Bi 2 group biography. Biography

Leva B2 born on September 2, 1972 in Minsk. Leva's grandfather, a colonel of the engineering troops, twice a hero of the Soviet Union, was repressed. To a certain degree Leva- grandson of the hero. Ever since childhood Leva was impressed by the composition “Cruiser Aurora”, and a little later he composed the song “Dear Augustine”, which, as it turned out, was part of German national folklore. Since then Leva lost all interest in folk art and now devotes himself entirely to psychedelic music of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. In 1985 he met Shura at a theater studio in Minsk. In 1992 he moved to Israel and served in the army. February 15, 1998 arrives in Australia.

What does he think? Leva, "School is my horror." He studied well until the 7th-8th grade. After which he ended up in a theater studio, which radically changed his outlook on life. On the third visit to this theater studio, the director tells Leva: “If you want to somehow move forward in life, then you need to read books.” For what Leva answered: “What books should I read?” And she says to him: “Here, ask Shurik.” Leva comes up to Shura and says: “Shurik, so that I can become smarter there, tell me what books I need to read.” Shura wrote Leva a list. Some books from this list Leva still can't get it. There were diaries of some Portuguese researchers, i.e. it was such a complex list from which Leva I only read a third and still think that Shura himself does not fully possess this information. After some time (grade 10) Leva let go of the pigtail. Leva’s mother was put under a lot of pressure about this braid, and she cut off his braid at night when he was sleeping. Leva I was shocked. After which he cut up his school suit and came in a “tuxedo” on a naked body in a military overcoat. When he undressed in the school locker room, the technician shied away from him, then, in the first lesson (the headmistress taught this lesson), they kicked him out. But he still expressed his protest.

Leva wrote a series of very frank poems about life. According to Shura: “A young guy came. I had already been in the studio for half a year. He came up to me and said: “Hello, my name is Leva. They told me that I could contact you. I have a friend here (a neighbor on the site), he writes poems and could you, as a person who already has some idea about poetry, tell me whether this is worthwhile material or not?” He begins to read some poems to me , absolutely terrible poems. I took them, read them, and then said to Levka: “ Leva, I have a serious conversation with you. Of course, I understood everything. Leva, don't be embarrassed if you write poetry or lyrics. You can say this openly." Here Levka blushes. I say: "I showed them to my uncle and my uncle said that there was very good potential." For Leva, this was decisive to some extent in life. And from that moment can be considered the beginning of some creative process, although there was no talk about music then, because we didn’t really know how to play then and were engaged in theater."

Shura once told Leva that there was such an opportunity - a certain club had appeared that provided equipment and should they make a rock band, because they somehow could not express themselves in the theater (this was not enough for them and they wanted to play). Leva accepted his offer. To which Shura said: “Let’s do it this way. You will start writing lyrics, make music and put together a lineup.

After which they found a very interesting base, there was a tire factory there, which provided premises and said: “Guys, here is the device. You can use it as you like. Only you must sometimes fulfill our requests to perform there, there, there.” AND Leva with Shura, who didn’t really know how to play, were given equipment where they practiced and rehearsed around the clock.

A few months later, Shura assembled a lineup that included absolutely wonderful musicians. A guy came to them, covered in tattoos, his hands covered in Vaseline, and said: “You are a group.” B2"?. Leva with Shura they say: “Yes.” The guy says: “I will sing for you!” They say: “Why did you decide?” To which he replies: “I like your music. I heard you at some festival and will sing with you!” The guy, as it turned out, had served some time in the juvenile detention center and he really wanted to express himself somehow. He was very scary on stage and he simply scared everyone. And the songs I wrote at that time Leva were like “We will stab and kill you all there!”

They went to a festival somewhere in Belarus, where they took first place. Some well-known groups came there (even “NOGU SVELO!” was there) and some “assholes” called B2 take first place.

For a long time, that guy couldn’t lose because the relationship with him didn’t work out and Leva with Shura he was “fired”.

After which Shura says to Leva: “Try to sing.” Leva he started singing and suddenly he began to succeed. The guys consider '89 to be the year of foundation" B2". They defined the style for themselves as “music of torn pillows.” The show all began with a coffin being carried out from the back passage of the hall on a dark stage. The coffin was placed on the stage, some song was performed in the style of a march, the lid of the coffin was opened, and from there pops up Leva. His shirt was white with a bloody stain, as if he had been killed, he had a pillow in his hands and he started singing the first song - “Need of Love”. He sang a song, cut the pillow and threw it into the hall. It began to snow in the hall, the pillow began to fly over heads and arms.

