Alexander Gradsky
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Гра́дский; born Alexander Borisovich Fradkin, 3 November 1949 – 28 November 2021) was a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire included rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias.
Also recorded as Aleksandr Borisovich Gradsky · Alexander Borisovich Gradsky
Alexander Gradsky

mos.ru · Government of Moscow Press centre · CC BY 4.0
- Full name
- Александр Борисович Фрадкин.
- Born
- 1949. · Kopeysk.
- Died
- 2021. · Moscow.
- Nationality
- Soviet Union and Russia.
- Occupation
- composer, singer-songwriter, singer, guitarist, poet, actor and lyricist.
- Fields
- rock, bard song, blues, rock and roll, rock opera and blues rock.
- Education
- Gnessin Russian Academy of Music.
- Honours
- Honored art worker of the Russian Federation, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, State Prize of the Russian Federation and His own way award.
- Languages
- Russian and English.
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Alexander Borisovich Gradsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Гра́дский; born Alexander Borisovich Fradkin, 3 November 1949 – 28 November 2021) was a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire included rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias.
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Note VALÉORINE
Alexander Gradsky (1949–2021) was an actor, composer and film score composer, among other activities, of Russian and Soviet nationality. The actor was born Александр Борисович Фрадкин in Kopeysk and died in Moscow.
Alexander Gradsky was educated at Gnessin Russian Academy of Music. The actor worked for Donetsk Philharmonic society.
The work spans bard song, blues and blues rock, among others. Languages used include English and Russian. Honours include Honored art worker of the Russian Federation, People's Artist of the Russian Federation and State Prize of the Russian Federation.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1964661 · wikipedia · Alexander Gradsky
In this article
Early life and musical beginnings
Early life and musical beginnings
He composed two rock operas and numerous songs including soundtrack music for several films and cartoons.
Alexander Gradsky studied at Gnessin Russian Academy of Music. The recorded working language is Russian and English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are rock, bard song, blues and rock and roll. Sergei Rachmaninoff is recorded as an influence. Employment is recorded with Donetsk Philharmonic society. Distinctions recorded are Honored art worker of the Russian Federation, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, State Prize of the Russian Federation and "His own way" award.
Alexander Gradsky was born on 3 November 1949 in the Russian city of Kopeysk, into a family of mixed Jewish and Russian origin. His father Boris Fradkin was an engineer working in a factory, and his mother Tamara was an actress. His mother encouraged him to learn to play the violin as a child, and her brother, Boris Gradsky, Alexander Gradsky's uncle, was a dancer who toured abroad with the famous Moiseev dance group and brought home records of Western music artists including Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong and Little Richard. Such music was not ordinarily available in Soviet Russia at that time. By the age of 12, Gradsky was singing Elvis Presley songs and accompanying himself on guitar. In 1963, at the age of 13, he sang with a Polish student band called Tarakany (Тараканы – The Cockroaches) in a concert at the International Club of Moscow State University. This is believed to have been the first public performance of rock 'n' roll by any Russian musician.
Other bands
Other bands
In the mid-1960s, Gradsky joined the band Slaviane (Славяне – The Slavs) as lead singer. The band's repertoire consisted almost entirely of Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. In 1966–1967, he was working with three bands: Slaviane, Los Panchos and Skify (Скифы – The Scythians). However, he found himself disagreeing with his Slaviane bandmates over the direction the band should take. Gradsky wanted to perform original rock songs in his native Russian language, whereas the other band members did not think that such endeavours could be successful and wanted to continue performing imported songs. Gradsky consequently decided to form his own band, Skomorokhi (Скоморохи – The Jesters or The Buffoons) in 1967. His band became popular playing original Russian songs, as Gradsky blended elements of Western rock music with the lyric-centred, folk-influenced Russian bard music which was popular around that time. He enrolled in Gnesins Academy of Music in 1969, and continued to perform with Skomorokhi while a student. A successful performance at the Soviet pop-rock festival Silver Strings was followed with airplay and record deals.
