Batyrkhan Shukenov biography family children. The secret of the personal life of Batyr Shukenov

Ekaterina Shelyakova and Maksut Shukenov, the wife and son of the deceased A-Studio lead singer Batyrkhan Shukenov, became homeless in America.

Ekaterina Shelyakova, who lived with the famous A-Studio soloist Batyrkhan Shukenov for 20 years, and the singer’s 14-year-old son Maksut found themselves homeless in the United States.

Maksut, who is the only son of Batyrkhan Shukenov, turned to Andrei Malakhov’s “Let Them Talk” program to talk about the difficult situation they were in. It is very difficult for him to cope with the death of his father, and the same for his mother. On top of that were everyday difficulties.

After Batyrkhan’s death six months ago, they lost everything - their house, car, things. We literally found ourselves on the street.

Until recently, Batyrkhan Shukenov dreamed of moving his wife and son to a big house in Florida, where he could come on vacation in between work. The ex-soloist of “A-Studio” wanted to educate his son in America. The $680,000 house was built. In addition, Shukenov made an initial contribution to the construction company, and Ekaterina and her son moved there. However, the sudden death of the musician from a heart attack six months ago turned their lives upside down.

Currently, the construction company, according to Ekaterina, has taken the house away due to stopped payments. Now she and her son live in a small room with a friend in the USA. Ekaterina herself works in an antique store, but “life in the USA is very expensive.”

Ekaterina Shelyakova was Batyrkhan’s unofficial wife.

In November 2008, Batyrkhan Shukenov officially married Aigerim, whom he met in St. Petersburg. The wife was 16 years younger than the musician; there were no children in this marriage. According to Dina Shukenova, the wife of Batyrkhan’s older brother Baurzhan Shukenov, said on the first day after the musician’s death, Batyrkhan “was divorced a long time ago and was not married.”

As Ekaterina said, before the family of Batyrkhan Shukenov was very happy about the birth of Maksut, they thanked her for giving birth to an heir to the famous singer. However, now Shukenov’s relatives for some reason turned away from them.

As Ekaterina Shelyakova said, she and Batyrkhan had another son, Maksat. He was born in June 1999, but died at the age of two.

Tombstone of Maksat - the first son of Ekaterina Shelyakova and Batyrkhan Shukenov

The more reverently Batyrkhan treated his second son Maksut.

As Ekaterina said, Batyrkhan used to send 8 thousand dollars a month to his family in America.

According to her calculations, for normal existence they need at least 4.5 thousand a month.

Batyrkhan’s brother, Bauyrzhan Shukenov, told the “Let Them Talk” program that he is currently raising funds for real estate for Maksut in the USA.

As was announced in Malakhov’s program, the Batyrkhan Shukenov Foundation, created in Kazakhstan on the initiative of Bauyrzhan Shukenov, collected only $1,500 in 4 months of its existence to help the family. These figures were announced by the director of this fund, Olzhas Baykanov.

“Godmother” of the “A-Studio” group and a close friend of Batyrkhan Shukenov - People’s Artist of the Kazakh SSR Roza Rymbaeva - spoke in favor of Ekaterina and her son moving to live in Kazakhstan, where, of course, they would try to support them.

Otar Kushanashvili urged them to move to Russia. However, according to Ekaterina, they made the decision to live in America together with Batyrkhan, and his son also would not want to lose his usual circle of friends, his environment in America, and his desire to at least finish school there.

“I could apply for free food stamps and move with my son into public housing in the United States. But I wouldn’t want Maksut to lose her quality of life, since disadvantaged people often live in social housing,” Ekaterina explained her decision to move in with a friend for a while.

Singers, musicians and his friends came to the program to support Shukenov’s widow - Valery Meladze, Sevara, Alexey Glyzin, TV presenter Elena Hanga.

Thus, Valery Meladze, who had previously paid for Maksut’s year of education, promised to pay for his entire course of study.

Everyone present at the program more than once emphasized that Batyrkhan Shukenov will forever remain in the memory of his family and friends as a bright and kind man, non-mercantile, very far from the world of money, who always wanted to see his son Maksut happy.

Batyrkhan Kamalovich Shukenov born May 18, 1962 in Kzyl-Orda (Kazakh SSR), died April 28, 2015 in Moscow. Kazakh and Russian pop singer, musician, saxophonist, composer, poet. Honored Artist of Kazakhstan (2010). One of the founders and lead singer of the Kazakh-Russian pop music group “A’Studio”, as part of which he gained wide popularity. After leaving the group in the fall of 2000, he began a solo career.

