Лариса Долина

Larisa Dolina is a Russian jazz and pop singer, People’s Artist of Russia (1998). She was born on September 10, 1955 in Baku (Azerbaijan) under her father’s surname Kudelman, but later took her mother’s surname – Dolina – as her stage name. She started to perform jazz at the restaurants being a teenager and it was there that she gained her first music recognition. Later, she worked with a State ensemble of Azerbaijan. In 1985, Dolina began her solo career. She stepped aside from jazz and created her first pop program Затяжной прыжок (Long Jump) followed by another show Контрасты (Contrasts) in 1987 and Льдинка (Ice) in 1989. In 1993, Larisa Dolina became the Merited Artist of the Russian Federation. The album of 1997, Погода в доме (Home Weather) bring a ‘lucky ticket’ to the singer. The song of the same name became the biggest hit in her entire career. In 2002, Dolina decided once again to switch her artistic path by returning to beloved jazz. In 2008, she released her first English-language album entitled Hollywood Mood. The albums Carnival of Jazz-2: No Comments (2009) and Route 55 (2010) were also recorded in English. In 2012, Dolina, together with Gloria Gaynor, filmed a video for the cult song "I Will Survive". A year later, the artist performed in the musical production of Chicago on Broadway. Almost every year till 2015 the singer releases a new album. The most successful of them are Обожженная душа (Burning Soul) (2006) (with the hit of the same name) and Larisa (2012). In 2015, Larisa Dolina returned with Russian-language album Снимем маски, господа (Take Off Our Masks, Gentlemen).