Vyacheslav Dobrynin, People’s Artist of Russia, member of RAO Authors’ Council, passed away
01.10.2024
We regret to inform that Vyacheslav Grigorievich Dobrynin, composer, popular singer, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, member of RAO Authors’ Council, passed away on October 1, 2024, at the age of 78.
The future artist was born on January 25, 1946 in Moscow in a family of a military man, Galust Petrosyan, and a nurse, Anna Antonova. In childhood and adolescence, the singer bore his mother’s last name – Antonov, but at the beginning of his career he took the pseudonym – Dobrynin, since at that time the singer-songwriter, Yuri Antonov, was already gaining popularity on stage.
“And somehow I knew from school that I would study music, I finished music school, entered a music college … Oddly, but at the same time I did not imagine my profession, I was always thinking about what to be. I was into books about art, but entered Geography faculty at Moscow State University, transferred to the History faculty, and studied at the Faculty of history and theory of arts”, Vyacheslav Dobrynin said in an interview.
As a student, Dobrynin got interested in The Beatles’ music. Later, he joined the vocal and instrumental ensemble Orpheus, took part in recording cover versions of the British band’s songs as part of VIA Vesyolye Rebyata, collaborated with the band Bremen Musicians, VIA Samotsvety and Oleg Lundstrem’s orchestra.
In the 1980s, the musician began performing as a solo artist, then formed the band Doctor Shlyager.
During his career, Dobrynin has created about a thousand songs. The most famous ones are “Blue Fog”, “Don’t Rub Salt on My Wounds”, “Witch Lake”, “Oh, What a Woman”, “Farewell, Trains from All Stations…”, “Write Me a Letter”, “Red Horse”, “Live, Spring”, “Not a Minute of Peace”, “Everything I Have in Life”, “Music Flows”, “Big Dipper” — they became beloved hits. He released 17 long-playing albums, 12 EPs and 19 CDs.
Vyacheslav Dobrynin created melodies that reached the audience’s very heart. His songs are still performed by young artists and recognized stars of the Russian stage.
“Almost all the songs based on Derbenev’s poems, and I have about a hundred of them, began with my music. My first song that got wide recognition, released on a disc with the words “Music by Vyacheslav Dobrynin” written on the cover, was “Where Love Lives” with the lyrics by poet Derbenev. I was very young then, but Leonid Petrovich noticed my talent, and we started collaborating. And I say, the great songwriters I was lucky to work with, did not at all think that they were great masters and their job was to write poetry, and the job of composers was to write music to their poetry. Derbenev, Shaferan, Tanich, Plyatskovsky, Rozhdestvensky, Ryabinin willingly wrote to ready-made melodies, and they did it very well”, Vyacheslav Dobrynin answered the question of what comes first in a song — music or lyrics. Vyacheslav Dobrynin’s unique voice and his emotional melodies will stay forever in the memory of his friends, colleagues and fans. The songs where he managed to reflect the depth of feelings and experiences so skillfully will be performed by more and more new musicians.
RAO team expresses deep sincere condolences to Vyacheslav Grigorievich’s relatives and friends.
