Andrey Kovalev producer. The main thing in life is love

Andrey Kovalev was born in Moscow in the family of a military man and an opera singer. Andrei's mother sang at the Bolshoi Theater for 35 years, his father is a colonel in the Soviet Army.

Divorced, daughter born in 1990

Education

Andrei mastered musical instruments in the preschool period: "violin, cello, double bass - four hours of lessons every day." After school, Andrei planned to enter the school at the Conservatory in the double bass class. However, fate decreed otherwise and he graduated from the Moscow Automobile and Road Institute. Later, carried away by sculpture, he entered the Stroganov Higher Art School, where he studied for several years.

Business and charity

In the late 80s, Andrei Kovalev organized the Prestige company for the sale of furniture. At the same time, he led a political career, was the Deputy Department of the Forest Fund, a member of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy.

In the late 1990s - early 2000s, he began to create large business centers on the territories of Moscow factories that were closing, reconstructing them according to his own sketches.

In August 2007, Andrei Kovalev bought three unprofitable pasta factories in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Smolensk, as well as the Extra M and Noble trademarks. The deal amounted to $55 million.

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In 2008, he created the 1Rock media holding, which included the 1Rock rock club (the current name of the club is Pipl), the 1Rock magazine, a satellite TV channel, an Internet portal and a radio station dedicated to rock music. In 2010 the project was closed.

Andrey Kovalev actively participates in charity concerts and events aimed at social support of Moscow residents, helps students of boarding schools for orphans, pupils of the Preobrazhensky Cadet Corps, war and labor veterans, single mothers and other representatives of the categories of socially unprotected citizens.

Musical career

With the Finnish team "Apocalyptic"

In his student years, he played the bass guitar in the Pilgrim band. The musician himself recalls:

Our own group was called Wings of Anger, later Rus. At almost every festival we had a new name, and so it went on until I accidentally met the same guitarist who suggested that we return the old name "Pilgrim". And on the same day I wrote the song "Pilgrim" ... We performed more and more music "Deep Purple"

In 2004, Andrei Kovalev resumed his creative career, again began to write poetry and songs. He released several solo albums, recorded duets with a number of famous pop artists (Lyubasha, Sasha project, Katya Lel, Tutsi), which were actively broadcast on leading TV channels. Several songs by Andrei Kovalev are performed by pop stars (Danko and Katya Lel). In 2006, together with Diana Gurtskaya, he recorded the duet "Nine Months" (music by Kim Breitburg, lyrics by Ilya Reznik). The song, dedicated to young mothers, was included in the soundtrack of the film of the same name. The work was appreciated by Alla Pugacheva.

In 2006, Andrei Kovalev became interested in heavy metal, recreated the Pilgrim group. In 2007, at the BASINFIREFEST rock festival (Czech Republic), Andrey Kovalev and his "Pilgrim" represented Russia. In 2008, guitarist Alexei Strike and drummer Alexander Karpukhin moved to Pilgrim after a split in the Master group. The band has released several heavy metal albums.

In 2005-2008 he held rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to Moscow!”, “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Eagle! and “Glory to Russia! Glory to Nizhny Novgorod! At the largest of them in Moscow, the number of spectators reached 40,000.

He is the organizer of the festival for young groups "On the rise!", created and finances free rehearsal venues for his bands.

In 2011, the artist resumed his solo career and returned to creating and performing lyrical compositions.

Video clips

The team with Pamela after filming the video

Andrey Kovalev, talking about the work on the video “Salt, tequila and a slice of lime” (directed by Alexander Solokha and cameraman Eduard Mashkovich, 2004), which involved the author’s own Harley Davidson and a rare 1964 Cadillac convertible, noted that the plot borrowed from Robert Rodriguez's "Desperado": "el mariacho" confronts a biker gang:

“Despite some comical hyperbole, this ‘action’ is very close to me and kind of reminds me of my biography”

Along with the passion for "heavy" music, Kovalev is fond of riding bikes, which, like the passion for music, is rooted in his childhood, when his father-colonel gave him a Tula scooter. The biker theme is the leitmotif of many video clips of the Kovalev team. Pamela Anderson starred in the sketch "Roar of Engines" (year of release of the video - 2008), which is a mini-movie. The musician recalls:

I have been friends with Pamela Anderson for a long time. I even wrote a song about her, revealing the history of our relationship. The last two lines there are: “If you don’t return to Moscow, I’ll cheat on you with Lady Gaga.” Pamela was married twice, but never wore a wedding dress, and she never had a real wedding. Therefore, when she found out that she was offered to appear in a wedding dress, she immediately agreed to participate. In addition, she liked our song “Roar of Engines”.

Dolph Lundgren starred in another video for Pilgrim (Don't Extinguish the Candle, 2009). In his interviews Andrey Kovalev says:

Dolph Lundgren called and said that he was making a film "Command Performance" and wanted us to play ourselves there. He chose one of our songs, which we performed in the film. There, according to the plot, at a music festival, terrorists seized hostages, including the president of Russia - in the picture he shoots at bandits with a machine gun ... And we made our video after filming based on frames from the film.

In 2009, the video clip "Judas" was released, filmed in collaboration with the band Apocalyptica.

