Alexander Gradsky

Alexander Gradsky (Russian: Александр Градский, born November 3, 1949) is a Russian Rock singer, bard and composer, and has sometimes been called the Soviet Union's most popular recording artist. He is known to have a three-and-a-half octave range voice, and has performed with John Denver on the song "Let Us Begin..."

He's also the composer of the song entitled "Hymn," which uses the melody from "Bozhe, Tsarya Khrani!" ("God Save the Tsar!"), but has different lyrics. He has proposed that this song be made the Russian national anthem. It was probably first performed by Gradsky on August 20, 1998 on Vasilievsky Spusk next to the Red Square in Moscow. Gradsky has also performed as a tenor at New York City's Carnegie Hall. He was married to Anastasiya Vertinskaya after her divorce with Nikita Mikhalkov.

Gradsky started his activity in the early 1960s, when he created a sound based on bard music using rock elements.

Since then he released dozens of records.

Trivia

He is known to have a huge vocal range of more than 3 octavs.

External links

* [http://gradsky.com/ Official site] ru icon
* [http://gradsky.com/publication/s99_41.shtml Reprint of a] New York Daily News article.
* [http://www.john-denver.org/default.asp?id=449 John Denver's official site] with mention of Gradsky.
* [http://www.zvuki.ru/A/P/184/ Gradsky's biography] ru icon