The first album was made in Russia in 1991. It was a magnetic album called "Traitors to the Motherland." They felt that something would happen to our homeland. They lost this album in Belarus.

There were 2 factors that made the guys go abroad: the economic factor and the thirst for adventure. In 1990, music became very difficult: festivals stopped, rock and roll life stopped, and gray everyday life began. The only place they could go to travel was Israel. Some of Lyova and Shura’s friends rushed there and said that it was warm there, good, but there were only scorpions.

In 91 Shura went to Israel, in 92 Levka came to Shura. In Israel, music was not the main activity for the guys, because they worked, they had to somehow feed themselves, pay for their place of residence. During the year, Shura changed about 15 jobs. Shura worked at a construction site with his friend. They came to the construction site and asked the employers, they said: “Yes, there is a vacancy to work.” They worked for 40 minutes, carrying some kind of fittings. After 40 minutes they got tired and decided to have a smoke break, put the fittings on the rails and sat down somewhere to smoke. After which they heard an inhuman cry: “Ah-ah-ah.” Shura didn’t know the language well, but he heard profanity. It turns out that a crane was passing there, it came across this reinforcement and began to bend. After that, the owner said: “You don’t work here anymore!”

All attempts to make music were “at home”. They were sitting on acoustic guitars and throwing on some models. Then it all turned into some kind of songs. And as a result, the idea arose: “Shouldn’t we put it together again?” B2"?" Assemble in electrical composition" B2"It didn't work out and they made an acoustic project. There were three people on stage." B2"In 1992, we managed to take part in numerous Russian-language festivals in Israel. They come with three guitars, play some songs and suddenly everyone starts to like them. They clap in the hall," B2"is considered one of the interesting performers at these festivals. The apogee of this creativity was the song "Varvara", which is the only one from that period that has been brought to the present period. Leva This song came from Minsk in 1992. The song was a success, but looking ahead when Leva in 1998 I came to Shura, they were compiling a list of songs that would be included in the album, Levka suggested “Varvara,” to which Shura replied: “Are you crazy? The song is absolutely nothing, it’s already old, nothing interesting.” A Leva says: “Let’s change the arrangement.” In general, they changed it and the song began to live a completely different life.

In January 1993, Shura woke up in the morning and felt sad and bored and decided to go to Australia, see what it was all about and relax for a couple of months. He went and stayed there, he just liked it.

After Shura leaves for Australia, Leva remains alone and has not touched music again for 5 years.

In Australia, Shura managed to play in completely different bands, ranging from blues, rhythm-blues and even gothic. There are a lot of clubs in Melbourne (about 500 clubs). They work seven days a week and there is room for a completely different type of music. Shura put together a project of strong jazz musicians and he made such a program, since Levka sent very few lyrics, and Shura does not write lyrics. They took some musical standard and played it out, Shura sang several verses (these were not only Levka’s texts, but even Akhmatova’s and Pasternak’s). After one such performance, they were offered to record a concert album. We recorded it and it turned out well. And they say if you want, we will record albums for you. This was the beginning of the first official album "Sexless and Sad Love", which " B2"Recorded in 97-98. Shura calls Leva on the phone (there is a 6-hour difference between them) and says: “Listen to what we did there in the studio. Leva listened to real songs recorded in the studio, where everything sounds very good. And he thinks: “It’s normal. This means that the whole idea is being revived.” B2"". This album has an unfortunate story: after finishing it, they agreed with a Moscow company to release it. They made a circulation, printed very beautiful covers in Germany and the release was scheduled for August 16, 1998. Accordingly, everyone knows what happened on August 17 and the record didn’t come out anywhere. Release of this album" B2“Postponed for several years because it has already lost its value and will be released in a few years as an archive.
After finishing work on the album Leva Shurik and I decide what they will do next album" B2". Leva starts sending him songs on cassette tapes. At first I sent seven or eight songs, of which they were already firmly choosing six. They agreed that Leva flies in and they start recording the album. Leva bought a plane ticket and arrives, starts working to record an album in Russian.
They had not seen each other for 5 years and during this time a lot of events happened for both Lyova and Shura. They have changed. We started thinking that we need to record a full-length album." B2". Leva came to Australia and at home they created the following situation: they installed a bass amp, Leva played the bass guitar (he had never played the bass guitar before). It so happened that Shura in Australia retrained from a bass guitarist to a guitarist, and Leva from guitarist to bass player. They all started playing at home, getting together every day and playing some tunes. First one song, second, third: The album was recorded easily. He signed up in two sessions, in the summer of 1998. They sat down in the studio as ready to work as possible, all the arrangements were ready, but they lacked a concept from the outside and it was brought by two people - Pobeda (who played the keys) and operator Edam Kalaytsiz (who did the entire sound balance of the entire sound).

