Yulia Kogan is a Russian singer and songwriter. For a long time, fans of the scandalously eccentric ska-punk rock band “Leningrad” associated the group with both the leader of the project and the red-haired backing vocalist and then lead singer Yulia Kogan, whose photograph even appeared on the cover of the group’s album.

Yulia Mikhailovna Kogan was born in the city on the Neva in March 1981. In her early youth, the girl was seriously involved in swimming. Julia owes her slim figure and athletic form to this sport. But the dreams of young Yulia Kogan were connected not with sports, but with singing. The St. Petersburg woman had a wonderful voice. But vocal lessons required a lot of money, which the Kogan family did not have. Therefore, the red-haired singer studied music and singing on her own.

The teacher of the school singing club, which Yulia attended, helped the student “polish” her skills.

After graduating from high school, Yulia Kogan went to a vocational school, where she studied confectionery. Julia was able to become a student at the Theater Academy only later, when her voice had formed. It is noteworthy that entering this prestigious educational institution is possible only after serious preparation. And Kogan did not have any specialized schools behind her.

Yulia Kogan graduated from SPGATI (Theater Academy on Mokhovaya) in 2003. The specialty she received – musical theater actor – opened up wonderful prospects for the talented girl in musical creativity.

Music

The creative biography of Yulia Kogan began in her student years. Her vocal career started in the musical theater “Through the Looking Glass”, where Julia instantly became the main soloist. But the path to fame was thorny. The girl repeatedly tested her strength in various areas of Russian show business. She also tried herself in the modeling business, taking part in professional photography. And although her modeling career developed rapidly, the girl’s soul lay in music and vocals. The powerful timbre of Kogan’s voice allowed her to easily cope with both a pop composition and a complex operatic piece.

After graduating from the academy, Yulia Kogan began to actively develop her career. She willingly took part in all the vocal competitions held and managed to make herself known loudly.

In 2006, the singer went to Jurmala and took part in the World Stars competition. In Jurmala, the talented St. Petersburg performer was so liked by the jury that they almost unanimously gave her the highest award of the competition.

But popularity came to Yulia only the next year, when Kogan was accepted into the notorious group “Leningrad”. The girl was hired as a backing vocalist. The band's repertoire did not bother the young singer at all. Yulia sang the lyrics with a thick interspersing of obscene vocabulary in such a way that the compositions acquired a certain femininity and a kind of grace.

In 2007, the first album of the Leningrad group was released, in the recording of which Yulia Kogan participated - “Aurora”. For the group, “Aurora” became the twelfth and last album before the collapse.

Because of her work in Leningrad, Yulia Kogan refused all other offers, since the workload turned out to be high. Rehearsals, performances, recordings and tours took up all the time. But very soon, many fans of the group could no longer imagine it without the red-haired singer.

In 2009, Leningrad broke up due to disagreements that arose in the team. Yulia Kogan got the opportunity to try her hand at a different style. In 2010, Julia began collaborating with another St. Petersburg group. And although its popularity was incomparable with “Leningrad,” but in “St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review” the singer was able to reveal her vocal capabilities to the fullest. She sang compositions in the style of swing and ska-jazz. Yulia's voice sounded new. Together with Ska-Jazz Review, Kogan went on tour in big cities of Russia.

However, in 2010, when the Leningrad lineup reunited again, Yulia immediately dropped everything and returned to the group. But this time not as a backing vocalist, but as a full-fledged soloist. Already on September 20 of the same year, a video appeared on the official website of the Leningrad group for the scandalous song “Sweet Dream” performed by Yulia, which gained popularity with the name “I love it so much when it’s big...” based on a repeating line in the text.

In December, the musicians posted two more videos for new compositions, where again the vocal parts belonged to Yulia Kogan. On December 8, a video was released, which in the media is usually called “Farewell,” although on the official website the musicians called the video a different – ​​obscene – word. And at the end of December, a video stylized as a New Year’s show was released for the song “So Cool,” which fans of the group also know from the first line, “Pour me another glass.”