In 2011-2012, 12 new clips were released on the screens of the leading music channels in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: “Martha”, “Forgotten”, “If only you could”, “Fly”, “Maple Leaf”, “I will be all my life wait for you”, “I’m not a hero”, “Pamela”, “My woman” with Elena Korikova, “God given to me”, which starred theater and film actress Olesya Sudzilovskaya, “Give me back that fire” with the participation of Olga Budina and New Year video for the song "It's snowing."

Poetry

Andrey Kovalev is the author of music and lyrics for most of his songs (he wrote more than 600 songs in different styles). In 2004 he published a book of poems "Pearls and Velvet", in 2006 - "The Sky is Blue". In April 2012, a collection of poems "To You Alone" was published.

Television and radio

Andrey Kovalev hosted a number of programs on television and radio, including:

"Formula of Success" (channel "Capital"),

"Man and Woman" (radio "Pops"),

"Live sound" (Public Russian radio).

Politics

In 2005-2009 Member of the Moscow City Duma.

In politics, Kovalev is known for promoting a bill to ban the use of a phonogram (co-author of the Moscow bill "On the procedure for informing consumers when using a phonogram"), as well as the fight against audio piracy. In this endeavor, he was supported by well-known domestic musicians, including Alexander Gradsky.

The deputy himself remarked in his public speeches:

Why in America or in Germany no one sings to the phonogram? Because, if someone takes a risk, then everything else he will become the object of the most severe ridicule - the Western press smears such performers on the wall.

When asked if the fighter against “plywood” is afraid of infringing on the financial interests of show business players and “repeating the sad fate of banker Andrei Kozlov or singer Abraham Russo,” the deputy replied:

I have good security, and in general I'm only afraid of colds. In general, there are a lot of dishonorable people in show business. No other business has that many. Black cash, bribery and shootouts remained in the 80s and 90s with red jackets, and only in show business did these birthmarks remain. We must eliminate them!

As a deputy, Andrey Kovalev initiated concerts in Moscow on the City Day in 2006 "Pop music without a phonogram".

Under his patronage, there were performances by Russian pop stars “We are for live sound!”.

Andrey Kovalev was the organizer of a number of musical events, including the touring patriotic rock festival Slava Rossii, the festival for young bands Take Off!, and concerts by the Master band.

Criticism

The personality and work of Andrei Kovalev is actively covered in the media, receiving conflicting reviews from journalists and critics.

Viktor Shenderovich released several devastating articles about the Pilgrim group, where he wrote that Kovalev's songs and performance lacked a soul, and “instead of a meaningful action, there was a vulgar show designed for a foolish public. And excesses of temperament break out of the wrong places. Also, the journalist was extremely dissatisfied with the remake of Viktor Tsoi's song "Change".

Nikolai Fandeev has the same opinion about Kovalev. Reviewing the album Sky Blue, he wrote that it was "a futile attempt by an unlucky singer to perform a mixture of restaurant music and tasteless Soviet pop music of the 70s of the last century."

Sonya Sokolova assesses Andrey Kovalev and the results of his creative work more positively: “Andrey Kovalev does everything very, very well: some of the best arrangers and musicians work with him, he organizes festivals and actively helps young bands, and at the same time became a co-owner of a large news agency ”,“ if you look at Kovalev more closely, you understand: in front of you is a person who has very skillfully and humorously constructed a public image for himself and painstakingly working for him.

Many neutral and positive publications are devoted to the fight against phonogram performances.

Andrei Kovalev is the godfather of Emilia, daughter of Katya Lel (godmother - Lyudmila Narusova).

On June 30, 2010, attackers stole the musician's exclusive bike, which was assembled by special order in the most famous tuning studio in Europe, Fred Kodlin. The motorcycle was soon found.

Andrey Kovalev Born in Moscow in the family of a military man and an opera singer. Andrei's mother sang at the Bolshoi Theater for 35 years, his father is a colonel in the Soviet Army. Andrei mastered musical instruments in the preschool period: "violin, cello, double bass - four hours of lessons every day." After school, Andrey planned to enter the conservatory school in the double bass class. However, fate decreed otherwise and he graduated from the Moscow Automobile and Road Institute. Later, carried away by sculpture, he entered the Stroganov Higher Art School, where he studied for several years.
In the late 80s, Andrey Kovalev organized the Prestige company for the sale of furniture. At the same time, he led a political career, was deputy head of the Forest Fund Department, an employee of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy.
In the late 90s - early 2000s, he began to create large business centers on the territories of Moscow factories that were closing, reconstructing them according to his own sketches. In August 2007. Andrey Kovalev bought the First Pasta Company from the Agros agricultural holding, which owned three unprofitable pasta factories in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Smolensk, as well as the Extra M and Noble trademarks. The deal amounted to $55 million. Later, the Ecooffice company sold pasta production, keeping the land plots for itself.
In 2008, he created the 1Rock media holding, which included the 1Rock rock club (the current name of the club is PORT), the 1Rock magazine, a satellite TV channel, an Internet portal and a radio station dedicated to rock music. In 2010 the project was closed.
In 2013, in an interview with Forbes, Kovalev said that he was engaged in music and poetry, and his ex-wife Tatyana was running the business.
Andrey Kovalev actively participates in charity concerts and events aimed at social support of Moscow residents, helps students of boarding schools for orphans, pupils of the Preobrazhensky Cadet Corps, war and labor veterans, single mothers and other representatives of the categories of socially unprotected citizens.