In two weeks Leva already worked - he went to some painting brigade, there he deceived someone - he said that he had been working as a painter for ten years. They saw through him right away, but for his impudence they forgave him and after half a year he was earning a lot of money, so much so that he could buy himself a car.

Several songs included in the album are "Barbara" and "East" from the Israeli period. All other songs were made along the way, when Levka was traveling to Australia or in Melbourne. “Barbara” was filmed in Australia, they paid for it themselves, hired some people and did promotion at their own expense. When " B2“we recorded the song “I’m Slowly Losing My Mind”, in theory there was a trumpet solo in the middle of the song and a choir was needed there, and the same choir was needed in the song “My Friend”. There were four Russian-speaking people in the studio: Shura, Leva, Victory and one more person, and all the rest were Australians. They wrote the transcription on large sheets of paper in English letters: MY FRIEND IS NEVER SAD. And they told the guys - sing. We recorded it once, again, and it became a choir. They herded about forty people into a very small room (3x3 meters) and installed three microphones.

Around this time, the group CHIRON, in which Shura played, needed another guitarist. And I just arrived Leva. But he was not sure whether he could play as the group needed. They tried and Leva succeeded. In the studio with trembling hands Leva I was recording some parts because I hadn’t held an instrument in my hands for five years and was recording some kind of solo. He became the second guitarist and gained experience playing the guitar both live and in the studio.

When they recorded the whole album, they started mixing it and the first song they mixed was “Heart” and when they heard how this song sounded they realized that the album was successful. Shura has two favorite songs on this album - “Happiness” and “And the Ship Sails”.

“Bi-2” is a rock band from Minsk and Melbourne, created in the late 80s and became famous almost 10 years later, after the release of the film “Brother”-2. Its frontmen Leva and Shura never tire of experimenting, collaborating with other bright rock artists, and therefore the work of “Bi-2” always remains “in trend”.

History of creation

Many people consider the founders of the Bi-2 group to be brothers, but this is not so. Leva (Egor Bortnik) and Shura (Alexander Uman) met in a Minsk theater studio. Shura was two years older than Leva and interested him with his reading and erudition. In addition, Shura’s uncle, Mikhail Karasev, was a famous musician and composer in Belarus.

Gradually the boys became friends and decided to organize a musical group. In 1988, a team of a dozen teenagers emerged, which was called “The Shore of Truth.” Leva was responsible for the lyrics, Shura played the guitar, and a certain Kostyl, recently released from prison, was the soloist.

The group's first performances were strange performances, which often ended with the arrival of the police. But this didn’t bother the guys, they wrote songs, had fun and considered themselves real punks. A year later, the number of members of the group decreased, Leva took the place of the vocalist, and the name of the group was shortened to the compact “Bi-2”. The musicians recorded their first magnetic album, “Traitors to the Motherland,” but things didn’t go further than that.

The main stages of creativity

In 1990, the group broke up, and Shura and his family emigrated to Israel. At first there was no time for music - I had to work a lot, and not knowing the language was a serious hindrance. Having adapted a little to the new life, Shura lured Leva over to him, and the friends continued to engage in creativity, trying to stay up to date with the events of the domestic rock scene.

A completely different life began when Shura moved to Australia in 1993. Finding himself in multicultural and vibrant Melbourne, he plunged headlong into the world of music. Shura met a huge number of performers from all over the world, attended concerts of the world's leading stars and, of course, did not forget about his faithful friend, insisting on his moving to Australia. Almost six years passed before Leva finally reached the “green continent”, but within six months the demo version of the new album “And the Ship Sails On” was ready, which included the famous “Varvara” and “Nobody Writes to the Colonel.” The musicians sent the disc to Russia, where it was put into rotation, and soon they started talking about the Bi-2 group as a new discovery of the late 90s.