In 2013, Batyrkhan Shukenov’s last album, “Soul,” was released.

In 2013, the singer became the winner of the music TV show “Live Sound” on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

In 2015, Batyrkhan Shukenov took part in the musical television show of transformations “One to One!” on the TV channel "Russia-1". In May, he was supposed to perform in the finals of this Russian television project, but death disrupted these plans. However, Shukenov was posthumously recognized as the winner of the show.

— I would like to start from afar. Tell us how you met Batyr, when did this happen? How did you fall in love?

— In the nineties, I lived and worked in Germany to help my family. There were difficult years. My mother lost her job, my cousin went to America, and left her child. I also decided not to stay in Latvia and went to Germany to earn money.

-Where did you leave from?

— I was born in Riga, a Riga resident. Then I came to my mother for the holidays, this was in 1994. A DJ I knew from a radio station called me; he worked part-time in a nightclub. He said: “Katka! Your favorite group is coming - “A’Studio”. I didn’t listen to Soviet pop music, I couldn’t stand it at all. But the appearance of such a group as “A’Studio”, with such quality of music, for me it was “WOW”. I rushed there, saw and heard their performance and told my friend: “I’m not going anywhere until I meet the guys!” She laughed at me and said: “There are thousands of people like you here!” Go here!" and began to pull me home.

And I just felt that it was mine, I can’t even explain, as if something from above asked me not to leave. Batyr was already a superstar then. But I still asked that DJ to introduce us. The guys had three or four hours left before the plane, so we went to talk. Batyr asked me: “What kind of music do you like?” And when he heard my answer about Stevie Wonder, he immediately began humming his songs in my ear. And then we arrived at the airport, he said: “I would like you to fly to Moscow to visit me.” I replied: “We’ll see!” He asked for my phone number. Of course, for me it was something incredible. After that, he started calling me every day. About two months later I flew to Moscow to visit, then he flew to visit me in Germany. So, for two years we flew to visit each other. He loved Germany very much. In general, Batyr loves it when everything is clean, calm, no fuss, no rudeness. He was an oriental man, but at the same time he loved Western culture, although he was a terrible patriot. Somehow I went off topic...

— So you’ve been together since ’94?

- Why didn’t you formalize your marriage?

— I was getting a German passport, if you remember, in Latvia we were given a non-citizen’s passport, they were issued to Russians, and this procedure seemed humiliating to me, so I decided to get German citizenship after all. It took quite a long time. And by the time he received it, disagreements had already begun with Batyr, so the matter never came to the formalization of the marriage.

- What year was this?

— Maksutik was 5 years old, it was 2006. Batyr invited me to go to Almaty; things weren’t going well for him in Moscow. Considering that the relationship was no longer working out, and I didn’t want to raise my child in a metropolis, I invited him to go home, and I myself went to Jurmala. This was probably my strategic mistake, because Batyr met a young and beautiful girl, Aigul, and he fell under her spell. Moreover, Batyrkhan’s mother, it seems to me, always somehow unconsciously or consciously wanted him to have a Kazakh wife. Although my mother often flew to visit us, I have a good relationship with her, she loved me too.

He married Aigul. It was 2008, and in 2009 my mother died, and besides her, no one kept me in Latvia. Batyr and I jointly decided that there are no good schools in Riga, we can’t handle Switzerland and England, and that Maksut and I would be better off leaving for the USA, where my relatives lived.

— Did you come to the USA separately from each other?

— Yes, I was with my son in September 2009. Batyr arrived in January 2010. He told us that he was getting a divorce and offered to get back together.

—What disagreements did you have? Why did you break up?

- You see, Batyr is a very generous person and I was the same. We didn’t know how to handle money, we spent everything we earned. He gave expensive gifts to people, paid for everyone in restaurants. With the birth of my child, I began to change a little, I developed an instinct: “everyone goes to the house, everyone goes to the family.” And there were always a lot of dubious people around Batyr, who promoted him for stupid projects, where he invested money. And I started telling him all these things, that it was time to stop wasting money. You see, now I don’t think that I was right then, but at that moment I considered it my duty to express it. It seemed to me that after he left “A” Studio, he always came across not quite the right people whom he trusted. On this basis, disagreements began. We often began to quarrel.

— Were you with Batyr when he left A’Studio?

- Certainly!

- What do you think happened then?

— There was no conflict as such at all, as far as I remember. But it’s hard for me to judge, I’m a Westerner, in the East everything is more subtle. People do not open up to each other very much; they carry a lot within themselves. After all, I toured with them all, I saw that this problem in relations within the team had existed for a long time, although no one recognized it.

— Was there any friction between Baigali and Batyr?

- Yes, between them. I have always had a good attitude towards Bora, but I told Batyr: “This sore of yours is like a cancerous tumor, if it is not cut out, the group may die. Sit down and talk openly!” But, in my opinion, that conversation never took place, they both remained very closed, and the resentment against each other was never expressed.

In addition, at some point the group stopped actively touring, concerts practically stopped, Borya refused to buy songs from other performers. There was no money, Batyr wanted to work, he had ambitions. Therefore, he constantly looked depressed and was depressed. Therefore, it was his decision to leave the group. I just supported him.

—Is this connected with the death of the first child? I remember on the 25th anniversary of the group “A” Studio”, the same Andrei Malakhov’s show talked about this.

- Yes, Batyr also fell into a terrible depression then, he disappeared in the studio all the time. He always healed the soul with music. I was going crazy in my own way, and he became friends with Pasha Yesenin. All day long he and Pashka recorded in the studio.

— They say that Baigali was offended precisely because Batyr became very close to Pavel Yesenin?

- Not because of this. Baygali was offended that Batyr was too sudden in his decision to leave the group. He simply didn’t let the guys come to their senses. Batyr really believed that he could handle both working in a group and performing solo. I think this was influenced by Eric Chanturia, who had already recorded a song with Batyr and shot a video, promising broadcasts. But this cooperation ultimately did not end in anything.

- Well, if all these years you were next to him, why, after he divorced Aigul, did you never formalize your relationship? Were you dating just for the sake of the child?

“Our relationship was no longer marital. But it was even more. Batyr was everything to me: family, father of a child, loved one. For example, I can show SMS messages two hours before his death ( shows sms on phone-V), I write to him: “I love you!”, He answers me: “I love you too!”

This house that he began to build here, he built not only for me and Maksut. He built it for all of us. Including for your mother. He dreamed that she would live here for several months a year. A separate room was planned for her. They even made the Jacuzzi lower to make it easier for her to get into. I think everything was heading towards a formal marriage. We hesitated, looked for happiness on the side, no one found anything, we thought that we needed to settle down and be together. We thought about taking a child from an orphanage and made plans. We planned our future together.

— And all these years you haven’t had a relationship with anyone except Batyr?

- I also had a friend.

- He's not in now? Is he local, does he live in the USA?

- He's local, yes. We broke up with him even before Batyr’s death. The man turned out to be not serious.

— Did Batyr know about him? Have you shared such revelations?

- No. Batyr recently told me about his girlfriends, about some novels, but he never asked me about such things, and I didn’t tell.

— How often did you visit Kazakhstan?

- Once a year.

— Were you able to feel the Kazakh mentality? What is special about our people?

- You talk a lot, do little, to be honest. They like to promise a lot, but do little.

- Now that was a shame!

- Listen, I spent a lot of time with Batyr in the company of your big businessmen. Everything was beautiful at the table, they told me: “We have nothing except oil and Batyrkhan Shukenov!” And as soon as it came to supporting some of his creative projects, it was always very difficult for Batyr. He never complained, didn’t talk about it, he experienced it all within himself. But you are right, I have no right to talk about everyone in this way. Batyr had several devoted friends who always came to his aid. I would like to mention his friend Kanat Uskenov, who is the only one who now calls us every week, finds out how we are here and asks what kind of help we need.

I must also say that Batyr loved Kazakhstan very much and planned his future in his homeland; he did not even consider this house that we were building for permanent living. For him, this house was a place where he could draw inspiration.

— Why didn’t you want to move to Kazakhstan?

- Batyr never asked me about this. Only once, when Maksutik was five years old. And then he already agreed with me that it was better for the child to finish his studies in the USA.

— Why did I ask about the mentality of the Kazakh people, that is, you encountered it in earnest last week. Kazakhs really don’t like it when they wash their dirty linen in public. In fact, Russia is another state, and Batyr is our symbol, the Kazakh one. And what happened happened - you went to the program with Andrei Malakhov. Who gave you the idea?