Creative biography:
In his student years, he played the bass guitar in the Pilgrim band. The musician himself recalls: “Our own group was called Wings of Anger, later Rus. At almost every festival we had a new name, and so it went on until I accidentally met the same guitarist who suggested that we return the old name "Pilgrim". And on the same day I wrote the song "Pilgrim" ... We performed more and more music "Deep Purple".
In 2004, Andrei Kovalev resumed his creative career, again began to write poetry and songs. He released several solo albums, recorded duets with a number of famous pop artists (Lyubasha, Sasha project, Katya Lel, Tutsi), which were actively broadcast on leading TV channels. Several songs by Andrei Kovalev are performed by pop stars (Danko and Katya Lel). In 2006, together with Diana Gurtskaya, he recorded the duet "Nine Months" (music by Kim Breitburg, lyrics by Ilya Reznik). The song, dedicated to young mothers, was included in the soundtrack of the film of the same name. The work was appreciated by Alla Pugacheva.
In 2006, Andrei Kovalev became interested in heavy metal, recreated the Pilgrim group. In 2007, at the BASINFIREFEST rock festival (Czech Republic), Andrey Kovalev and his "Pilgrim" represented Russia. In 2008, guitarist Alexei Strike and drummer Alexander Karpukhin moved to Pilgrim after a split in the Master group. The band has released several heavy metal albums.
In 2005-2008 he held rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to Moscow!”, “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Eagle! and “Glory to Russia! Glory to Nizhny Novgorod! At the largest of them in Moscow, the number of spectators reached 40,000.
He is the organizer of the festival for young groups "On the rise!", created and finances free rehearsal venues for his bands.
In 2011, the artist resumed his solo career and returned to creating and performing lyrical compositions
Andrey Kovalev, talking about the work on the video “Salt, tequila and a slice of lime” (directed by Alexander Solokha and cameraman Eduard Mashkovich, 2004), which involved the author’s own Harley Davidson and a rare 1964 Cadillac convertible, noted that the plot borrowed from Robert Rodriguez's "Desperado": "el mariacho" confronts a biker gang:
Along with the passion for "heavy music, Kovalev is fond of riding bikes, which, like the passion for music, is rooted in his childhood, when his father-colonel gave him a Tula scooter [. The biker theme is the leitmotif of many video clips of the Kovalev team. Pamela Anderson starred in the sketch "Roar of Engines" (year of release of the video - 2008), which is a mini-movie. The musician recalls:
I have been friends with Pamela Anderson for a long time. I even wrote a song about her, revealing the history of our relationship. The last two lines there are: “If you don’t return to Moscow, I’ll cheat on you with Lady Gaga”. Pamela was married twice, but never wore a wedding dress, and she never had a real wedding. Therefore, when she found out that she was offered to appear in a wedding dress, she immediately agreed to participate. In addition, she liked our song “Roar of Engines”.
Dolph Lundgren starred in another video for Pilgrim (Don't Extinguish the Candle, 2009). In his interviews Andrey Kovalev says:
Dolph Lundgren called and said that he was making a film "Command Performance" and wanted us to play ourselves there. He chose one of our songs, which we performed in the film. There, according to the plot, at a music festival, terrorists seized hostages, including the president of Russia - in the picture he shoots at bandits with a machine gun ... And we made our video after filming based on frames from the film.
In 2009, the video clip "Judas" was released, filmed in collaboration with the Apocalyptica group.
In 2011-2012, the music channels of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus broadcast 12 new clips: "Marta", "Forgotten", "If only you could", "Fly", "Maple Leaf", "I'll be waiting for you all my life" , “I'm not a hero”, “Pamela”, “My woman” with Elena Korikova, “God given to me”, in which theater and film actress Olesya Sudzilovskaya starred, “Give me back that fire” with the participation of Olga Budina and a New Year's video for the song "Snowing".

Poetry:
Andrey Kovalev is the author of music and lyrics for most of his songs (he wrote more than 600 songs in different styles). In 2004 he published a book of poems "Pearls and Velvet", in 2006 - "The Sky is Blue". In April 2012, the publishing house "Academy of Poetry" released the third collection of poems "To You Alone".

Television and radio:
Andrey Kovalev hosted a number of programs on television and radio, including:
the author's program on the radio "Moscow Speaks",
"Formula of Success" (channel "Capital"),
"Visiting Kovalev" (channel "Capital"),
"Man and Woman" (radio "Pops"),
"Live sound" (Public Russian radio).

Discography:
As part of the Pilgrim group:
2007 - "Glory to Russia"
2008 - "There is no choice"
2008 - Concert in the Rain (DVD)
2009 - "Trizzy $" (single)
2010 - "7.62"
2010 - "March"

Solo career:
2003 - "Salt, tequila ..."
2005 - "The sky is blue"
2005 - Ice and Fire
2005-2006 - "Nine Months"
2006-2007 - "Man and Woman"
2007 - "Only you are alone" (romances)
2007 - "They will burn out with fires" (author's song)
2008 - "The Best Songs of Andrey Kovalev"
2011-2012 - "My woman"
2012 - "Only love can save"
2012 - “And I dream about your eyes”
2013 - "Revolvers and Dolls"
2013 - "The ocean of your eyes"

Official website: www.andreykovalev.ru

Andrey Kovalev is a Russian singer, poet, composer, producer, radio and TV presenter, in the recent past the leader of the Pilgrim group, an organizer of rock festivals. In 2005-2008 he held rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to Moscow!”, “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Eagle! and “Glory to Russia! Glory to Nizhny Novgorod! At the largest of them in Moscow, the number of spectators reached 40,000. He is the organizer of the festival for young groups "On the Fly!", created and finances free rehearsal venues for young groups. Since 2011, he has been engaged in a solo career, performing lyrical compositions.