The public wanted to see their idols, so Leva and Shura had to leave hospitable Australia and return to their homeland. But upon arrival, everything turned out to be not as rosy as it seemed. Despite the fact that their songs were played with all their might on radio and TV, no one was in a hurry to sign a contract with them to release an album and tour.

“Nobody writes to the Colonel” was heard in the film “Brother-2”

Everything changed overnight after the premiere of Alexey Balabanov’s film “Brother-2” with Sergei Bodrov, in which three songs of the group were performed and the musicians themselves “lit up”. Sonymusic immediately signed a contract with them, and soon the long-awaited album was released, which sold half a million copies. The team became a welcome guest at prestigious music festivals and began touring throughout the post-Soviet space. Thus, the year 2000 can be considered the official date of birth of the Bi-2 group.

On the wave of success, a year later the musicians released their next album, “Meow Kiss Mi,” and went on a joint tour with the group “Splin.” At the same time, the famous song “The Last Hero” was written, which became a kind of anthem of the post-perestroika generation. Another unconditional hit was the composition “My Rock and Roll”, performed with Chicherina, for which a video was shot with the participation of Ingeborga Dapkunaite.

Bi-2 – “My rock and roll”

2004 was marked by the release of the next album of the group “Foreign Cars”, as well as a whole fireworks of collaborations with such famous musicians and groups as “Chaif”, the Latvian rock band “Brainstorm”, Diana Arbenina, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, Zemfira and many others. All these creative experiments became the basis for the side album “The Odd Warrior”, the presentation of which turned into a real event in 2005. All the lyrics for it were written by the group’s permanent author, Mikhail Karasev.

Bi-2 and Brainstorm – “Slippery Streets”

The next decade was no less fruitful in terms of the number of released albums, big hits and bold musical experiments. Leva and Shura increasingly began to invite other musicians to their concerts and they themselves gladly took part in other people’s projects, introduced new people into the group, and experimented with light and sound.

In 2006, the group completely changed its lineup of musicians, after which their fifth album, “Moloko,” was released. The new songs had hints of disco-punk, and the music itself became more electronic.

The following year, Bi-2 released the disc Odd Warrior-2, recorded and mixed in the London Metropolis studio, known for its collaboration with Radiohead, U2 and Coldplay, and in 2009 they presented the sixth studio album Lunapark to the public.

The track of the same name “Lunapark”, according to the musicians, became “a bridge from the past to the future of the group.”

In 2010, “Bi-2” recorded the song “Rivers of Love” together with the artists of “Quartet I”: Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait, Kamil Larin and Alexander Demidov. It was included in the soundtrack to the film “What Men Talk About”, as well as other compositions from the album of the same name “Bi-2”.

2011 was marked by the release of the third disc from the “Odd Warrior” project, in which Andrei Makarevich took part. Next, the studio album “Spirit” was released, funds for the recording of which were collected through crowdfunding, through the efforts of the group’s fans. For the first time in the history of Bi-2, this album was released not only on CD, but also on vinyl, that is, it became a record in the literal sense of the word. The next album, “16plus” (2014), was also created with the money of fans.

In 2015, the premiere of the film “Clinch” took place, the directorial debut of Sergei Puskepalis. “Bi-2” worked on creating the soundtrack for the film, recording a total of 12 compositions.

The activities of Bi-2 have been recognized by many prestigious music awards, including the World Music Awards and several Golden Gramophones.

Collaborations with other artists

• “My rock and roll”, “Until the morning”, “Snow is falling”, “February”, “Forgotten by everyone” - “Bi-2” ft. Yulia Chicherina
• “Knocking on Heaven” – “Bi-2” ft. "Chaif"
• “Slippery Streets” – “Bi-2” ft. "Brainstorm"
• “Slow Star”, “White Clothes”, “Days and Nights”, “Hush and Hush” - “Bi-2” ft. Diana Arbenina
• “The Sky Without End”, “The Soldier Leaves” - “Bi-2” ft. Irina Zhelannaya
• “My Love” – “Bi-2” ft. "Underwood"
• “Everything is as he said”, “I’m losing the light” - “Bi-2” ft. "Agatha Christie"
• “White Sheet” – “Bi-2” ft. "Punk TV"
• “And they sang songs on the radio” - “Bi-2” ft. Garik Sukachev
• “Whiskey” – “Bi-2” ft. John Grant
• “It’s time to return home” - “Bi-2” ft. Oksimiron

Scandals

In May 2017, Leva Bi-2 was detained at a Moscow stadium before a football match. During a search, marijuana was found in his pocket. The musician was fined 3 thousand rubles, accusing him of violating the rules of conduct at sporting events.