Solo career
Solo career
In 1971, David Tukhmanov invited Gradsky to record some vocal parts for his debut LP Kak prekrasen mir (Как прекрасен мир – How Beautiful is the World). Gradsky performed two songs, one of which, "Zhil-byl Ya" (Жил-был я – Once upon a time I was), got critical acclaim. In 1973, film director Andrei Konchalovsky asked Alexander Gradsky to compose and perform music for the film "A Lover's Romance", which was released in 1974, the same year in which Gradsky graduated with a master's degree in vocal performance. Gradsky performed all the male vocal parts in the film soundtrack, which brought him fame as a solo artist. His many records released during his long career encompass a variety of genres. His first rock opera, Stadion (Стадион – Stadium), dedicated to the memory of Víctor Jara, was released as a double LP in 1985. He also composed a rock ballet Chelovek (Человек – The Man), released in 1988. Gradsky was a tenor who is reported to have a three-and-a-half octave vocal range, and also played 12 instruments. He performed the demanding role of the Astrologer in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel (Золотой Петушок – Zolotoy Petushok) in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in 1988. In the 80s, Gradsky returned to the writing a poetry and creating social-themed songs. He formed a concert program in the "singer-songwriter" style. He participated in the organization of a number of Soviet rock festivals such as Rock-panorama. He also worked as a host of "Alexander Gradsky's hit-parade" show on radio "Yunost" showing near 107 artists from different genres (artists like Alexander Bashlachev, Yuri Shevchuk, Victor Tsoy, Konstantin Kinchev, Dmitriy Malikov, Vladimir Presnyakov Jr. got their first radio broadcast). Gradsky took part in a charity concert for the liquidators of Chernobyl disaster. Since the late '80s, Gradsky taught vocals at the Gnesin Music Academy and performed there. In 1987, he became a member of Union of Russian Composers. His collaboration with John Denver, with whom he performed the 1986 song Let us Begin..., brought him to wider international attention. On 16 July 1988 Gradsky performed at the San Francisco, California Golden Gate Park Bandshell as part of the American Soviet Peace Walk Concert. Later that evening he also played acoustic guitar and sang during the intermission (set break) at the Grateful Dead Rex Foundation Charity concert at U.C. Berkeley's Greek Theater. In 1990, he got a contract with Victor Entertainment and released two albums containing songs in Russian and English as well as Japanese romances. In 1999, he performed a recital at New York City's Carnegie Hall. In late 2009, Alexander Gradsky released a 4-CD opera adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita (Ма́стер и Маргари́та), starring Gradsky himself as Master, Woland, Yeshua and Behemoth. The opera also stars Nikolai Fomenko as Koroviev, Mikhail Seryshev (formerly of Master) as Ivan, and Elena Minina as Margarita, in addition to many renowned Russian singers and actors in episodic roles, including (but not limited to) Iosif Kobzon, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, Andrey Makarevich, Alexander Rosenbaum, Arkady Arkanov, and the late Georgi Millyar (voice footage from one of his movies was used). In his later years Gradsky positioned himself as a marginal; he was demanding of his colleagues as well as journalists.
The Voice
The Voice
In 2012-2014, he took part in the TV project "The Voice" as a coach along with Dima Bilan, Pelageya and Leonid Agutin. In the first three seasons, the artists from his team won — Dina Garipova, Sergey Volchkov and Alexandra Vorobyova. He also took part in 2015; his participant, Mikhail Ozerov, took the second place. In 2017 and 2021 Gradsky, Pelageya, Bilan and Agutin (often described in mass media as a "golden composition") returned into the show once again. In 2017, a participant from Gradsky's team, Selim Alahyarov, has won the competition. In 2021, Alisher Usmanov took the second place. A significant part of Gradsky's team made up the troupe of the "Gradsky Hall", opened in 2015.
Personal life
Personal life
Alexander Gradsky was married four times. His first marriage was when he was in his early twenties but it didn't last long and they divorced within months. He was married for the second time in 1970 to actress Anastasia Vertinskaya. His third marriage was with a then 20 year old Lomonosov Moscow University economics student Olga Fartysheva. They were married for 23 years and had two children together Daniel (March 1981) and Maria (January 1986). Alexander was in a relationship with Ukrainian fashion model Marina Kotashenko in his late years, they had two sons together: Alexander (2014) and Ivan (2018).
Death
Death
After contracting COVID-19 in September 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Gradsky's health steadily deteriorated. On 26 November 2021, he did not feel well at home, and was urgently hospitalized at a Moscow hospital for a suspected stroke. On 28 November 2021, he died at the age of 72. On 1 December 2021, he was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2021
Alexander Gradsky died at Moscow.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kopeysk.
Birth place
Moscow.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Alexander Gradsky”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1964661: Alexander Gradsky
Unverified · Wikidata
Awards
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (1997) State Prize of the Russian Federation (1999) People's Artist of Russia (1999) People 's Artist of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (2014) Vladimir Vysotsky's "Own Track" Award (2019)

Народный артист России Александр Градский в 2010-е годы
Mos.ru
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Alexander Gradsky. Biography.