Family and education

Andrey Kovalev was born in Moscow in the family of a military man and an opera singer. Andrei's mother sang at the Bolshoi Theater for 35 years, his father is a colonel in the Soviet Army.

Mom always actively introduced her son to music. Violin, cello, double bass - four hours of lessons every day. However, dad, a colonel in the Soviet Army, saw Andrei in a more courageous profession and gave his son a motorcycle. After a close acquaintance with technology, Andrey got excited about the idea of ​​​​becoming an engineer. In 1979 he graduated from the Moscow Automobile and Road Institute (MADI), worked at a secure enterprise, continued to ride a motorcycle, and participated in motocross competitions. Later, fascinated by sculpture, the first time he entered the Stroganov School, one of the oldest art schools in the USSR in the field of industrial, monumental, decorative and applied art and interior art.

Musical career

For a long time, Andrei did not even think about studying music. The source of inspiration turned out to be as old as the world: great and pure love. Moreover, as it often happens, love is not easy and far from a happy ending. When Andrei sang his debut compositions to fellow musicians, the reaction of professionals was positive. So the idea to take a musical career seriously arose. Since 2006, Andrei Kovalev has been the frontman of the Pilgrim group, since 2011 he has been a solo artist. According to the established tradition, solo concerts of the performer are held in the Moscow club "Alma Mater" and "Variety Theatre", gathering full halls of fans of Andrei Kovalev's work.

Rock band "Pilgrim"

The history of the rock group "Pilgrim" began when Andrey Kovalev was still a student. Like-minded students of MADI organized VIA. Andrey Kovalev played the bass guitar. The musician recalls: “Our group was called Wings of Anger, later Rus. At almost every festival we had a new name, and so it went on until I accidentally met the same guitarist who suggested that we return the old name "Pilgrim". And on the same day I wrote the song "Pilgrim".

In October 2006, the presentation of the video of the group "Pilgrim" for the song of the same name, which became the first single of the future album in the style of hard rock, took place. The video, which was shot by the famous director Alexander Solokha, contains a lot of high-quality computer graphics that turned a gloomy reality into a fantastic world of the future.

At the 2007 international rock festival BASINFIREFEST, which was held in the Czech Republic, Kovalev and his group "Pilgrim" represented Russia.

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Opponent of the phonogram

It is noteworthy that all Andrey Kovalev's concerts are performed live. The singer is an ardent opponent of the phonogram. He is a co-author of the Moscow bill "On the procedure for informing consumers when using a phonogram", the initiator of concerts on City Day 2006 "Pops without a phonorama", concerts of domestic pop stars "We are for live sound!".

“Unfortunately, the law did not pass,” Andrey Kovalev comments, “but I think that the main thing is a certain moral component. Then everyone said - who needs this live sound ?! Television, all central channels - there will never be live sound. Everyone said, including journalists, that people come only to look at the stars, and what he sings, how he sings - it was absolutely unimportant. And if you look now at the top five most paid musicians - these are those who only sing live! There are no plywood workers among them! If you look at the most rated projects, for example, “Voice” on Channel One, everyone also sings only live. Here you are - on the TV channel "Russia 1" "Factor A" with Alla Borisovna Pugacheva - only live! RU TV award, MUZ TV - they defiantly announced - only live! On the "New Wave" Igor Krutoy announced that this year there would be only live sound, and immediately half of the stars were eliminated! Those past my undertakings are now being actively implemented today, as you can see. And now the thought is widely spreading: It's a shame to sing under the plywood!

In addition, Andrey Kovalev is the organizer and inspirer of the live music tours "Glory to Russia!". In the capital twice - in 2005 and 2006. – Powerful rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to Moscow!”, in the summer of 2006 rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Eagle! and “Glory to Russia! Glory to Nizhny Novgorod!

Albums and star duets

In 2004, the debut album "Salt, Tequila and a Slice of Lime" was released, named after the hit that the public loved. The plot of the video for this song is borrowed from Robert Rodriguez's tape "Desperado": "el mariacho" confronts a gang of bikers. As the singer admits, this action is very close to him and partly resembles his own biography. The video, directed by Alexander Solokha, uses Andrey Kovalev's own Harley Davidson and his rare 1964 Cadillac convertible.

The second album, titled Sky Xin, was released in 2005. The audience also remembered the bright video clips "Salt, tequila and a slice of lime" (2004), "New Year's Tale" (2004), "Spring of the 45th" (2005), "Sky Blue" (2005), which entered the hot rotation on many TV channels.

In 2006, Andrei Kovalev, together with Diana Gurtskaya, recorded the duet composition "Nine Months" (music by Kim Breitburg, lyrics by Ilya Reznik). The song, dedicated to young mothers, became the soundtrack to the film of the same name, aired on Channel One. Some time later, the song became a real hit, occupying the top lines of the charts of many radio stations for many months. Seven years later, the song is still heard on radio stations, breaking a kind of national love record.

Andrey Kovalev managed to record duets with very famous pop artists: Sasha Project ("Song of Santa Claus"), Lyubasha ("Falling"), the group "Tutsi" ("Train of Love"), Katya Lel ("Man and Woman", " New Year's story") and rapper Loc-Dog ("Slowly it snowed"). Several songs by Andrei Kovalev are performed by Danko and Katya Lel.