Discography

• Sexless and Sad Love (1998)
• Bi-2 (2000)
• Meow kiss mi (2001)
• Foreign cars (2004)
• Moloko (2006)
• Lunapark (2009)
• What Men Talk About (2010)
• Spirit (2011)
• #16plus (2014)
• Event Horizon (2017)

Group "Bi-2" now

The group continues to regularly delight fans with new creativity. In 2017, the 10th anniversary album “Event Horizon” was released, recorded with the participation of the National Symphony Orchestra of Prague. As part of the album, the track “It’s time to go home” with Oxxxymiron was recorded.

Bi-2 – “La-la poplars”

In 2018, the musicians played themselves in the film “What Men Talk About. Continuation”, performing a song on a platform in the Neva waters.

Fact No. 4387

The guitarist of the group "Bi-2" Shura really is the owner of the surname "Bi-2". True only in an Australian passport

Fact No. 4459

The Bi-2 group could have become famous back in the late 90s. Then in Australia they personally met Andrei Makarevich, who was touring there. Leva and Shura gave him a demo recording of their songs, and Andrei Vadimovich seemed to approve and promised to show this recording to the bassist of “Time Machine”, the head of the recording company “Sintez Records” Alexander Kutikov. However, then Kutikov decided not to risk it.

Subsequently, Kutikov explained his refusal by the fact that he simply did not have experience in international musical cooperation. Although he speaks of Lev and Shura with the kindest words and periodically meets them at various festivals, on the other hand he seems to regret that he did not answer them then.

Fact No. 4461

Vladimir Meskhi was the first to notice the talent of the unknown group "Bi-2", who discovered the group "Agatha Christie" and DJ Groove for a wide audience.

When he received one of Leva and Shura’s tapes, who lived in Australia, he sent him an agreement, according to which the inexperienced newcomers had to sign, thereby formalizing their relationship with the producer. However, Lyova and Shura turned out to be tough nuts to crack and instead of signing, they went to the lawyer of the INXS group, one of the most expensive in the world. He translated the contract into English and said that the guys were being fooled.

Meskhi was urgently deported, after which he did not make himself known for two months.

Fact No. 5416

The group has Belarusian roots and at the initial stage of its existence was considered a Belarusian team. Shura (Alexander Uman). The guys met at the Minsk children's theater studio "Rond", which was engaged in avant-garde productions. Rarely did any of the productions of this studio last on stage more than twice: the Komsomol eye was vigilant. In the end, the theater was closed, and Shura and Lyova decided to devote themselves entirely to music. Shura eventually entered a music school, where he learned to play the double bass and conduct, while Leva's functions were reduced to writing lyrics.

In August 1988, the “Brothers in Arms” project was organized, which was soon renamed “Coast of Truth”. The composition of the band was constantly changing from the very beginning, it consisted of about 15 people, including a brass section and a rock band. The first soloist of the group was the colorful vocalist Alexander Sergeev, nicknamed “Kostyl”, since the author of most of the lyrics, Leva, was not confident in himself as a performer. Bobruisk Palace of Culture of the tire plant, where Shura then worked and became the rehearsal base for “The Shores of Truth”.

When a local rock festival took place in Bobruisk, the performance of “The Shore of Truth” was extremely unsuccessful, and besides, the vocalist “Kostyl”, who was seriously involved in boxing, was sent to prison for fighting. The group decided to take a break, which lasted until August 1989. It was this time that is considered the birth of the modern name “Bi-2” - the abbreviated “Coast of Truth-2”. This time Leva became the vocalist. The first big performance of the new group took place in Mogilev at a local rock festival on November 10, 1989. What remains from that period is the album "Traitors of the Motherland", recorded at a home studio in Minsk, which was considered missing for a long time and only in 2003 a decent copy was discovered. The group began to gain some fame and actively travel around Belarus. This continued until 1991, when Shura and then Leva moved to Israel.

Childhood of Leva BI-2

Egor Mikhailovich Bortnik, aka Igor Mikhailovich Bortnik, aka Lyova Bi-2, was born in Minsk on September 2, 1972.