In this capacity, the performer recorded a new album with Leningrad entitled “Henna”. The album was released in 2011. The cover of the disc was decorated with a photo of Yulia Kogan. The disc started straight from third place in the “Russia Top 25. Albums” chart, and at the end of May 2011 it topped this chart.

In October 2011, the group released another new album called "Eternal Flame". The album was not released on CD, but the release of “Eternal Flame” took place on the website of the magazine “Big City”. The album was released on physical media – on vinyl – only in 2013. The genre of the new disc was described by the band's leader Sergei Shnurov as a “dumplings”-western with cowboy tunes in the Soviet sense.

Also, during her collaboration with Leningrad, Kogan managed to record a number of bright songs with the group “Korol and Shut”. The vocalist also took part in the filming of the video for the song “The Witch and the Donkey.”

The singer had to leave the band again a year later. The reason was valid - pregnancy.

In 2013, after returning from maternity leave, Yulia Kogan did not return to Leningrad. The singer received an offer to become a TV presenter of the “I’m Right” project on the “U” channel. Sergei Shnurov was against it. Therefore, Kogan found herself fired.

The career of a TV presenter is developing quite successfully. But Yulia Kogan did not give up singing either. She is making a good solo career. In 2015, the singer’s debut album “Ogon-Baba” was released. The most popular songs on this disc are “Blablabla”, “Nikita”, “Lip to Lip”, “I Scream” and “Dance with Me”. The singer made sure that videos appeared for the most striking songs.

Personal life

The rapid career of a singer and TV presenter did not become an obstacle to the main thing - motherhood. The personal life of Yulia Kogan is developing happily. The singer is married to Anton Booth, a popular St. Petersburg photographer.

In 2013, the couple had a charming daughter, Lisa.

Yulia Kogan now

In October 2017, Yulia Kogan released a new album, “Hard Lyrics.” The record was published by the SOYUZ Studio label. The disc includes ten songs by the performer: “I’m Flying Away”, “Swans”, “Breathe Me In”, “Red Lipstick”, “That’s All”, “I Want to Know”, “Silence”, “Lonely Woman Blues”, “Grab Boogie” ", "When night comes." In addition, Yulia Kogan presented a music video for the song from this album “Swans”.

Discography

As part of the Leningrad group:

• 2007 - “Aurora”
• 2008 - “Concert at the Yubileiny Sports Palace” (live album)
• 2008 - “GlavClub” (live album)
• 2010 - “The Last Concert of Leningrad” (live album)
• 2011 - “Henna”
• 2011 - “Eternal Flame”
• 2012 - “Green Theater” (live album)
• 2012 - “Fish”
• 2012 - “Fuck with us” (unofficial album)

Solo albums:

• 2015 - “Fire Woman”
• 2017 - “Hard Lyrics”

Yulia Mikhailovna Kogan is a shocking singer with unique voice abilities. She gained popularity as a vocalist of the rock band “Leningrad”.

“Fiery Beast” and “Yulia Legs” - this is what fans call the singer for her chic, curly red hair and love for short outfits.

But she was able to achieve fame and popularity only after 30 years, when she stopped even dreaming about it.

Childhood and adolescence

The future singer appeared in the northern capital - St. Petersburg, 03/20/1981.

She was born into an incomplete family. Only my mother was involved in upbringing.

Their communal apartment was located on Fontanka. From its windows there was a view of the BDT theater.

The family lived very poorly. Mom constantly worked and earned extra money, but there was still not enough money.

Her father appeared in Yulia Kogan’s life only once, in her teens. His mother brought him in and officially introduced him: “This is Mikhail. Your dad."

The girl was not inspired by the meeting, although she noticed that she looked like her father.

From him she got curly, fluffy hair that stuck out in different directions.

Considering that the girl’s hair was always short, she received the nickname Pushkin. In her youth, Yulia was tall and very thin, even awkward.

Her classmates constantly mocked and laughed at her, and Yulia dreamed of becoming a famous singer in defiance of everyone.

At one time she attended 2 sections - swimming and vocals. However, because of work, the mother did not have time to take the girl to them, and a choice had to be made.