— The program turned out like this: when Batyr passed away, somewhere at the end of May, Ruslan, Batyr’s director from Moscow, called me and said: “Katya, I don’t know what to do! Soon it will be 40 days and I have heard rumors that Malakhov is going to do some kind of program. There again these imaginary friends, who actually didn’t like Batyr, suddenly pushing everyone aside with their elbows, climb into the screen. Do you have any thoughts on this?” I say: “Let me find Natasha, the producer of the program, and ask what’s going on?” I called Natasha, and at that moment she asked me a question: “Katyusha, how is your life? What's going on with you? And I completely without any second thoughts told everything, in tears and snot, that we were left without housing, that I don’t know where we will live, although I gave Maksut a promise not to take him out of the USA, but I don’t know how to keep it your word. Natasha immediately sent a journalist with a camera from Miami, who filmed the entire move.

— So the move was canceled a long time ago?

- Yes, six months ago! The video has been shelved. Then the producers of the “Let Them Talk” program started calling and asking how we were here, if anything had been decided with housing, I answered that we were still living with friends in the same room! And they decided to make this program, and they told me that it would go on air, regardless of whether I came to the program or not! That's why I decided to fly! And I recommended the director of the Batyr Foundation, Olzhas Baikanov, to fly, because I knew that things were going badly with raising money for the release of Batyrkhan’s new recordings.

— I was a little confused by Maksut’s video, supposedly he sent a video message to Andrei Malakhov asking for help on the program? Why did you do this?

— It was the idea of ​​the editor-in-chief of the program!

- So it’s not yours?

- No, both Maksut and I were against it. But three days later we agreed.

— They say there were a lot of lies in the program?

- I do not think so. But the word “homeless” hurt my ears. But as you understand, this is television and everyone wanted a sensation.

— Maybe some important parts were missing during installation?

— The psychologist told me for quite a long time that at the age of 14 you shouldn’t take a child out of the environment. This part was missing, and director Ruslan was almost completely cut out, although he said a lot of sensible things. Sevara Nazarkhan was also not allowed to speak out fully.

— At the beginning of the program, you say that you came just to talk about Batyr, his work, and not to ask for anything. And at the end was your appeal to patrons?

“Well, I’m not a television star,” Andrey came up and said, since you have such a chance, make a request. Suddenly someone will appear! I thought: why not. And now I repeat, the house is wonderful, it was designed by Batyr. You call it your property. Everything was agreed upon with him via Skype: from the color of the walls to the furniture. Buy it for yourself, put it in your name, let Maksut live there and finish school in four years. I don't ask for anything more.

— For most Kazakhstanis, the amount of $8,000 that Batyr sent you monthly also seems gigantic!

- The amount is also exaggerated. Three thousand went to rent a house. Between us and Maksut we had about five thousand left. Anyone who has lived in America knows that this is a small amount for two people. We paid for car lease, electricity, school expenses, insurance. Ordinary expenses. I work and earn $1,300 a month, which is enough for pocket money, but nothing more. I am 50 years old, without a master's degree I can hardly earn more in the USA.

- By the way, I did not see aggression towards you from Baurzhan Shukenov, Batyr’s brother, or from Olzhas. They were very understanding of your situation. They promised to help. Maybe it wasn’t worth going to Malakhov after all?

— I love Baurzhan very much. We could talk to him all night long. And I also appreciate Olzhas. They are very good and decent people. Now relations with them have become strained, but I understood that if only one and a half thousand dollars were collected in Batyr’s fund and in six months we had not solved the problem with housing for Maksut and me, something had to be done. And Andrei Malakhov’s appearance in the program really acted as an impetus for all these processes.

- Well, maybe the issue of housing was not resolved for you, because for our people Batyr is separate, you and Maksut are separate?

- This is probably the biggest mistake. Batyr has been with us all these years. We went on vacation together: to Norway, to Jurmala, to London. He flew to the USA. We couldn't imagine a holiday without each other. The rest of the time I was next to our son. For the first time in 15 years, we managed to take a break from each other only last year, when Maksut went with his father to Kazakhstan. Therefore, I don’t understand why in the eyes of the public we suddenly became strangers to each other.

— Maybe because your marriage was not officially registered and most people were not aware of your existence at all?

