19 June 1985
Died in Moscow Maya Kristalinskaya — the leading singer of the sixties. She was 53.
The Earth is empty without you. How do I live a few hours?
Eight months before her death, she sang with Kobzon to dispel rumors of her serious illness. She returned to the stage from the hospital: she had cancer.
Born in Moscow on February 24, 1932, she was a member of a children's choir and self-taught. After school, she received an engineering degree and joined a design bureau, where she performed the Argentine singer's repertoire for her colleagues during lunch breaks. Lolita Torres.
Word of her vocal talent reached jazz bands. Oleg Lundstrem и Eddie RosnerShe sang with them in 1957 at the International Student Festival. At first, the organizers wanted to rub the nose of the "rotten West," but then Kristalinskaya was accused of "wobbling, hipster antics."
In 1960 she performed the soundtrack to the film "Thirst":
You and I are two banks of the same river
Kristalinskaya's name wasn't in the credits, but people recognized her voice, called her, and congratulated her on her success. The album, which sold 7 million copies, sold out in no time.
The following songs quickly became hits: "A Sneg idet," "Stary Klen," and "Top, Top." Kristalinskaya herself adored "Nezhnost" (Tenderness) most of all, which became the soundtrack to the film "Three Poplars on Plyushchikha" and brought her nationwide fame.
In the early 70s, she fell into disgrace: the director of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Sergey Lapin He removed her from the airwaves for "promoting sadness." Kristalinskaya was banned from performing in Moscow and Leningrad. She traveled on regular buses to tour rural community centers, earning little.
Thanks to her, the fashion for tying light scarves and kerchiefs around the neck became popular in the USSR. No one realized she was doing this to conceal the burns from radiation therapy: at 29, Kristalinskaya had been diagnosed with lymph node cancer. Doctors forbade her from singing, but she continued touring.
Better kill me now, because without a scene I will die slowly, day by day
I didn’t miss a single concert: I often went to them right after chemotherapy.
On the day of the funeral, police blocked the streets due to the large influx of fans.