Julia then settled on swimming, as she was making some progress.

But due to the fact that the team was not very strong, it was not possible to break into professional sports.

At the age of 16 she entered the ensemble, which was taught vocals by opera singer Natalya Latysheva.

The girl had no money, and the teacher taught her for free.

According to Yulia Kogan, this was an invaluable experience.

After graduating from high school, Yulia had to enter a vocational school to become a cook, since she was not old enough to enter the conservatory.

Subsequently, the girl made two attempts to become a student at the conservatory, but both were unsuccessful.

While she was preparing and applying, she not only managed to get a diploma as a pastry chef, but even worked in a confectionery shop.

After another failure in the entrance exams at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Yulia submits documents to a theater university for the opera vocal department.

Then she was so eager to sing that she did not understand why she needed acting knowledge.

But she soon got involved, and in 2003 the girl became a professional theater actress.

Subsequently, according to the singer, the knowledge gained and experience of transformation helped her when performing on stage.

First steps in a musical career

Yulia’s first “working place” was the State Musical Theater “Through the Looking Glass”. She came there as a soloist in 2000, when she was still a student.

She liked to serve on the theater stage, but she did not want to get involved with acting specifically.

Yulia Kogan begins to work part-time as a fashion model, which gives her the opportunity to get involved in various pop projects.

She sings compositions of completely different genres: from jazz to opera arias.

In 2006, the girl took part in the international creative competition World Stars, held in Jurmala.

There, the jury celebrated her performance by awarding the main prize.

A few months later, an acquaintance took place with the then little-known Sergei Shnurov.

Collaboration with musical groups

In 2007, Yulia Kogan officially became a backing vocalist of the Leningrad group. True, at first there were no songs for her.

And she had to earn her wages by dancing and being active on stage. Here she was completely transformed.

She became hooligan, and the obscene words of songs from her lips acquired notes of sophistication and charm.

With Sergei Shnurov

She worked in the team until 2009, before its first collapse.

In the following years, she collaborated with the group St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review. Here Yulia Kogan received freedom of expression.

She was able to make the most of her vocal abilities. With the new team, she gave several concerts in Moscow and her native St. Petersburg.

In 2011, S. Shnurov decides to record another album, and brings the whole team together again, including Yulia.

A year later, the girl becomes pregnant and goes on maternity leave. True, due to a tough tour schedule, she had to return to duty after 3 months.

In the spring of 2013, a new video clip of the group “Finnish Gulf” was released, where Yulia still participates as the main vocalist.

In the fall of the same year, Yulia Kogan was forced to leave the famous Leningrad team.

Relations with Sergei Shnurov have been slightly tense lately, and Yulia’s new job “added fuel to the fire.”

In her free time, she began broadcasting on the “Yu” channel; S. Shnurov decided that this would interfere with Yulia’s ability to fully engage in music, and would be to the detriment of the group.

On this basis, a major disagreement occurred, and the girl decides to go into free musical swimming.

Solo career and other activities

In 2015, her debut album “Ogon-Baba” was released, which consists of 18 tracks. Julia began to have her own fans.

She began to tour at a pace that is comfortable for her, and does not interfere much with her family.

In addition, a former colleague from the Leningrad group, Denis Kuptsov, helped her assemble her own team of musicians.

Her solo repertoire differs from what she sang in collaboration with other groups.

There are no obscene expressions or everyday jargon at all. In addition, Julia finds time for her hobby.

She plays at the Entreprise Theater named after. A. Mironova. You can see her in one performance so far - “Tram. Wish".

It's a musical play and she also performs a couple of songs in it.

However, the girl still devotes most of her time to concert activities.

In season 11 “Battle of Psychics”, Yulia Kogan can be seen as an invited guest.

Personal life

The singer is married to photographer Anton Booth, who is now her director. Their relationship developed somewhat strangely.

Julia immediately noticed Anton, a tall, blond man with charm, as a good candidate for a father for her children.

Their first meeting took place at a photo studio. He photographed her for a magazine.

