑ Gay Dallas/Fort Worth Nightlife, 25 January 2011. "Dallas Gay Super Bowl Parties". Accessed 3 March 2011.
- ↑ dallasvoice.com, 31 January 2011. "Organizers cancel gay-themed Super Bowl concert at Cotton Bowl after only 13 tickets sold". Accessed 3 March 2011.
- ↑ What's going on. lena-katina.com
- ↑ ""Never Forget" Trailer / Lena Katina". YouTube.
- 1 2 "Lena Katina – Never Forget (Censored version)". YouTube.
- ↑ "iTunes – Music – Never Forget – Single by Lena Katina". iTunes.
- ↑ "RAWsession – Home".
- ↑ "@RAWsession". YouTube.
- 1 2 "iTunes – Music – RAWsession – 07.14.11 – Single by Lena Katina". iTunes.
- ↑ "August video blog". YouTube.
- ↑ What's going on. lena-katina.com
- ↑ "Keep on Breathing – Lena Katina". Kroogi.
- ↑ What's going on. lena-katina.com
- ↑ Never Forget. tophit.ru
- ↑ T-killah ft. Lena Katina – SHOT. soundcloud.com
- ↑ "Lena Katina". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ Lenin’s Square. Rolling Stone drank 4 bottles of dry, red wine with ex-t.A.T.u. soloist, Lena Katina, who is writing her first solo album in America. Rolling Stones Russia
- ↑ LENA KATINA: «SUCCESS IN THE CAREER AND THE WEDDING, I PREDICTED FORTUNE TELLER» DIRECT-BEAUTY.RU
- ↑ "Heat.ru". SUPER.ru.
- ↑ Peterson, Jacques (16 November 2014). "t.A.T.u. Member Lena Katina Is Pregnant With Her First Child She gave birth to her son on May 22, 2015". www.popdust.com. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ↑ "Lena Katina announcing her pregnancy in Rome". www.youtube.com. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ↑ "The ex-soloist of the band t.A.T.u. Lena Katina waiting for the firstborn". tidibtea.ru. n.d. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ↑ "Instagram post by Lena Katina • May 22, 2015 at 1:24pm UTC". Instagram. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
- ↑ "LENA KATINA TO HEADLINE QUEERFEST 2012 IN ST. PETERSBURG". comingoutspb.ru/. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- 1 2 "t.A.T.u singer reveals she's a raging homophobe". Evie Grabowiecki, Ninemsn. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- 1 2 "Tatu 'lesbian' Yulia Volkova makes homophobic slur: All The Things She Said singer says she wouldn't accept her son if he was gay". Ella Alexander, The Independent. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ Katina, Lena (18 September 2014). "Lena Katina – Hey, all! I am seeing some comments lately regarding..." Facebook. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ "Pin by Natalie Anthony on t.A.T.u ♡ | Pinterest". Pinterest.
- ↑ "Together Apart (2014)". IMDb. 24 April 2014.
- ↑ "Лена Катина: альбом "This Is Who I Am" в iTunes".
- ↑ "iTunes — музыка — European Fan Weekend 2013 Live (Елена Катина)". iTunes.
- ↑ "iTunes – Music – Never Forget (Remixes) [feat. THEE PAUS3] by Lena Katina". iTunes.
- ↑ "Keep on Breathing – Lena Katina". Kroogi.
- ↑ "Lena Katina". jammer.fm
- ↑ "Orbit Monkey | It's Christmas Time | CD Baby Music Store".
- ↑ Records, Maqueta. "NOEMI SMORRA "TRASPARENTE" 2015 EP / Maqueta Records".
- ↑ "Lena Katina – Never Forget HD". YouTube.
- ↑ "Lena Katina – Lift Me Up (Official Video)". YouTube.
- ↑ "Lena Katina – Who I Am". YouTube.
- ↑ "Lena Katina – Who I Am". YouTube.
- ↑ "Lena Katina – An Invitation". YouTube.
- ↑ "Belanova Feat. Lena Katina "Tic-Toc" (Video Oficial)". YouTube.
- ↑ "Melody – Clark Owen feat. Lena Katina (Official Video)". YouTube.
- ↑ "Melody – Clark Owen feat. Lena Katina (Official Video HD)". YouTube.
- ↑ "T-killah ft. Lena Katina (t.A.T.u.) – SHOT (official video)". YouTube.
- ↑ "T-killah ft. Лена Катина (t.A.T.u.) – Я Буду Рядом (клип)". YouTube.
- ↑ "Юля Волкова & Лена Катина & Лигалайз & Майк Томпкинс – Любовь в каждом мгновении". YouTube.
- ↑ Maqueta Records (13 January 2015). "Noemi Smorra ft. Lena Katina – GOLDEN LEAVES (Official Video) HD" – via YouTube.
External links
| Preceded by Prime Minister with "Northern Girl" |
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 (as part of t.A.T.u.) |
Succeeded by Yulia Savicheva with "Believe Me" |
Authority control  |
|---|