Biography:

Yuriy Vasilevich Shatunov (Russian: Юрий Васильевич Шатунов; September 6, 1973 – June 23, 2022)^[4] was a Russian singer, best known as being the frontman of the Russian 1980’s band Laskoviy Mai (Ласковый май).

Name

Although his name is commonly spelled “Yuri Shatunov” in English, his official website, Shatunov.com, lists his name as “Yuriy” (which is the most precise transliteration of Russian), “Yury,” and “Yuri.” The English pronunciation of all three is identical.^[5] Yuri took his mother, Vera Shatunova’s, surname at a young age due to the lack of a relationship with his father, Vasiliy Klimenko.^[6]

Personal life

Shatunov was born on 6 September 1973 in the city of Kumertau, Bashkir ASSR, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of the former Soviet Union. His father, Vasiliy Vladimirovich Klimenko, was half Russian and half Ukrainian.^[7] At the age of 3 he was abandoned by his father and was subsequently raised by his mother. When he was 11, his mother died of heart disease. He went to live with his aunt and maternal grandparents, who soon found themselves unable to cope with his behavior.^[8][9]

Shatunov was sent to Orenburg Children’s Home Number 2 in Orenburg, where he had a reputation for poor behavior. This included running away from the orphanage, playing guitar, singing on the streets to get money and cigarettes, getting into fights, and avoiding work.^[10][11]

He met with Sergei Kuznetsov, a music teacher in the orphanage, and they formed the band band, “Laskoviy Mai” (“Tender May”). One of the most common themes the young band members would sing about was unfortunate love. This was uncommon at the time, and atypical considering the age of the two, both young teenagers.^[12] This group, in which Shatunov was the frontman, existed from 1986 to 1992, and was very popular in Russia. In 1996, Shatunov moved to Germany, where he went to complete his education, left unfinished as a result of his turbulent youth and early career in music. Whilst in Germany, Shatunov learned how to become a music producer.^[13]

Shatunov had a wife, a son, and a daughter. Shatunov and his wife got married in 2007 in Germany, after seven years of dating.^[8]

Before Shatunov died, he was busy working on his solo career, and performed frequently in Russia, Germany and in Eastern European countries, as well as some of the former Soviet bloc countries in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.^[14]

Yuri Shatunov died on the night of 23 June 2022 of acute heart failure (myocardial infarction) in a Moscow hospital.^[15][16] The singer’s condition deteriorated critically on the way to a hospital in Domodedovo^[17] where he underwent intensive resuscitation but could not be saved.^[18] Funeral ceremonies for Yuri Shatunov were held on 26 June 2022 in the farewell hall of Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye Cemetery, and he was cremated a day later.^[19] On 28 June 2022, the urn containing his ashes was partially buried in Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye Cemetery^[20][21][22] and the other part of the ashes, in accordance with the singer’s wishes, will be scattered into one of the lakes in Munich, Germany.^[23][24][25]

Rights to songs and performances

In 1992, the songwriter Sergey Kuznetsov signed a contract with Andrey Razin, and 14 years later they made a deal, based on which the producer became the sole owner of the group’s hits. However, during the trial it turned out that “no one has ever seen the original contract.” Moreover, the examination proved that Kuznetsov’s signature was forged, which means that the transaction was falsified. On June 17, 2022, it became known that Shatunov had sued for the rights to the compositions of the group “Tender May”.^[26]

On June 20, the singer gave the last TV interview in his life, in which he commented on the trial with Razin.^[27]

Credits: