Why did the "all-Union drummer" Nikolai Gnatyuk disappear from the stage, and how he lives today?

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 13:10

Songs performed by Nikolai Hnatyuk were invariably popular, they listened to him spellbound, sang along to him and waited impatiently for his performances. "Dance on the Drum", "Bird of Happiness", "Crimson Ringing" - these songs are known and loved to this day. Glory, recognition, crowds of fans did not enter the performer in awe, but as if they were away from him. The singer remained modest and restrained, he was not characterized by "star" behavior, he rarely gave interviews, and two years ago he decided to leave the stage altogether, although he was in great shape.

Singing boy

Nikolai Hnatyuk, born in September 1952 in the Ukrainian village of Nemyrivka, Khmelnitsky region, seems to have sang from birth. At least he himself remembers himself singing from early childhood. His parents were rural intellectuals, his father served as collective farm chairman, and his mother worked as a teacher.

And Nikolai sang from childhood. He sang on a chair, like many children of that age, and when he climbed high on the cherry for the first red berries, he sang so loudly that the neighbors even asked him to sing his favorite songs. He also dreamed of becoming an artist and acting in films, but still made his choice in favor of music.

He attended music school in a nearby town. It was necessary to walk five kilometers across the field, and more than seven kilometers along the road. He got up at a time when the anthem of the Soviet Union sounded on the radio in order to catch the bus to school, and came home after classes at the music school at eight o'clock in the evening. He was very tired and often even felt destitute, but he did not give up his music lessons, he persistently learned notes and scales, learned the subtleties of vocal art.

After leaving school, he became a student of the Music and Pedagogical Faculty of the Rivne Pedagogical Institute. From that very moment, his new, independent life began. And today Nikolai Gnatyuk can rightfully say that he made himself, independently walked this path from a simple rural boy to fame and recognition.

Nikolai Gnatyuk's creative career began with the ensemble "We are Odessites", continued while serving in the army in the ensemble of the 8th Guards Army in Germany, and then brought him to VIA "Druzhba" and to the studio of the Leningrad Music Hall, where the young performer continued their training in vocal art.

Soon, songs performed by Nikolai Hnatiuk began to sound on the radio, he was increasingly invited to take part in television concerts, and the whole country fell in love with the young performer. With the song "I dance with you" he won the main prize at the pop song competition in Dresden, and with "Dancing on the drum" he won first place in Sopot. All-Union fame and popularity came to him, and after that - true love.

Not made for family life

He met Natalia during one of his interviews, immediately feeling sympathy for a clever, charming girl. When Natalya told Nikolai that she was expecting a child, he did not doubt for a second, immediately decided that he was ready to start a family. And he went to woo, taking for the company of the famous cosmonaut Georgy Grechko, who, in turn, decided to go to such an important event not empty-handed, but with a whole box of fragrant apples. Natalya loved her wife very much and even abandoned her dream of filming in a movie so that her husband could calmly engage in creativity. When her son Oles was born, Natalya completely devoted herself to the family and raising a child.

When the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant happened, Natalya took her son to Germany, as he needed a serious examination, and then decided to stay there. Nikolay Gnatyuk lived for some time in fact in two countries, torn between his family and what he loved. He tried to communicate with his son as much as possible, even said that he was overfeeding him with his attention and care. But he does not regret it, as he considers the memories of a happy childhood, full of love and care of parents, very important for later life.

And Nikolai Gnatyuk himself at some point came to a disappointing conclusion for himself: he simply cannot combine creativity and family life. In one of his infrequent interviews about a personal performer, he said: he himself initiated a divorce, but his wife did not agree with this development for a long time. She suspected the presence of a rival and did not understand how she could just leave. Fortunately, they both had the wisdom to maintain a normal relationship for the sake of their son.

At first, it was not easy for both of them, Nikolai Gnatyuk even began to get involved in alcoholic beverages. But it was for the sake of his son that the performer quit drinking, he simply could not come to Olesya drunk or after a stormy evening. In addition, at that time he had already found his way to God, and at the age of 47 he even entered the Belgorod Theological Seminary.

Farewell to the stage

Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Gnatyuk continued to give concerts, he was gladly invited to corporate events, where he performed his old hits, introduced his listeners to new compositions. Songs about faith and God appeared in his repertoire.

But in 2019, Nikolai Gnatyuk, during a tour in Belarus, announced his farewell to the stage. When asked by a journalist about his future plans, the singer replied: he plans to engage in his spiritual development. Now the songs of the performer can be heard only in the recording, and he himself now calls himself a wandering wanderer. When in 2020 he was asked about how and where he lives, Nikolai Gnatyuk said that his path lies abroad, closer to his son.

Despite the fact that he loves his country and respects all fans of his talent, his son is the most important to him. Of course, Oles has grown up a long time ago, but does this really matter for a loving father? Therefore, Nikolai Vasilyevich wants to spend more time with next to the person dearest to him.

During the Soviet Union, viewers often did not even know which of the republics this or that performer was from. Of course, the air most often sounded songs performed by Lev Leshchenko, Joseph Kobzon, Alla Pugacheva, Sofia Rotaru and other recognized and honored masters. But millions of people, along with them, listened with pleasure to those whose names were not so famous: Roza Rymbaev, Nadezhda Cheprag and others. After the collapse of a huge country, the fates of these performers were different.