Egor Bortnik became a leftist in childhood. This happened in Africa, where the boy lived with his parents. Yegor's father was a radiophysicist by profession, and he was invited to one of the universities in the Congo. One day, a father brought home a lion fang and gave it to his son. Yegor was so happy with the gift that he did not part with it. Local guys, seeing a fang on Yegor’s neck, nicknamed him Lev. The boy liked the new name so much that he began to call himself that.

Leva received the name Igor (as it was written in his passport) when he was already an adult. It happened in 1991, in Israel, where he went to travel and see friends. Israeli officials were unable to correctly write the name Egor given at birth and Bortnik received a new document where the name Igor was written down. So Leva’s new name appeared in the Israeli passport - Igor Mikhailovich Bortnik.

Igor-Leva is the grandson of the hero of the Soviet Union. His grandfather served in the engineering troops, became a twice hero of the Soviet Union, rose to the rank of colonel, but was then repressed.

Once, while still a child, Leva heard the song “Cruiser Aurora,” which made an indelible impression on him. Perhaps it was this song that prompted Leva to write her own work, in which notes of German folklore from the song “Dear Augustine” were clearly visible.

At this point, interest in folk art dried up. But the love for music remained. Leva Bi-2 became interested exclusively in psychedelic music.

School years Leva BI-2

Leva showed interest in studying at school until the 7th, or maximum until the 8th grade. In 1985, Leva began attending one of the theater studios in Minsk, and the school ceased to interest him. The theater studio radically changed Bortnik's life goals and priorities.

In the studio, Bortnik meets Alexander Uman (better known as Shura Bi-2). The acquaintance took place on the initiative of the artistic director of the studio. According to the manager, Lev was not well read enough, and this could become a serious obstacle to further advancement in show business. Therefore, Uman had to help Bortnik fill the gaps in education. Shura turned out to be a responsive guy and happily began to help Lyova. Later, this acquaintance grew into a strong friendship and joint work on various projects.

BI-2 draw.

As his outlook on life changed, the appearance of the young man also changed. In 10th grade, Leva decided to grow a pigtail. This did not go unnoticed by the teaching staff of the school, and the teachers strongly recommended that the young man’s parents influence their son and bring his hairstyle into a human form. Requests and persuasion did not have the desired effect, so mom had no choice but to cut off the ill-fated pigtail at night, while Lev was sleeping.

As a sign of protest against the committed “crime against the individual,” Leva cut up his school suit, and came to class in a “tuxedo” on his naked body and in a military overcoat. The school principal “appreciated” his prank and kicked Bortnik out from the very first lesson. But the guy was very proud of himself, he still expressed his protest.

Leva BI-2’s path to fame, first songs and great success

His passion for poetry was reflected in a series of very frank poems about life, but, like any author, Leva needed an assessment of his creativity. Finally, he decides to show his poems to Shura, but says that these are poems written by his friend.

In turn, Shura shows poetic opuses to his uncle, who had some experience in show business. The professional’s resume – “what was written contains good potential” – made Leva very happy. Perhaps the discreet praise served as the beginning of Bortnik’s creative upsurge. At least that's what he says about it himself.

Shura once told Leva that in one of the city’s clubs musicians were provided with equipment. The guys had the idea to create a musical group, which they soon succeeded in doing. “Brothers in Arms,” as the first group of Shura and Leva was called, rehearsed around the clock. And success was not long in coming.

Leva BI-2 /// Eaten in the RAIN

At one Belarusian festival, the newly formed group managed to get ahead of other groups (among them was “Nogu Svelo”) and took first place. Over time, the guys decided to rename the group “Coast of Truth”, and even later (in 1989) the group began to be called “BI-2”. This name still exists today. In 1991, “BI-2” began touring around Belarus. In the same year, the ensemble recorded its first album entitled “Traitors to the Motherland.” The guys seemed to have a presentiment that the collapse of the Soviet Union was coming.

The collapse of the USSR marked the beginning of a deep crisis in all areas of life and, naturally, affected the sphere of art. Therefore, in 1991, Shura left for Israel, and a year later, in 1992, Lyova joined him. Attempts to take up music again were unprofessional.

We had to play acoustic guitars. However, even in such conditions, the guys constantly took part in Russian-language festivals. The apogee of creativity during that difficult period was the song “Varvara,” which immediately fell in love with listeners.

In 1993, due to Shura's departure to Australia, the group broke up. After his friend leaves, Leva is left alone and stops making music. All compositions written by Bortnik are performed exclusively in a close friendly circle. Bortnik owes his return to the music business to the same Alexander Uman.