Video clips

Pamela Anderson starred in the Roar of Engines (2008) sketch, which is a mini-movie. The musician recalls: “I have been friends with Pamela Anderson for a long time. I even wrote a song about her, revealing the history of our relationship. The last two lines there are: “If you don’t return to Moscow, I’ll cheat on you with Lady Gaga.” Pamela was married twice, but never wore a wedding dress, and she never had a real wedding. Therefore, when she found out that she was offered to appear in a wedding dress, she immediately agreed to participate. In addition, she liked our song “Roar of Engines”.

Dolph Lundgren starred in another video for Pilgrim (Don't Extinguish the Candle, 2009). In his interviews, Andrey Kovalev says: “Dolph Lundgren called and said that he was filming the film “Command Performance” and wanted us to play ourselves there. He chose one of our songs, which we performed in the film. There, according to the plot, at a music festival, terrorists seized hostages, including the president of Russia - in the picture he shoots at bandits with a machine gun ... And we made our video after filming based on frames from the film.

In 2009, the video clip "Judas" was released, filmed in collaboration with the band Apocalyptica.

In 2011-2012, 12 new clips were released on the screens of the leading music channels in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: “Martha”, “Forgotten”, “If only you could”, “Fly”, “Maple Leaf”, “I will be all my life wait for you”, “I’m not a hero”, “Pamela”, “My woman” with Elena Korikova, “God given to me”, which starred theater and film actress Olesya Sudzilovskaya, “Give me back that fire” with the participation of Olga Budina and New Year video for the song "It's snowing."

In May 2013, he received the title of "Klipoman of the Year", having won in one of the nominations of the prestigious music award of the RU.TV channel for the record number of clips shot in a year (9 video works).

In 2013, Agata Muceniece, the lead actress in the TV series Closed School, took part in the shooting of Andrey Kovalev's video for the song “And I keep dreaming about your eyes”. Andrey also shot a video in memory of actor Vlad Galkin with Vladimir Gostyukhin and Alexei Panin in the lead roles.

Poetry

To date, Kovalev is known for many creative endeavors. He wrote about 700 songs of different genres - from rock ballads to romances. Simultaneously with the songs, verses appeared, which were noticed in the poetic community. A book of lyrics "Pearls and Velvet" (2004) was released. In the preface to Kovalev's book of poems, the famous Moscow writer Alexander Govorov writes: “He is obliged to come to the reader like a lyric poet! I am proud that I had the honor to present the first book of lyrics by Andrey Kovalev, and a smart and supportive reader will appreciate it himself ... ". In 2006, a collection of poems "The sky is blue" was released. In 2012, the publishing house "Academy of Poetry" released the third collection of poems "To You Alone".

“All my songs and poems are my life! - comments Andrey Kovalev. - Of course, through the prism of creativity, but still it is in poetry and songs. That is why, probably, it catches people - after all, this creativity is not invented, but it is experienced! Unrequited love, in my opinion, is the best engine of creativity!”

Television and radio

Andrey Kovalev hosted a number of programs on television and radio, including: the author's program on the radio "Moscow Speaks", "Formula of Success" (channel "Capital"), "Man and Woman" (radio "Pops"), "Live Sound" (Public Russian radio). Today Andrei is himself a regular guest of various television talk shows and guest broadcasts on many radio stations.

Charity

As a deputy of the Moscow City Duma, Andrey Kovalev (2005-2009) initiated concerts in Moscow on the City Day in 2006 "Pop music without a phonogram". As a deputy, Andrey remarked in his public speeches: “Why doesn’t anyone in America or Germany sing to a phonogram? Because if someone takes a risk, then everything else he will become the object of the most cruel ridicule - the Western press smears such performers on the wall.

Under his patronage, there were performances by Russian pop stars “We are for live sound!”. Andrey Kovalev was the organizer of a number of musical events, including the touring patriotic rock festival Slava Rossii, the festival for young bands Take Off!, and concerts by the Master band.

In Moscow, Andrei Kovalev provided five free rehearsal facilities for young musicians. These bases are equipped with all musical instruments necessary for rehearsal. “I invite all young musicians to conduct their rehearsal absolutely free of charge,” Andrey Kovalev says in each interview. - I'm sure that future Metallica or Iron Maiden rehearse at these bases. Those for whom music is a hobby also come. Here the main thing is different - people have an outlet! There is an opportunity to make music, even if their dad is not an oligarch.”

Andrey Kovalev takes an active part in numerous charity concerts and events aimed at social support of Moscow residents, students of boarding schools for orphans and children left without parental care, pupils of the Preobrazhensky Cadet Corps, war and labor veterans, large families, single mothers and others categories of socially vulnerable citizens.

In 2005, Andrey Kovalev accused Neftyanoy Bank of raider seizure of a blocking stake in Auto-Prestige 1.

Andrei Kovalev is the godfather of Emilia, daughter of Katya Lel (godmother - Lyudmila Narusova) and Ivan, son of Stepan Menshchikov.

On June 30, 2010, attackers stole the musician's exclusive bike, which was assembled by special order in the most famous tuning studio in Europe, Fred Kodlin. The motorcycle was soon found.

Among the fans of creativity, even fans of 86 years old are noted.

