Why did the soloist of "Tender May" hide the truth about his relatives and how he ended up in an orphanage with his father alive

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 05:58

At one time, almost the entire female half of the Soviet Union was crazy about the sweet-voiced soloist of the group "Laskoviy May". But few of his fans knew that the image of an orphan was not entirely true. However, Yuri Shatunov had his own reasons for hiding the truth.

Unrecognized from birth

The future idol of the generation of the late 80s was born in the Bashkir city of Kumertau. But he was not a desired child: his mother Vera Shatunova then only celebrated her majority, and his father Vasily Klimenko was 23 years old. The young people had no plans to become parents, but since the girl became pregnant, she had to sign. However, the newly-made dad did not feel love for the boy who was born and did not even write it down under his last name. Therefore, the mother had to give the baby her own: this is how Yura Shatunov appeared.

But in vain Vera expected that over time her husband would begin to treat the child differently: he annoyed Vasily more and more. And, in order to save the family, the girl gave Yura to be raised by her grandparents. But this did not help the relationship: after a while, the spouse left anyway. Shatunov was only three years old at the time.

Soon the grandfather died, and the grandmother, referring to the fact that she could not cope with her grandson, returned the boy to his mother. But Vera again had no time for her son: she had a new man. However, the roommate could not refuse a glass or two. The woman was not embarrassed by this - after all, some kind, but a man in the house. Only he was in no hurry to admit Yura either. Therefore, the boy had no desire to be in a house where he was not liked: he often disappeared on the street and even ran away several times. Soon Vera also became a lover of noisy feasts. Because of this, her already poor health began to deteriorate even more. The roommate did not need a sick wife, and soon he left for another woman.

And Yura's mother was getting worse and worse: a sick heart made itself felt. Therefore, she sent her son to a boarding school. The woman was supposed to undergo an operation, but they did not have time - in 1984 she was gone. She was only 29 years old. But the worst thing was that the relatives left Yuri at home with his dead mother for the whole night alone under the pretext that he needed to say goodbye to his loved one. It is difficult to imagine what an 11-year-old child experienced while sitting next to his deceased mother for several hours. It is not surprising that after this, the guy began to have health problems, and at the slightest anxiety, his legs began to fail.

Betrayal after betrayal

After the death of Shatunov's mother, Aunt Nina Dolgushina took her upbringing. She sang in a folk song ensemble at the local house of culture and recalled that she often took her nephew with her. According to her, the teenager did not study music anywhere, but he had perfect ear and could pick up any melody on the accordion and guitar. However, the life of a relative was also not easy: after her husband was imprisoned, she raised two children alone. Realizing that she could not feed another child, she decided to send Yura to an orphanage.

Having learned about this, the future soloist of "Tender May" ran away from his aunt and went to his own father. But the latter, who had not really liked his son before, refused to take the child with him, citing the fact that he had a different family for a long time.

Yura wandered around Bashkiria and the neighboring Orenburg region, and soon a commission was assembled in the capital of the latter on the case of guardianship of a teenager. There he was seen by Valentina Tazekenova, who was the director of an orphanage in the Akbulak village. She felt sorry for the boy abandoned by everyone, and she persuaded those present to assign him to the institution she led. A year later, Valentina was put at the helm of boarding school No. 2 in Orenburg, and Shatunov left with her. Later, the singer admitted more than once that it was Tazekenova who replaced his mother.

Tender May

At that time, a kind of music studio worked in the institution, headed by Sergey Kuznetsov. Once the director of the boarding school introduced him to the former pupil Vyacheslav Ponomarev. After talking, the young people decided to create a group. But there was one catch: there was no soloist. Then the choice fell on Yura Shatunov, who, according to the musicians, had not only perfect pitch, but also stood out for his good looks, which is important for the stage.

So in 1986, "Tender May" appeared, which was destined to become a unique phenomenon in the last years of the Soviet era. Sergei Kuznetsov wrote songs, Vyacheslav Ponomarev became a bassist, the role of the soloist went to Yuri Shatunov, and Sergei Serkov was responsible for light and music. The first performance of the ensemble took place in the Orenburg House of Culture. And very soon young people became local idols. Perhaps they would have remained stars only in their hometown, if the recording of their songs had not been received by Andrei Razin, who at that time was the manager of another popular group "Mirage".

The producer quickly realized that it was necessary to rely not only on light youth love songs, but also on the tragic story of a young soloist. He thought that the image of a round orphan would impress the audience more than a story about a teenager who was abandoned by loved ones. Therefore, it was decided not to tell anything about Shatunov's relatives.

And it worked: "Tender May" became the most famous musical group in the country, and in terms of popularity it was even compared to the legendary The Beatles. And, of course, the cute soloist became the idol of all the girls of that time: they were on duty under the windows of the hotels where the singer lived, and were ready to do anything to at least get his autograph. His life story also gave rise to many rumors, and since little was known about his biography, many tales appeared. Some even seriously believed that Yuri was the illegitimate son of Elvis Presley himself. “Look how they look alike,” the fans reasoned.

When the popularity of "Tender May" reached enormous proportions, Shatunov's relatives showed up. At that time he was 16 years old. Once Razin received a call from a woman who introduced herself as the wife of Vasily Klimenko's father and said that the family was ready to take the teenager with them (after all, he was not a stranger to them). Naturally, they did not even listen to the newly-born relative.

And Yuri, after a large tour of the United States in the fall of 1991, decided to leave the band. According to him, he is tired of the eternal image of an orphanage boy and the frantic pace of life. Although the 18-year-old guy had absolutely no idea what he would do next, he realized that he could not continue this way. After his departure, "Tender May" did not last long, because it was Shatunov who became his calling card.

New life and old grudges

In the 90s, the singer lived almost as a recluse and avoided public life. At the end of the decade, he left for Germany and stayed there. At the same time, he returned to the stage and performed not only old hits, but also recorded many new songs. And now he can often be seen at group concerts such as "Disco-80s".

The artist met his future wife Svetlana in Germany. In 2006, their son was born, and a year later the young people officially signed. Six years later, their daughter saw the light. It is known about the singer's wife that she is a lawyer by education and that she is three years younger than him.

Several years ago, the singer's aunt visited one of the television talk shows and said that Yuri was not angry with her, since she had to hand him over to an orphanage. According to her, her nephew did not forget about her and even during the "Tender May" he visited her and brought expensive gifts. And although the relatives have not seen each other for more than 15 years, Shatunov promised the woman that he would definitely visit her.

The singer never communicates with his father. Klimenko still lives in Kumertau with another family and refuses to give interviews. When the journalists came to his home, the man's wife did not let the film crew, and Vasily himself only brushed it off, saying that his son did not want to know him.