The group CHIRON, of which Shura was a member, was urgently looking for another guitarist. Uman recommended his old friend and on February 15, 1998, Leva flew to Australia.

The first song that Lyova Bortnik recorded in the new place was called “Heart”. In the summer of 1998, the guys released an album.

Personal life of Leva BI-2

Egor-Igor-Leva Bortnik was married twice in his 41 years. The musician’s first wife was Irina Makeeva. A year after the birth of their son, the young people decided to get married.

Leva met his second wife, tour manager of the Mumiy-Troll group, Asya Streicher (Melnik), on tour. This happened even before his marriage to Irina.

One day, having met by chance at a concert, Asya and Lyova realized that they could not live without each other. Irina, his legal wife, became aware of her husband’s infidelity. Ira, as an eccentric woman, threw a huge scandal at the “infidel”, after which Lyova had to leave the family and live with a new lover in a rented apartment in the center of Moscow. In 2005, there was an official break between Irina and Lyova.

In order to somehow escape from personal problems, Lyova and his new wife Asya went to Israel. On January 8, 2008, they had a baby with the unusual name Aviv, which means “Spring” in Hebrew. And in August 2010, their second son, David, was born.

Last September, the relationship between Leva and Asya began to crack, and the woman even filed a lawsuit for Leva’s failure to pay alimony for their two children together. The wife stated that she and her husband do not live together.

But it seems that family relations are currently improving. Spouses are increasingly seen together not far from the house where Lyova Bortnik has recently been living.

Leva BI-2 today

The band is currently touring all over the world. The group has a large number of different projects in its plans. Despite the abundance of concerts, BI-2 continues to work on a new album.

“Brother 2” “Nobody Writes to the Colonel”, the musical theme of “The Last Hero” for the reality show of the same name, released on Channel One.

Egor, Igor and Leva are the three names of the lead singer of the group “Bi 2”. The future musician was born on September 2, 1972 in Minsk, his parents named their son Yegor Bortnik.

The artist spoke about how Yegor became Left in his own interview. This happened in Africa. The father of the future musician, radiophysicist Mikhail Vasilyevich Bortnik, received an invitation to teach at the University of the Congo. The family moved with him. One day, dad brought Yegor a lion fang, which the boy never parted with. For this, the local boys nicknamed him Leo. Bortnik Jr. liked the name so much that the boy decided to keep it for himself.

The young man became Igor when he received his passport in 1991. This was in Israel, and local officials could not correctly enter the name Yegor into the document. So the Russian passport says musician Yegor Mikhailovich, and the Israeli passport says Igor Mikhailovich.

Leva’s love for music came to him as a child after the boy heard the song “Cruiser Aurora,” which made an indelible impression on him. Then the boy decided that he would write songs himself. True, everything was limited to one composition based on folk art. Then Leva became interested in psychedelic music.

At school, Bortnik studied well until the 7th grade, and then he enrolled in a theater studio in Minsk and lost interest in studying. At the theater studio, Leva met Alexander Uman, better known as Shura in the Bi 2 team. Uman helped the future musician fill in the gaps in his education and advised what literature to read. This acquaintance grew into a strong friendship.

In his senior year, Leva became known as a rebel: he either grew a pigtail, showed up to class in a tuxedo and overcoat, or cut up his school uniform.

Music

Passion for music is inextricably linked with passion for poetry. Leva himself wrote frank poems about life. The first person the young man showed his creations to was his uncle. A relative said that Leva has potential. This inspired Yegor to start a creative career.

Soon Leva, together with Shura, organized the group “Brothers in Arms”. We rehearsed around the clock and took first place at the festival in Minsk. After the first success, the musicians renamed the group “Coast of Truth”, and in 1989 shortened the name to “Bi-2”.

In 1991, Leva and his band successfully toured Belarus and recorded their first album, “Traitors to the Motherland.” The album turned out to be prophetic - the Soviet Union collapsed, and the musicians began to face a crisis. Shura left for Israel, and soon Lyova followed his colleague. Unfortunately, creativity didn’t work out in Israel. The guys performed at festivals, recorded the song “Varvara,” which instantly became a hit, but serious success did not come.

In 1993, Shura moved to Australia - the group broke up. Leva Bi 2 stopped making music, and sang songs only in a close circle. This went on for 5 years until the singer decided to fly to a friend in Australia. In the same 1998, the musicians recorded the song “Heart”, and then an album.