In May 2013, Andrei Kovalev accused two top managers of Rosbank, Chairman of the Board Vladimir Golubkov and Senior Vice President Tamara Polyanitsyna, of extorting a bribe of $1.5 million to prolong the loan agreement, reduce the loan rate and the amount of monthly payments. On May 15, Golubkov and Polyanitsina were formally charged.

In 2013, Andrey Kovalev received the title of "Klipoman of the Year", having won in one of the nominations of the prestigious music award of the RU.TV channel for the record number of clips shot in a year (9 video works).

In 2013, Andrei lost 25 kg of excess weight. Leads a healthy lifestyle, is engaged in fitness.

Andrey Kovalev believes that the main thing in life is love. “She (love) is more important than work, career, worldly affairs,” says the singer. “Even if it is unrequited, love is still a great happiness!”

More than 300 songs have been recorded in the studio by Andrey Kovalev, and in general his repertoire includes more than 700 compositions. There are many poems that did not become songs. These are 4 collections. Andrey Kovalev records all new songs on his phone.

Andrey Kovalev collects turtles from different countries. “Everything happened by chance with the turtles,” Andrey says. - A friend gave one turtle, then another one, then a third. Then he himself saw another cool one on a trip. And off we go! All my friends now who come from abroad give me turtles, for my birthday they give me only turtles. The collection is growing so fast that there is nowhere to put the turtles.”

Discography

As part of the Pilgrim group

2007 - "Glory to Russia"

2008 - "There is no choice"

2008 - Concert in the Rain (DVD)

2009 - "Trizzy $" (single)

Solo career

2004 - "Salt, tequila ..."

2005 - "The sky is blue"

2007 - "Nine Months", "Man and Woman", "Ice and Fire"

2008 - "Romances"

2008 - "The Best Songs of Andrey Kovalev"

2012 - "My Woman"

So, get acquainted: Andrey Kovalev is a person whose work is quite difficult to fit into any framework.

Family and education

Andrey Kovalev was born in Moscow in the family of a colonel in the Soviet army and an artist of the Bolshoi Theater. Mom introduced her son to music from childhood, at the age of four he was already learning to play the piano. At the music school, Andrei studied cello, intending to enter the school at the Moscow Conservatory after school. However, his father did not want his son to become a musician, and in order to distract Andrei from musical studies, he gave him a motorcycle. The father's calculation was justified - the son became interested in motocross and eventually entered the Moscow Road Institute (MADI). However, Andrei Kovalev did not forget about his musical preferences either - in his second year at the institute, he began playing bass guitar in the Pilgrim vocal and instrumental ensemble.

After graduating from MADI, Andrey Kovalev worked in a closed design bureau. After some time, he became interested in furniture design and entered the Higher School of Industrial Art (formerly Stroganov). Soon he created one of the first furniture production cooperatives in our country. Years of work in business and public service followed.
Andrei has worked in senior positions in three ministries:
- Deputy Minister of Forest Industry of the Russian Federation,
- At the Ministry for Antimonopoly Policy of the Russian Federation,
- In the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation.

However, the love of music did not fade away, and, already being a successful businessman, Andrey Kovalev began to write poetry and music, as well as perform his own works. To date, Andrei Kovalev has created more than 800 songs - in a variety of genres, from romances and art songs to pop and hard rock. Only in the last six months, on the air of radio "Chanson", "Russian Radio", "Radio Dacha", "Police Wave", "Road Radio", etc., such songs as "Forgotten", "Only Love Can Save" were actively rotated, “My woman”, “Give me back that fire”, “And I still dream about your eyes”, “Airports”, “This will not be erased from memory”, “All trains go to St. Petersburg”, and many of his works have become real hits - suffice it to recall "Man and Woman" - a duet with Katya Lel and "9 Months" - a duet with Diana Gurtskaya.

Musical career

Pilgrim Group

At the beginning 2005 Andrey Kovalev created his own rock band, and from that moment on, his work was inextricably linked with heavy music. It is interesting to note that the search for the name of the new group was long and difficult, but at some point Andrei Kovalev remembered his first team - and as a result, the new line-up acquired the historical name "Pilgrim". The group's repertoire includes real men's songs, lyrical ballads and patriotic works "Glory to Russia!", "Judas", "Roar of Engines", "Predators", "Do not extinguish the candle", "In memory of Viktor Tsoi", etc.

The creative asset of the Pilgrim group is cooperation with the stars of world show business: everyone remembers the visit of Pamela Anderson to Moscow, when the famous model played the main role in the video clip of the Pilgrim group “Roar of Motors”. According to the script, Pamela reincarnated as the bride of an oligarch, who was kidnapped right from the crown by a biker, whose role was played by the leader of the "Pilgrim" Andrey Kovalev. The group "Pilgrim" took part in the filming of Dolph Lundgren's film "Dangerous Tour", and the song "Do not extinguish the candle" became the soundtrack to the film. Footage from this film was included in the group's video for the song "Don't Extinguish the Candle" - the main idea of ​​the video, as well as the film itself, was the theme of the confrontation between good and evil, world order and chaos. "Pilgrim" does not forget about cooperation with foreign "brothers in arms" - the second album of the group "No Choice" includes the composition "Judas", recorded together with the world-famous Finnish cello quartet Apocalyptica. Finnish musicians also took part in the recording of a large-scale and spectacular video for this composition.