- May be! But to all his friends and at meetings, he always introduced me as his wife.

— Or maybe because the people were surprised that their idol was not married to a Kazakh woman?

- Maksut thinks so too! I don't want to judge anyone.

— Okay, did you read the comments after the program aired?

- Yes, I was very upset, I cried for several days. I'm a very sensitive person, things like this really upset me. Batyr probably found something in me, since he was next to us for twenty years. And, perhaps, I’m not such a bitch, since two hours before his death he wrote to me that he loved me? If I were so selfish, I would definitely have thought of formalizing our relationship.

I will do anything for Maksut. This was the long-awaited child of Batyr and me. And now I have absolutely no one except him. If mom or dad were alive, I would simply return to Latvia. But I haven’t had anyone there for a long time. I feel like I was just torn away. I am a leaf from a tree, the wind carried me. I understand that I’m an adult woman, that it’s time to get on my feet, but Batyr was more to me than a husband, you know? I have no parents, no sisters, no brothers, no support. All the same, a woman must have some kind of rear. Batyr was this rear for me. We did a common cause together, I never went against Batyr in anything. Therefore, I ask everyone who writes nasty things about me: please, if you can’t help me, at least don’t throw stones at me.

Alisher Elikbayev’s trip to the United States of America is supported by the US Consulate General in Almaty and is timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of relations between the US and Kazakhstan. Over the course of the next year, 12 interviews with Kazakhstanis who live in the United States and are trying to make it there will be published on our website. The journey started on October 19 in Boston and will end in San Francisco at the end of November. Commercial travel partners: Altyn Bank, Hyundai Auto Kazakhstan, KFC, Hardee's, Centras Insurance.

According to a colleague of the deceased lead singer of A-Studio, he was checked by cardiologists

Batyrkhan was only 52 years old. He didn't live three weeks before his next birthday.

“What could have led to such an early departure,” said the singer’s director Ruslan Magomedov and close friend, drummer Igor Javad-Zade.

As MK learned, 52-year-old Shukenov was alone in his apartment on Simferopol Boulevard. At about 10 p.m., the singer felt pain in his heart and dialed number “03.” Doctors realized at first glance that Shukenov had had a heart attack. The findings were confirmed by the results of the ECG, which was taken immediately.

Before their eyes, he lost consciousness. The resuscitation team tried to revive the patient for more than two hours, but to no avail. From time to time the singer came to his senses, but then passed out again. As a result, Shukenov’s heart stopped. The cause of death, according to preliminary data, was a massive heart attack.

Apparently, Shukenov became ill over the weekend, as the concierge at the house noticed that the singer did not look well. According to the woman, he was very pale.

The singer’s director, Ruslan Magomedov, told MK:

No signs of trouble. Batyr's career was on the rise. He participated in the One to One program, the third season of which started on February 8. Batyr was very successful. He masterfully managed to transform into Yuri Antonov, Leonid Agutin, Luciano Pavarotti... The day before he recorded a new song. At the beginning of May we were supposed to shoot a video for this song.

- Has Batyrkhan complained of heart pain before?

His heart was seized; attacks had happened before. But they were not as strong. At first, Batyr attributed everything to overwork. But his family insisted on an examination. He was being checked. Cardiologists did not find any pathologies in him.

Friends of the singer and musician still cannot believe that Batyrkhan is no longer alive.

Batyr was simply an incredible person,” says the singer’s close friend, drummer Igor Javad-Zade. - He had a sea of ​​charm. I don't remember anyone saying anything bad about him. Although show business is still that rotten swamp where it is difficult not to get dirty. But Batyr, as they say, was not pestered. He always performed in a snow-white shirt. So bright and pure - and was in life.

-What could have led to the tragedy?

In 2006, A-Studio guitarist Baglan Sadvakasov died in an accident. And Batyr died on takeoff. I think creative ambitions were to blame. We called him “firmach”. He always set the bar very high. Plowed and rehearsed like an ox. He started working in the Arai group, which accompanied the famous Kazakh singer Roza Rymbaeva. Then the team began to perform independently, the group was called “Alma-Ata-Studio”. Volodya Presnyakov brought recordings of their songs from a tour to Moscow. Alla Pugacheva heard and immediately picked up the phone: “Come urgently!” Soon the musicians joined her Song Theater and performed in “Christmas Meetings”. The name of the group was too long, they decided to shorten it to “A-Studio”. Their triumph began. Alla Borisovna Pugacheva also adored Batyr, often calling him “son.” He was also a favorite of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev. But it’s one thing when you work in a group, the musicians stick together and support each other. And it’s a completely different matter when you’re pursuing a solo career. Batyr considered that he had exhausted himself as part of A-Studio. I decided to go on a solo voyage. I started singing songs in my native language. This path turned out to be difficult, but he overcame it with honor. We have known each other for 30 years, I have not seen him in conflict with anyone.