However, he did not undertake active courtship, although it was noticeable that he also liked the “fiery” girl.

As it turned out later, Anton fell in love immediately, but was at the stage of divorcing his first wife and therefore hesitated.

By that time, Yulia had decided to break off her incomprehensible relationship with him and found herself another admirer, which had a sobering effect on Anton.

With Anton Booth

Singing beautifully is a talent that not everyone is gifted with. Singing beautifully while using profanity is a gift only for a select few. The red-haired beast has both. Years of academic vocal training helped to reveal the uniqueness of her voice, and long-term collaboration with the notorious Sergei Shnurov taught “ swear like a cultured woman».

Before trying on the image of the scandalous lead singer of the group "Leningrad" , has come a long way in personal and professional development. Who would have thought that the red ugly duckling would grow into a long-legged, sultry beauty? Julia was raised in an intelligent Soviet family. I have been swimming since childhood and achieved great success: she is a master of sports! But her peers did not favor the awkward red-haired girl. Offensive nicknames, mockery from time to time - this happened to many undervalued talents.

At the age of 16, Julia took up academic vocals. This was the start of her creative path. The girl developed her talent with athletic persistence and perseverance. This helped her immensely when entering SPbGATI. Having successfully graduated from the university in 2003, she received a diploma in musical theater acting. While still studying at the theater institute, Kogan worked in "Through the Looking Glass". This is a well-known children's musical theater in St. Petersburg. At the same time, Julia repeatedly tried her hand at. Worked as a fashion model at the agency of Sergei Lukovsky (pictured right).

The real impetus for the girl’s musical career was the International Performing Arts Competition, held in Jurmala in 2006. The jury was impressed by the singer’s unique voice and awarded her the Grand Prix.

As we know, opposites attract. So in 2007, the opera-jazz good girl Yulia Kogan and the bad boy of Russian show business Sergei Shnurov began to collaborate for the benefit of a common cause - the group "Leningrad" . The singer's voice can also be heard on recordings from an earlier period.

An ode to an office worker, “Manager,” is one of Yulia’s first works as a backing vocalist for the band. Naturally, participation in "Leningrad" radically changed the girl's image. The new image of the red-haired fury immediately fell in love with all fans "Leningrad". Only at the end of 2008–2009, the main ideological inspirer of the group, Shnur, fell into a creative crisis and rashly stopped its touring activities. But to the delight of fans, a new video was released in 2010 "Leningrad" under an alluring name "Sweet Dreams". After - a series of albums "Henna", "Fish", "Eternal Flame"- and in all of them Yulia Kogan is already a soloist.

The public reacted ambiguously to such changes. Some greeted with thunderous applause, others were indignant. Okay, when a bearded brutal man swears from the stage, he is allowed. But how can a girl afford this? Julia always waved her hand at such criticism. And she did the right thing, because such songs performed by her sound very elegant. There was criticism for a short time, because since Yulia lit up the hall, not a single female rock performer has lit up the room in the last 20 years. After several concerts, many stood and waited for this “Red Beast” to perform.

About my work in "Leningrad" Yulia Kogan always responded warmly, although she emphasized that Sergei Shnurov is a despotic boss. Maybe it's for this reason in 2013 Julia left the Leningrad group. Although she herself states that the reason is Shnurov’s creative jealousy. The girl also participated in other projects, but after an offer from the U TV channel, Sergei confronted Yulia with the fact that she was no longer the soloist of Leningrad.

Kogan did not regret leaving the team at all, because she had already collaborated with "St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review». In addition, she accepted an offer from the Yu TV channel and became one of the hosts of a talk show about the difficult fate of women "I'm right".

In 2014, Yulia Kogan began her solo career. She is currently working on a solo album. He actively shoots videos for each of his songs. In May 2014, her first solo concert took place in a St. Petersburg club. "Sea", which passed with a bang. Kogan has already been able to earn recognition from the public, who are expecting new creative achievements from the singer.

