Professional biography

Pugacheva was born to mother Zinaida Arkhipovna Odegova and father Boris Mikhailovich Pugachev in Moscow. At the age of 5, she participated in a concert held in the Kolonnyi Zal Doma Soyuzov (Pillar Hall of House of the Unions) hall, the most prestigious hall in Russia. In 1956 she entered the ?31 music school, attached to the Ippolitova-Ivanova music college. She went on to study in the ?496 school, finishing her studies there in 1964. She then studied in the choral-conductor department of the Ipolita-Ivanovna music college, and in 1965 she released her first song, titled Robot. The song was recorded for the State Radio Good Morning! programme and was very well received.

In 1966 she finished college and toured with the group Yunost (Youth) in Western Siberia. The following year she started to work as a piano accompanist in the State Circus-Musical college. She provided the leading vocals to a number of bands, including New Electron, part of the Lipetsk State Philharmonic Society, in 1966; Moskvichi in 1971; Oleg Lundstrem's band in 1972-73; and Vesyoliye Rebyata in 1974-75. Throughout the period, she also recorded notable songs for numerous movies, including King-Deer, My Dear Boy and 3-Minute Train Stop. In 1974 she received the 3rd place prize in the 5th All-Union competition of music artists, which was somewhat of a disappointment for her. However, her steep rise to stardom was soon to follow, and in 1975 she received the prestigious Bulgarian Golden Orpheus prize for her song Harlequin. Following her success in Bulgaria, Alla released a record called Alla Pugacheva Singing in that country.

In 1977-80 she worked with the group Ritm and played the leading role in the movie A Woman That Sings. The film was very popular, reaching out to an audience of 55 million people. In 1978 she also received the Amber Nightingale prize at the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland for the song Kings Can Do Anything from the movie. From this time, her rivalry with the Moldavian superstar Sophia Rotaru has been notorious.

Many awards, records, movie roles, and growth of popularity followed, most notably the title of People's Artist of the USSR, the highest honour that could be bestowed to a musical artist, awarded to her in 1991. While the lesser titles of Accomplished Artist of the Russian SFSR, and People's Artist of the Russian SFSR had been already awarded to her in 1980 and 1985 respectively, the government was hesitant to award the highest honour for a long time. This was mainly because of numerous statements and actions on her part that were inconsistent with the Party's agenda. While never directly opposing the Soviet regime, her outspoken and unrestrained manner of behaviour, such as saying Cheer up! Ho Chi Minh may be dead, but I'm still alive!, at a concert held on the day of Ho Chi Minh's death, would have constituted grounds for regulatory action. However, because of fears of public retaliation, the government did not risk taking any action, adopting a cautious stance instead.

During the 80s, Alla was also a frequent visitor to Sweden. She started out with loads of guest appearances on popular Swedish radio show Galaxen (Galaxy) with famous Swedish star Jacob Dahlin, and later continued in his TV-show Jacobs Stege (Jacob's stair) where she also was a frequent guest. Jacob and Alla used to do various of songs together, for example Superman, where Dahlin did the vocals of the Superman. It was in connection with this Alla recorded her first and only entire English-speaking record, Alla Pugacheva in Stockholm, with various hit songs like Watch Out, Song-Bird and Superman. When Alla participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with her song Primadonna, she once stated This song is for you, Jacob, honoring the by then dead Jacob Dahlin who was a close friend to her.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Alla expanded her ventures, launching a magazine called Alla, Alla radio station, Alla perfume and the Alla Pugachova shoe line. She also received further awards from the government, presented by President Boris Yeltsin, including the Government Award for Achievement in Literature and Arts in 1990, and the highest civilian decoration of the Russian Federation (Service to the Motherland of the 2nd Class Order) in 1999. In 1994, Alla also received a plate with her name on the Square of Stars in the city of Yalta in Ukraine. In 1997, she represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin and finished 15th with the song Primadonna.

In recent years, Alla has produced the popular television reality talent show Star Factory, similar to the Pop Idol format, which has spawned series like American Idol.