Vitas


Vitaly Vladasovich Grachev, known professionally as Vitas, is a Russian language singer and actor. He is known for his unique falsetto which he displays when performing his "turkey call" in "The 7th Element" and his trademark falsetto choruses. His eclectic musical style incorporates elements of techno, dance, classical, jazz, and folk music. His song "Opera #2" and the music video for "The 7th Element" became popular on various social networks, accounting for much of his worldwide recognition.
Vitas designs his own stage costumes. DIVA is the name of the band that accompanies Vitas during his concerts. He has achieved prominence through Russian television, and since 2005 his career has developed in Asian markets.
He has sung with entertainment labels such as Universal, which distributes his music in Taiwan, and has toured extensively in China and several other countries.

Biography

Early life

Vitas was born in Daugavpils, Latvian SSR, but was raised in Odessa in southern Ukraine. He showed an interest in music from an early age. He attended an art school in Odessa, and appeared in various theatrical productions as a teenager.

Rise to fame and early career

Vitas came to public attention in Russia in December 2000 with the song "Opera #2", which was notable for his surprisingly high-pitched and energetic vocals. In the music video, Vitas portrays an eccentric lonely man with fish gills who lives in a bathtub with jars of fish and plays the accordion naked.
In February 2001, Vitas held his first concert, "Opera #...", at the "Russia" Concert Hall in Moscow, and presented his first concert tour, Philosophy of Miracle, which ended in early 2003.
Vitas received an invitation from Lucio Dalla, the composer who created "Caruso", to perform this song together with the author at the "San Remo in Moscow" concert in the State Kremlin Palace in 2003. Mr. Dalla then invited Vitas to come to Rome to take part in the rehearsals of "Toska", a modern version of Puccini's opera.
In dedication to his mother who died in 2001, Vitas released two albums, "The Songs of My Mother" and "Mama". "The Songs of My Mother" included classic Russian songs which are sometimes considered to be the "gold reserves" of Russian pop-music. In November 2003, Vitas presented his second tour program, "The Songs of My Mother" in the Russia Concert Hall in Moscow. Compared to the flamboyant nature of his previous "Philosophy of Miracle" tour, "The Songs of My Mother" was more conservative, drawing on classic Russian songs. From 2004 to 2006, Vitas' management, the "Pudovkin" Production Center continued "The Songs of My Mother" tour in Russia and the United States, Germany, Kazakhstan, Israel and the Baltic states.
In addition to his singing career, Vitas also starred in a murder mystery television series called "Сволочь ненаглядная", in which he played a pop singer with an unusually high voice. He also starred in a comedy called Crazy Day.

Development of music and image

In June 2006, Vitas was invited by China Central Television to take part in a grand event entitled "The Year of Russia in China" in Beijing. Vitas performed two songs, "The Star" and "Opera #2" during the event, marking the beginning of his popularity in China.
Vitas' "Return Home" tour, beginning in 2006, had a conservative atmosphere similar to the "Songs of My Mother" tour. The concert performed in Saint Petersburg on 4 March 2007 was later released on DVD on Vitas' website, as well as officially in some countries, albeit with many songs removed. The full concert in Moscow was later released on DVD.
In October 2007, Vitas was signed with now-defunct American label Gemini Sun Records. Gemini Sun released the Audio Visual Connect Series Vitas compilation CD + DVD set featuring eight music videos with the corresponding songs also on audio CD, in addition to a bonus audio track. In 2008, Vitas also released "Light of A New Day", a 40-minute track of non-lyrical vocalization and instrumentation. The song is available as a free download on his website.
The "Sleepless Night" tour included concerts in China and more elaborate presentations than the more conservative "Return Home" program. Vitas performed his "Return Home" concert in Bucharest, Romania on 25 February 2009. The concert was broadcast on the Romanian TVR2 and TVRi television networks, achieving their highest ratings in twelve months. A benefit concert, with Vitas performing "The Star", was held on 12 May 2009 in Sichuan province in memory of the victims of the previous year's earthquake there; a song known as "Mommy and Son" was released in late October 2009 in remembrance of the victims. It was the very first title track of the "Mommy and Son" album, which included new songs, such as "C'est La Vie", "Once More", "Let the Father Teach!", "Young Rook" and others.
Vitas played the role of Gude in the Chinese film "Mulan", which premiered in Beijing on 16 November 2009. He recorded music for the film's soundtrack.
In early 2011, Vitas performed a series of seven "Sleepless Night" concerts in New York City, Toronto, Chicago, Miami, Vancouver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Vitas also appeared in the 2011 Chinese film "The Founding of a Party", playing the role of Grigori Voitinsky. He also starred with Huang Shengyi in the musical One Night To Be Star.
In March 2011, Vitas' concert tour "Mommy and Son" started in several cities of Russia. His large-scale concert at the Palace of Arts "Ukraina" in Kiev in March 2012 was broadcast in Ukraine's main TV channels and later released in DVD. In 2013 he brought the tour to Germany, performing in several cities.
In June 2015, Vitas' 2001 music video "The 7th Element" became popular after his video was posted on Reddit.
In 2017, Vitas' song "Smile" became especially popular in Brazil, where Facebook pages such as "South America Memes" were responsible for memes using footage from his performance of the song at the "Songs of My Mother" tour. On 5 October, he thanked the pages for his popularity.

Personal life

Vitas has been known to be secretive about his personal life and has frequently declined interviews about it. He married his wife, Svetlana, in 2006. They have a daughter and a son.
In February 2010, during a concert in Saint Petersburg, Vitas sang the song "Lullaby" for his daughter.
In January 2012, Vitas and his family were interviewed on the talk show "Let Them Talk". In 2007, appearing on the Russian television show "Everybody Is At Home", Vitas discussed his personal history as well as his development as an artist. In March of that year, a distraught Vitas appeared on the talk show again to confront the allegations of a man who claimed that he was Vitas' biological father. After much backlash from Vitas' friends and family and the man's admission of lying, the DNA results proved he was not Vitas' father even though Vitas claimed it. As a show of forgiveness to the man's family, Vitas sang and danced with the man's mother.
Vitas was arrested on 10 May 2013 for hitting a cyclist with his car. Russian TV channels Russia-1 and Channel One Russia reported widely on the accident. These and other TV channels displayed Vitas' driving license with his personal data, which had been presented to journalists by a police officer. The incident took place northeast of Moscow near the VVC Exhibition Centre. The cyclist was uninjured and proceeded to film the scene with police afterward. The video depicts an unshaven and unsteady Vitas being held by authorities. Concerts planned in China that year were cancelled.

Backing band

Current members

Studio albums

DVDs

Singles/EPs

Videos

Concert programs

Filmography

Film

Awards and achievements