By the way, on January 30, 2015, Yulia Kogan, together with the participants of the TV show “ Battle of Psychics" Natalya Banteeva and Tatyana Larina performed a song “The Witch and the Donkey” by the legendary punk rock band “The King and the Jester”

In our opinion, it turned out quite incendiary. =) See for yourself!

Yulia Kogan- a wonderful singer with extraordinary vocal abilities, a graduate of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts, known to the general public thanks to her collaboration with a group of not entirely academic orientation - Leningrad.
Before joining Leningrad as a backing vocalist in 2007, Yulia’s field of activity was varied: the girl managed to work as a model, as a confectionery worker, and as an artist in the children’s musical theater “Through the Looking Glass”. However, the singer’s first arrival in the group was short-lived - in 2008, Sergei Shnurov announced the dissolution of the group (as it later turned out, temporary).
In 2010, Julia was invited to the ska-jazz project St.Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review to replace the previous soloist, the American Jennifer Davis, who returned to her homeland (the male part of the St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, which resumed concert activity after a two-year break, from the moment of its creation was represented, among other things, by members of the Leningrad group, so the choice of Yulia did not come as a surprise In addition, the singer’s vocal abilities fit perfectly into the group’s repertoire).
In 2011, Leningrad came together again and presented the public with a new album, “Henna,” where Julia performed as a soloist. During this period, until she went on maternity leave at the end of 2012, Leningrad recorded a significant number of songs with her participation that became hits.
After the birth of her daughter Lisa in January 2013, Yulia still periodically participated in projects in Leningrad, but her attempt to combine work in the group with the work of a TV presenter (the girl became the face of the daily talk show “I’m right” on the channel “U” together with actresses Liza Arzamasova, Daria Sagalova and Nastasya Samburskaya) turned out to be unsuccessful - Sergei Shnurov considered that her participation in any other project would be to the detriment of Leningrad.
Time will tell whether this separation is forever. Yulia herself, in an interview with Sobesednik, made it clear that she would not refuse to resume cooperation in the event of an appropriate proposal from Sergei. Yulia also admitted that, despite the fact that she considers working as a TV presenter a new interesting experience, her choice is singing, and after a while, having exhaled and recovered, she will inevitably begin a new musical search. And, apparently, the time has come - new music videos with Yulina’s vocals have appeared on the Internet - “Lip to Lip” and “Love”. Perhaps these songs, from the point of view of the melodic component, will not go down in the history of world music, to be assessed by the listener, but it’s a bad start. We wish Yulia good luck!

Yulia Mikhailovna Kogan. Born on March 20, 1981 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Russian singer and songwriter, TV presenter. Former soloist of the Leningrad group.

Yulia Kogan was born on March 20, 1981 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). She was raised by her mother Irina. They lived in a communal apartment in a one-room apartment. But their apartment was in a building opposite the BDT theater, on Fontanka.

I didn’t know my father as a child and saw him when I was already a teenager, and even then at the insistence of my mother. “She introduced: “Yulia, this is Mikhail. But you call him dad.” I remember I thought then: “Why would I call someone else’s uncle dad?!” He was a stranger to me, since then we haven’t seen each other. My father didn’t make any special impression on me, but I looked like him - then I found a photo of Mikhail in his youth,” said Yulia.

The family lived poorly. Mother worked either as a painter or as a cook, but there was always not enough money.

As Yulia said, already as a child she wanted to be a singer. Her idols were and. However, she added, “the older I got, the desire gradually went away.”

As a child, she, in her words, was an “ugly duckling: a thin and absolutely flat girl, with short hair,” which is why she got a lot of trouble in the yard and at school.

She took up swimming, and quite successfully. At the same time, she sang in the choir. When I had to choose, I chose the pool. “At first I dreamed of being a great swimmer. Then - a singer,” she recalled.

At the age of 16, she found herself in an ensemble with which teacher Natalya Latysheva, an opera singer, worked. According to Yulia, she taught her a lot.

After school, I studied at a vocational school to become a pastry chef. I studied for four years and even worked in my profession: “At night we baked pies with different fillings on Lesnaya Street. Hellish schedules - night after night. But the pay was normal, enough to live on.”