- 2.Alexander Gradskiy. Master & Margarita.
- 3.Yoffe, Mark. History of Soviet and Russian Rock Music. Written for Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of The World: Locations. SOFT POWER.
- 4.Gradsky.com. Biography. Official website.
- 5.Ofman, Gregory. Alexander Gradsky: biography. AllMusic.
- 6.Официальный сайт Давида Тухманова.«Как прекрасен мир» 1972 г.
- 7.История советской рок-музыки.
- 8.Gradsky.com. Discography. Alexander Gradsky official website.
- 9.Alexander Gradsky will make a recital debut at Carnegie Hall. New York Daily News. 1 March 1999.
- 10.Dodolev, Е. Александр Градский. The Голос. — Ripol-classic, 2013. — ISBN 978-5-386-05582-0
- 11.Pavlenko, M. По-моему, вы все спятили. Rumba. 24. 1989.
- 12.О Владимире Высоцком - Александр Градский. www.gradsky.com.
- 13.Классик первого тайма. Умер Александр Градский. 28 November 2021.
- 14.Фестиваль "Рок-Панорама-86" — пластинки ("Мелодия", разные выпуски) Архив Наш НеФормат. www.nneformat.ru.
- 15.Радиола. Год 1986 – Таблоид (автор и ведущий: Сергей Сычёв) (12 июля 2014 года). tabloid.net.ru. 12 July 2014.
- 16.Лучше бы я стал строителем, а не певцом — Александр Градский — www.gradsky.com. www.gradsky.com.
- 17.Снова в СССР — www.gradsky.com. www.gradsky.com.
- 18.Рок в помощь: как прошёл первый концерт в поддержку чернобыльцев. m24.ru.
- 19.Своих врагов я ликвидирую — Александр Градский. alexandergradsky.com.
- 20.Градский обречённый: Большой ребёнок, ворчливый идеалист, лишний на празднике жизни. In Russian
- 21.Пионер подпольного русского рока, композитор, певец и наставник. Памяти Александра Градского.
- 22.Заслуги мэтра: 4 талантливых ученика Градского, которые стали победителями шоу "Голос".
- 23.uchastniki.com. Александр Градский — "Голос": Биография, личная жизнь, фото, дети. 30 May 2016.
- 24.«Игры «Голоса»: почему вернули золотой состав In Russian
- 25.Градский — душа «Голоса»: незабываемые моменты шоу с участием маэстро In Russian
- 26.Победителем шестого «Голоса» стал Селим Алахяров // Российская газета. — 2017. — 30 декабря. In Russian
- 27.Участник команды покойного Александра Градского занял второе место в 10-м сезоне шоу "Голос".
- 28.Бояринов Денис. Утопия А.Г.: Гений сильнее среды? Судьба и сделки с дьяволом Александра Градского. Colta.ru. 2021-12-22.
- 29.Градский накануне 69-летия стал отцом в четвёртый раз. Life.ru. 1 November 2018.
- 30.Samoilenko, Alina. СМИ: Александра Градского госпитализировали с подозрением на инсульт. Блокнот Россия. 26 November 2021.
- 31.Glyba, Konstantin. Александр Градский в больнице с подозрением на инсульт. Шоу "Голос" продолжит выходить в эфир. Komsomolskaya Pravda. 26 November 2021.
- 32.Anisimova, Natalia. Умер Александр Градский. РБК. RBK Group. 28 November 2021.
- 33.В Москве простились с музыкантом Александром Градским. Iz.ru. 1 December 2021.
- 34.Официальный сайт Кремля. Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 29.07.1997 г. № 795 «О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации». www.kremlin.ru. 1997-07-29.
- 35.Официальный сайт Кремля. Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 03.11.1999 г. № 1471 «О присвоении почётного звания "Народный артист Российской Федерации" Градскому А. Б.». www.kremlin.ru. 1999-11-03.
- 36.Указ Президента ПМР № 276 "О присвоении почетного звания "Народный артист Приднестровской Молдавской Республики" ГРАДСКОМУ А.Б." Официальный сайт Президента ПМР. 2016-08-17.
- 37.О присвоении почетного звания "Народный артист Приднестровской Молдавской Республики" Градскому А.Б. www.gradsky.com.
- 38.Градский, Лиханов и Каабак получили Премию Высоцкого "Своя колея". Российская газета.
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