In June 2008 The Pilgrim group decided on a large-scale and ambitious project - a full-size concert DVD, due to filming in not the most ordinary and simple conditions, called "Concert in the Rain". This program was filmed during the performance of "Pilgrim" in the Green Theater of the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. Gorky, and other groups played in front of the Pilgrim group for five hours, and the Pilgrims were sure that the audience, who had stood in the downpour for so long, would no longer be able to continue this musical marathon. But when the musicians took the stage and saw a sea of ​​people standing under the jets of water, they were shocked! That is why "Concert in the Rain" is permeated with real live drive and true love for music - both the musicians themselves and the audience, which, of course, are essential components of a serious concert video. And the presentation of this DVD took place in November of the same year, together with the presentation of the album "No Choice" at a large-scale and very spectacular concert at the 1ROCK club.

In April 2010 Andrey Kovalev, together with the Pilgrim group, presented the album 7.62, named after the caliber of small arms. And after only six months, the musicians presented the fans with another gift - a double album "Marta", timed to coincide with the band's fifth anniversary.

Solo career

AT 2011 Andrei Kovalev decided to return to the origins of his work - to the lyrics. His new album "My Woman" is just that - calm, romantic, at the junction of popular music, pop rock and author's song. The presentation of this record took place on April 28, 2012 at the Moscow State Variety Theater. And on October 30, 2012, at the same venue, Andrey Kovalev celebrated the 10th anniversary of his creative activity with a grandiose concert show, in which Katya Lel, Diana Gurtskaya, the Reflex group, Irakli, Alena Sviridova, Danko and others took part. Currently, Andrey, despite being busy in concerts, he uploads 3-5 new tracks every month.

Activities on TV and radio

In addition, a significant part of the biography of Andrei Kovalev is occupied by the role of the host of programs on TV and radio. Many people remember his radio program “A Man and a Woman” on the “First Popular Radio”, which the author himself recalls with warmth: “Our program was adult, it was at night, it talked about different sides and nuances of the relationship between the sexes. I decided - we need to help people find their soul mate, I read dating ads on the air, connecting lonely hearts. Andrei hosted several programs on the radio "Moscow speaking". On the radio "Pioneer-FM" the program "He and She" was released. His TV programs “Visiting Andrey Kovalev”, which aired on Ren-TV and the Stolitsa TV channel, and “Different People with Andrey Kovalev”, which aired on Mir TV channels, Music Box and others, became popular.

Andrey Kovalev's performance is incredible - only in 2011-2015, dozens of new clips with the participation of popular actors and actresses appeared on the screens of the leading Russian music channels: "Road" with Alexei Panin and Vladimir Gostyukhin, "Airports" with Anastasia Panina, "And I dream of everything your eyes” with Agatha Muceniece, “My Woman” with Elena Korikova, “God Given to Me” with Olesya Sudzilovskaya and others. The videos “Forgot” and “Martha” became very popular on the Internet - each of these clips was watched almost 2 million users. The most recent video - a video for the song "This will not be erased from memory" - is notable for the fact that a popular actress, the heroine of the series "Univer", Nastasya Samburskaya, starred in it.

Poetry

In addition to writing songs, Andrey Kovalev released four collections of poems: the book "Pearls and Velvet" was published in 2004, "The Sky is Blue" - in 2006, the collection "For You alone" - in April 2012, and the book "Only love can save" in March 2017.
Now Andrei Kovalev is working on the fifth book of poetry.

Andrei also tried himself as a film producer. The film "Cook", directed by Yaroslav Chevazhevsky, was a success on the screens of our country.

Notable Facts

Andrei Kovalev is an active opponent of singing to a phonogram. He himself always sings live, which he encourages other representatives of the musical community to do as well. An important initiative of Andrei Kovalev as a deputy of the Moscow City Duma was the draft law on the prohibition of the phonogram. “I wanted to pass a city law clarifying the application of the Law on Consumer Rights in Moscow, but it turned out that this topic is under the jurisdiction of the federal authorities, i.e. only the State Duma of the Russian Federation can adopt such a law. But there are still achievements: a resolution was adopted according to which at all concerts in Moscow, held with the use of budget money, ONLY live sound can be played, ”says Andrey Kovalev.

Today Andrei actively gives concerts all over Russia. Andrey Kovalev's concert program is received with a bang by thousands of audience of the City Day and the elite public of the custom event. The program includes the best lyrical compositions of the singer and composer, written in recent years - "I forgot", "Airports", "Only love can save", "I'm not a hero", "My woman", "Airports", "It will not be erased from memory”, “Sky blue”, “Man and woman”, “9 months”, “Salt, tequila and a slice of lime”, etc.

Andrey Kovalev is a People's Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia!

Andrey Kovalev wrote the song "Glory to Russia", which is very popular.
He wrote poetry and music for the song "Work, brothers", dedicated to the Hero of Russia Magomed Nurbagandov.
He wrote the song "Eagle's Land, Dagestan" and "Steppe and Freedom" to the verses of the Dagestan poet Abu Sufyan.

Andrei Kovalev gave several concerts for military personnel at the Khmeimim base in Syria.

Andrei Kovalev was awarded a certificate of honor for his contribution to the aesthetic, cultural and moral education of the military personnel of the ODON named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky.

