Biography
Who is Zemfira?
Early life and music
Zemfira was born in Ufa, Russia, on August 26, 1976. At the age of four, she became interested in music and entered a music school the following year to study piano performance and voice. She wrote her first song when she was seven years old. Her older brother Ramil introduced her to rock music, and she listened to bands like Black Sabbath and Queen while learning to play the guitar.
In the seventh grade, Zemfira split her time between music and basketball. She became the captain of the Russian Girls' Junior Basketball Team by 1990. At the urging of her mother, she continued with piano studies and graduated music school with honors. In her last year of high school, she abandoned sports in favor of music and entered the Ufa College of Arts, studying vocal performance.
Beginning of career
After graduating from college, Zemfira took a job as a sound engineer at the Ufa subsidiary of the radio station Europa Plus in 1996. She spent her days making advertisement recordings and her nights recording songs on a computer, creating tracks that would later become singles like Why, Snow, and Weatherman. In early 1998, she formed a band with Rinat Akhmadiyev, Sergei Sozinov, Sergei Mirolyubov, and Vadim Solovyov.
Their first professional gig took place on June 19, 1999, at a festival celebrating the local radio station Silver Rain Ufa. She sent promo tapes to Moscow producers, and Leonid Burlakov from Mumiy Troll invited the band for recording sessions in Moscow. Production work on her debut album took place at Mosfilm Moscow until its release on May 10, 1999.
Albums and tours
The promotion of Zemfira before her debut included heavy rotation of singles like AIDS, Arrivederci, and Rockets. The release of her second album, Forgive Me My Love, in March 2000 brought the band immense popularity with instant hits such as Searching and Ripe. She headlined the festival Maxidrom and continued touring before taking a break after the release of 14 Weeks of Silence.
In March 2005, her fourth studio album Vendetta was released following collaborations with musicians like Igor Vdovin and Korney. In 2007, she started on the Deja Vu concert tour and released the album Thank You. She performed at various venues and festivals over the following years, including a 2011 appearance at the international rock festival Maxidrom alongside acts like The Prodigy and Korn.
Partners and personal life
Zemfira's partner is Renata Litvinova, who has also filmed and directed several of her concert projects and music videos. In September 2004, Zemfira began studies towards a degree in Philosophy at Lomonosov Moscow State University. After completing her first semester, she took a sabbatical and did not resume her studies afterward.
Birthday and age
Zemfira was born on August 26, 1976, which makes Zemfira 50 years old today. That birthday falls under the Virgo sign. Zemfira shares the date with 24 other famous people.
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