Batyr was a trouble-free person, easy-going. One day we met at the studio, I was organizing a festival, I didn’t have a saxophonist. Batyr, putting aside all matters, immediately volunteered to help. The rehearsal lasted no more than 15 minutes, and he performed. And how! He was a virtuoso of alto and tenor saxophone. He could give any jazz musician a head start.

I remember him smiling. He was a joker, an expert at practical jokes. One day we were flying together on a plane. Suddenly a head appeared in the opening of the curtains, a man with a Kazakh accent began to scold the Russian guests. And then he broke into a smile. Everyone immediately recognized Batyr!

- Did he have problems on the personal front?

He married a second time and was very happy. He remained on good terms with his first wife, Katya, a Latvian by nationality. I constantly went to see my son Maksut in Jurmala. Then the boy and his mother went to live in America. Maksut is now 13 years old. He was constantly in touch with Batyr.

Batyr did not like to advertise his personal life. Friends say that seven years ago he married a dazzling beauty - Kazakh Aigerim. Despite the fact that her family lived in St. Petersburg, the young couple celebrated their wedding in the musician’s homeland, according to local customs. The couple went on their honeymoon to holy places in Turkestan.

Batyr was positive all the time, engaged in spiritual practices, traveled to India, says Igor Javad-Zade. “I remember telling me: “I went through three stages of teaching. And you need to grow spiritually.” He constantly worked on himself. But his heart could not stand it; apparently there were too many internal experiences. At the cost of his own health, he held back negative emotions. A good, pious man has left.

Friends recall that the debut disc of the Alma-Ata group was at one time called “The Path Without Stops.” It included 8 songs performed by Batyrkhan Shukenov. The name turned out to be prophetic. The singer did not spare himself. He worked and lived without stopping.

After the Russian media and the public came to their senses a little after the shocking news of the death of the popular performer, former lead singer of the A`Studio group Batyrkhan Shukenov, it turned out that practically nothing is known about his personal life. Then the journalists talked to the artist’s close friend, bass guitarist of Kristina Orbakaite’s musical group Alla Medvedeva.

ON THIS TOPIC

As Medvedeva said, she became close to Batyrkhan Shukenov on tour (he was still the lead singer of A`Studio at that time). One day he took his first wife Ekaterina with him on a trip to Vyborg, and she also immediately became Alla’s best friend. "Katya is a European woman, originally from Riga. Her meeting with Batyr took place in a banal way: she came as a spectator to a concert and fell into his unique energy field. He was also fascinated by the sweet girl and did everything to start a relationship with her. However, in his the company made everyone feel warm, and if Batyrkhan turned on his charm, then anyone would lose their head"- said Medvedeva.

In 2000, Shukenov faced difficult trials. The wife gave birth to a son, but the baby lived only 40 days. “We then almost became pregnant at the same time. We shared our happiness with each other, chose a dowry for the children and a stroller. When my friend became a mother, everything seemed to be fine with the baby. And suddenly Katya calls me with terrible news: her child is in intensive care. And a few days later the baby was gone,” Express Newspaper quotes Alla Medvedeva. According to some reports, it was an intrauterine infection.

They say that it was because of the family tragedy that Batyrkhan left the group. He simply could not continue to actively tour while his beloved woman remained at home alone with grief. But Close friend Alla Pugacheva did not allow Shukenov to sink into obscurity. She demanded that he return to the stage. And he returned as a solo artist.

"Batyrkhan and Katya were able to pull themselves together. They decided to have a second child. In 2002, they had a wonderful boy, Maksut (translated from Arabic, the name means “long-awaited”). Katya did everything to provide a living for her children. Batyr in the morning ran to the studio, and she took care of the baby and the house. But perhaps the death of their firstborn broke their relationship. They separated without scandals. We did everything possible to maintain a decent relationship for the sake of our son. Batyr experienced everything within himself,” Medvedeva said.