Leva worked during the day, and in the evenings he gave concerts with Shura. The musicians did not think about returning to Russia, but friends of Bi-2 gave a couple of songs to the capital’s radio. The group's music blew up the airwaves, and the performers gained long-awaited popularity.

Lyova and Shura returned to Moscow, but default struck. Calling producers did not bring any results. Just at that time, I was choosing a song for the cult film “Brother-2” and settled on the composition “Nobody Writes to the Colonel.” The film was a huge success and the song became an instant hit. “Bi-2” became stars, and a year after the release of “Brother-2” they received a World Music Awards prize. The records sold in record numbers.

Later, the musicians participated in writing music for the films “Moscow History”, “Victims of Fate”, “What Men Talk About”, “Clinch”. Often Leva, whose height is 172 cm, became a participant in the filming. The young musician of brutal appearance was invited to the projects “Moms-3”, “Londongrad. Know ours!

Leva and Shura continue to give concerts, go on tour and make new plans. Over the entire period of their creative biography, the musicians never quarreled, which is rare in modern show business.

Personal life

Leva Bi-2 was married twice, and the singer met his second wife much earlier than his first. The first wife is Irina Makeeva. The young couple got married when their son Fyodor turned one year old. True, the stamp in the passport did not correct the difficult relationship. Leva's meeting with her first love destroyed this marriage.

The young couple first met Asya Streicher, his second wife, on a train when they were going to a festival in Jurmala. Asya accompanied the group as a tour manager. Leva Bi-2 recalls that he saw the girl and fell in love, and 15 minutes later he risked confessing his love to Asya. That time the paths of the young people diverged.

Leva married Irina, a son was growing up in the family, but fate brought the musician and Asya together again. At first, the lovers met secretly, but the musician’s wife found out about this and a scandal broke out. Leva left the family, and after the divorce he married Asa. In 2008, Asya gave birth to a son, Aviv, and in 2010, David was born.

This marriage has a complex relationship: the spouses either separate or live together again. Once Asya even wanted to collect child support from Leva Bi-2 through the court. The wife explained her own decision to journalists by saying that they had been living separately for a long time. Soon relations within the family improved. Now there is a complete idyll between the spouses, joint photos regularly appear on the singer’s personal account in “ Instagram ».

Leva Bi 2 now

In 2017, the musician celebrated his 45th anniversary. The anniversary celebration lasted for two days. On the first evening, the gala event took place at the 16 Tons club, where everyone came to hear their favorite performer and congratulate him. The next day, a holiday party was held for the closest circle of friends and colleagues. The symphony orchestra of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with which the group’s musicians often collaborate, arrived to congratulate Leva Bi 2.

But the main surprise for the birthday boy was the performance of the synth-pop group Alphaville with the song “Forever Young,” which the hero of the day has known and loved since early youth. The musicians arrived to congratulate Leva at the invitation of his wife and second soloist of “Bi 2” Shura. At the end of the evening, all guests were presented with copies of a photo album published in a small edition specifically to commemorate the event.

At the end of September 2017, fans were waiting for the release of the studio album of the group “Bi 2” “Event Horizon”, singles in support of which were released from the beginning of the year. First of all, these are songs recorded with the musicians “Pilot”, “It’s Time to Come Home” (feat.), and the track “Whiskey”, which was recorded together with the American singer John Grant.

After the premiere of the disc on November 25 at the VTB Ice Palace, the artists went on a tour, in the creation of which the light artist David Misakyan, designer Mikhail Lugansky, and director Igor Shmelev participated.

The music of the 10th album “Bi 2”, largely restrained and harsh, impressed fans and music critics. The soloists of "Bi 2" received a number of awards, including the "Real Music Box Award" and the "Russian National Music Award", and Leva Bi 2 was recognized as the best soloist of the year according to the "Chart Dozen".

Now the musicians of “Bi 2” have held a presentation of the new hit “La-la Poplars,” which will become the soundtrack of the comedy “What Men Talk About. Continuation”, and a special program is being prepared in which a symphony orchestra will participate.

Discography

• 1998 – “Sexless and Sad Love”
• 2000 – “Bi-2”
• 2001 – “Meow kiss mi”
• 2004 – “Foreign Cars”
• 2006 – “Moloko”
• 2009 – “Lunapark”
• 2010 – “What men talk about”
• 2011 – “Spirit”
• 2014 – “#16plus”
• 2017 – “Event Horizon”