But she wanted to sing. She entered the conservatory twice, but was unsuccessful.

Since she didn’t succeed at the conservatory, she went to the theater, to take a course in musical opera. In 2003 she graduated from St. Petersburg State Technical University.

Since 2000, she has worked as a soloist at the St. Petersburg State Children's Musical Theater "Through the Looking Glass". At the same time, she began shooting as a model. She took part in various pop projects.

Fame came to her late by show business standards - in fact, at the age of 30 - when she began working in the Leningrad group. First as a backing vocalist, and then as a soloist.

Her first visit to Leningrad ended in 2008 - the group broke up for a while. Since 2010, she has been a soloist in St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review.

And in 2011, “Leningrad” appeared on the stage again. A new album of the group called “Henna” was released - Julia became the lead singer of the group. A large number of songs from the mentioned album were performed by her.

Yulia Kogan and "Leningrad" - Tired

True, Julia had to pay for her fame in a very specific way that she developed.

“When I got into the Leningrad group, I had to work there either this way or not at all. When I was on backing vocals, I didn’t make any difference in the group. I had to constantly justify my presence on stage with such specific behavior. That’s when Shnurov I started writing songs specifically for me, there were no options, and there was no way back either, and so the image created by the songs took shape,” she explained.

Yulia Kogan and "Leningrad" - I love St. Petersburg

On November 16, 2012, Yulia Kogan’s last concert took place with the Leningrad group - then she went on maternity leave.

On March 22, 2013, a new video of the group, “Gulf of Finland,” appeared on the Internet with the participation of Yulia. But at the beginning of September 2013, Yulia Kogan left the group.

Later, the artist spoke about the reasons for the break with the Leningrad group. As it turned out, she had a tense relationship with the team leader for a long time. And they finally quarreled when Yulia got a job as a presenter on the “U” channel - Sergei considered that her participation in any other project would be to the detriment of the group. “It seems to me that this would not harm at all, and even, on the contrary, would help. I planned to combine. But he is the owner and ... decided that it was better for us to separate,” she explained.

Yulia Kogan is a versatile singer. “I can do absolutely any genre - from opera to jazz. The main thing is that there is good music,” she said.

In 2014, Yulia Kogan returned to music and began a solo musical career. In September 2015, her album “Fire Woman” was released.

She also sometimes plays on the theater stage. For example, at the Andrei Mironov Enterprise Theater she plays in the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” based on the play by Tennessee Williams. Her role is the schizophrenic main character. There she sings one song. However, Yulia emphasized, theater for her now is a hobby. Because the singer’s main activity is still concert.

It is worth noting that in real life Julia is completely different than on stage. “I’m an actress with a higher education. We were taught how to transform into different roles. Therefore, “I” on stage is the same role as any other. Moreover, I did not get into the role enough to live it in real life, unlike our stars, many of whom are already beginning to believe that the heroes they represent really are,” she said.

Yulia Kogan - Lips to lips

By the way. Yulia Kogan is known to everyone as the “red-haired beast”. But in fact, her hair is dark brown, although she is naturally curly. “I never hid the fact that I dye my hair. When I got to Leningrad, I was still fair-haired. It’s just that no one remembers this,” the artist shared.

Yulia Kogan's height: 169 centimeters.

Personal life of Yulia Kogan:

Married. Husband - Anton Booth.

She talked about what attracted her to her husband and how their relationship developed: “Well, he’s tall, handsome, I thought: a wonderful father for my unborn child... But he behaved strangely. He didn’t give gifts, he rarely called. At first the date invited me to the club and asked: “Maybe you can get there yourself?!” I was taken aback and refused, but just in case I invited him to borscht. Thank God, Anton came to pick me up the second time, although my husband says it was love at first sight. In fact, after a month I already wanted to leave him, that’s all. girlfriends advised so. And then it turned out that Anton was slowing down because he was in the process of divorcing his first wife. But I didn’t know this and got another gentleman. Anton saw the bouquet from him and immediately “sobered up.” man: he even took her to Vyborg for a romantic walk and then introduced her to her parents and her little daughter.”