According to Alla, Shukenov’s ex-wife first returned to the Baltic states, and then left with my son for the USA, where she started the jewelry business. “Batyrkhan and I flew there for a visit. After a long flight, I was very exhausted, and he immediately rushed to the ocean - he ran along the edge of the waves and rejoiced like a boy,” Medvedeva noted.

In 2008, 46-year-old Shukenov married for the second time.. His chosen one was the 30-year-old beauty Aigul. They met in St. Petersburg, where the girl studied and where her relatives lived. The wedding took place in Shukenov’s homeland in Kyzylorda. However, the marriage soon broke up. Medvedeva said: “Aigul is a sweet girl. But their family life also came to naught - love did not take root in their hearts.”

Ex-soloist of group A "Studio Batyrkhan Shukenov

After leaving the popular group in 2000, he began a solo career.

Childhood and family of Batyrkhan Shukenov

From an early age, Batyr was interested in music, and when he was 12 years old, his hobby grew into something more. At first, the young man could not decide which instrument to master, but over time he gave preference to the guitar.

Having received the certificate, the guy decided to move to Leningrad. Thanks to his impressive musical practice, it was not difficult for him to impress the selection committee of the University of Culture. N.K. Krupskaya. Having joined the ranks of students, Shukenov mastered a second instrument - the saxophone. For two years the guy improved his skills, and in 1981 he entered the Conservatory. Kurmangazy in Almaty.

Despite the fact that the young man already had experience studying at a specialized university, the conservatory program turned out to be much more difficult. Subsequently, Batyr admitted to journalists that in those days the classrooms were filled with students who were eager to gain new knowledge, which is why teachers simply overwhelmed their students with tasks - in order to weed out those who were not serious. The guy had no time for entertainment, because he had to study almost for days.

Despite being very busy, the guy still found time to earn a little extra money in local cafes and restaurants. One day, Shukenov was lucky enough to meet the famous jazz performer Georgy Metaksa in the Soviet Union. The singer was impressed by the young man’s talent, and he offered to perform a duet. Thanks to a chance meeting, the world of real “adult” jazz opened up to Shukenov.

As soon as the guy turned 23, he was officially recognized as fit, and he went to serve in the Central Asian Military District. For one year, Batyr played in a military orchestra so as not to lose his skills. Upon returning home, the young man first met with his parents, and then decided to visit friends from the Arai group. After some consultation, the guys decided to create a new group called “Almaty”. After some time, their name seemed banal to them, and they renamed the group “Almaty Studio” and recorded the first album “The Path Without Stops.”

A few months later, the singers again decided to change the name of the group, this time to “A-studio”. The group became famous thanks to the world famous composition “Julia”. Initially, Philip Kirkorov worked on its recording, but then his future wife Alla Pugacheva literally snatched the song from a friend and gave it to Batyr, thanks to which the singer had his first major success.

"A" studio and Batyrkhan Shukenov - Julia

In total, Shukenov performed with “A” studio for 13 long years, until he left the team in 2000. As he later stated: “I simply exhausted myself, so I went free.” Among other things, there were strained relations between the guys , since Batyr was supervised by Pugacheva herself. Often the singer was the face of the group, while everyone else played the role of insignificant assistants. The guys had to endure all this, because they understood that without the tutelage of the Diva they would not be able to fly to the musical Olympus.

In the fall of 2002, the famous performer presented his solo album “Otan Ana” to the world, which was performed in his native language. The album includes 10 tracks and one wonderful video for the composition “Otan Ana”, filmed with the help of Moscow director Dina Makhamatdinova.

Personal life of Batyrkhan Shukenov

In 2002, the couple had another child - son Maksut. Unfortunately, even the baby was unable to correct the consequences of the stress his parents experienced. The relationship between once loved ones has changed irreparably, so they decided to leave. After the divorce, Katya and her son moved to America. Despite the distance, the father visited his son very often and maintained a warm relationship with his ex-wife.

In 2008, the singer met his second chosen one - a beauty named Aigerim. The fateful meeting took place in St. Petersburg. Autumn is soon, the newly-made couple played a wedding according to all Kazakh customs. A few years later they separated, citing a large age difference: Aigerim was 16 years younger than Batyr.

The last years of the life of Batyrkhan Shukenov