Discography

As a soloist:
"Salt, tequila ..." - 2004
"The sky is blue" - 2005
"Nine Months", "Ice and Fire", "Man and Woman" - 2007
"Author's song", "The best songs of Andrey Kovalev", "Romances" - 2008
"My Woman" - 2012

As part of the Pilgrim group:
"Glory to Russia" - 2007
"No Choice" - 2008
Concert in the Rain (on DVD) - 2008
"Trizzy $" (single) - 2009
"7.62" - 2010
"March" - 2010

, singer , composer , poet , businessman

Tools

Vocals, Bass

Genres Aliases Collectives Labels Official site

Andrey Arkadievich Kovalev(June 7, 1957) - Russian businessman and public figure. Owner of the Ecooffice group of companies, singer, songwriter, radio and TV presenter, leader of the Pilgrim group, music producer, organizer of rock festivals.

Biography

A family

Photo from the family archive (with parents and brother)

Andrey Kovalev was born in Moscow in the family of a military man and an opera singer. Andrei's mother sang at the Bolshoi Theater for 35 years, his father is a colonel in the Soviet Army.

Divorced, daughter born in 1990

Education

Andrey mastered musical instruments in the preschool period: "violin, cello, double bass - four hours of lessons every day." After school, Andrei planned to enter the school at the Conservatory in the double bass class. However, fate decreed otherwise and he graduated. Later, carried away by sculpture, he entered the Stroganov Higher Art School, where he studied for several years.

Business and charity

In the late 80s, Andrei Kovalev organized the Prestige company for the sale of furniture. At the same time, he led a political career, was the Deputy Department of the Forest Fund, a member of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he began to create large business centers on the territories of closing Moscow factories, reconstructing them according to his own sketches.

In August 2007, Andrei Kovalev bought three unprofitable pasta factories in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Smolensk, as well as the Extra M and Noble trademarks. The deal amounted to $55 million.

In 2008, he created the 1Rock media holding, which included the 1Rock rock club (the current name of the club is Pipl), the 1Rock magazine, a satellite TV channel, an Internet portal and a radio station dedicated to rock music. In 2010 the project was closed.

Andrey Kovalev actively participates in charity concerts and events aimed at social support of Moscow residents, helps students of boarding schools for orphans, pupils of the Preobrazhensky Cadet Corps, war and labor veterans, single mothers and other representatives of the categories of socially unprotected citizens.

Musical career

With the Finnish team "Apocalyptic"

In his student years, he played the bass guitar in the Pilgrim band. The musician himself recalls:

Our own group was called "Wings of Anger", later "Rus". At almost every festival we had a new name, and so it went on until I accidentally met the same guitarist who suggested that we return the old name "Pilgrim". And on the same day I wrote the song "Pilgrim" ... We performed more and more music "Deep Purple"

In 2006, Andrei Kovalev became interested in heavy metal, recreated the Pilgrim group. In 2007, at the BASINFIREFEST rock festival (Czech Republic), Andrey Kovalev and his "Pilgrim" represented Russia. In 2008, guitarist Alexey Strike and drummer Alexander Karpukhin moved to Pilgrim, after a split in the Master group. The band has released several heavy metal albums.

In 2011, the artist resumed his solo career and returned to creating and performing lyrical compositions.

In 2005-2008 he held rock festivals “Glory to Russia! Glory to Moscow!”, “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Eagle! and “Glory to Russia! Glory to Nizhny Novgorod! At the largest of them in Moscow, the number of spectators reached 40,000.

He is the organizer of the festival for young groups "On the rise!", created and finances free rehearsal venues for his bands.

Video clips

The team with Pamela after filming the video

Andrey Kovalev, talking about the work on the video “Salt, tequila and a slice of lime” (directed by Alexander Solokha and cameraman Eduard Mashkovich, 2004), which involved the author’s own Harley Davidson and a rare 1964 Cadillac convertible, noted that the plot borrowed from Robert Rodriguez's "Desperado": "el mariacho" confronts a biker gang:

“Despite some comical hyperbole, this ‘action’ is very close to me and kind of reminds me of my biography”

I have been friends with Pamela Anderson for a long time. I even wrote a song about her, revealing the history of our relationship. The last two lines are: "If you don't return to Moscow, I'll cheat on you with Lady Gaga". Pamela was married twice, but never wore a wedding dress, and she never had a real wedding. Therefore, when she found out that she was offered to appear in a wedding dress, she immediately agreed to participate. In addition, she liked our song “Roar of Engines”.

Dolph Lundgren starred in another video for "Pilgrim" ("Don't Extinguish the Candle", 2009). In his interviews Andrey Kovalev says:

Why in America or in Germany no one sings to the phonogram? Because, if someone takes a risk, then everything else he will become the object of the most severe ridicule - the Western press smears such performers on the wall.

When asked if the fighter with “plywood” is afraid of infringing on the financial interests of show business players and “repeating the sad fate of banker Andrei Kozlov or singer Abraham Russo,” the deputy replied:

I have good security, and in general I'm only afraid of colds. In general, there are a lot of dishonorable people in show business. No other business has that many. Black cash, bribery and shootouts remained in the 80s and 90s with red jackets, and only in show business did these birthmarks remain. We must eliminate them!

Criticism

The personality and work of Andrei Kovalev is actively covered in the media, receiving conflicting reviews from journalists and critics.

Nikolai Fandeev has the same opinion about Kovalev. Reviewing the album "The sky is blue", he wrote that it "a vain attempt by an unlucky singer to perform a mixture of restaurant music and tasteless Soviet pop music of the 70s of the last century"