Batyrkhan Shukenov: secrets of his personal life, biography, unhappy love and creative joy. Exclusive photos from the family album of Batyrkhan Shukenov Shukenov personal life

Exactly a week has passed since the unexpected death of the famous artist Batyrkhan Shukenov. Colleagues and friends of the deceased are gradually coming to their senses and getting used to the idea that their beloved Batyr is no longer around. Only after some time were Shukenov’s close people able to tell details about his personal life, which until now had been shrouded in many secrets.

Batyrkhan Shukenov: biography, personal life, unknown facts

The biography of Batyrkhan Shukenov clarifies that in life he was a happy person who never lost heart, and gave people his optimism endlessly. But, if you start to look into the details, very revealing details emerge. It turns out that Batyrkhan was catastrophically unlucky in love, which cannot be said about creativity.

The day before, a close friend of the late singer, Alla Medvedeva, said that she had known Batyrkhan since the creation of the A-Studio group. She said that the performer met his first wife, Ekaterina, at a concert. The girl came as a spectator and could not imagine how it would end. Charming and courteous Shukenov did everything possible to win the heart and attention of the passion he liked. However, the lovers never matured before official marriage.

Friends of Batyrkhan Shukenov recall that he had powerful energy, which he gave to others without sparing himself. As soon as the singer turned on his charm just a fraction, all the women lost their heads.

The secrets of Shukenov’s personal life inform that in 2000, his and Ekaterina’s newborn child died. Batyrkhan's son lived only 40 days. Doctors said that the cause of death was an intrauterine infection. In the same year, the singer left the A-Studio team, as he simply could not gain enough strength to tour while his beloved woman was at home and sobbing for days from the grief that had befallen her. At that moment, Alla Pugacheva came to Shukenov’s aid and insisted that he start a solo career.

Fortunately, two years later Ekaterina became a mother again. A son, Maksut, was born, which translates as “long-awaited.” In order to provide for his family, Batyrkhan disappeared on tour for months, and Catherine had a very hard time alone. A divorce took place, after which the couple still managed to maintain a normal relationship. Batyrkhan devoted a lot of time to his son. Initially, Ekaterina moved to the Baltic states, after which she went to live in America, where she had her own jewelry business. Shukenov regularly visited his son.

In 2008, the wedding of Batyrkhan Shukenov took place, and his chosen one was the beautiful girl Aigul. Their acquaintance took place in St. Petersburg, where Aigul lived with her parents. The wedding took place in Shukenov’s hometown, Kyzylorda. True, this union did not turn out to be long-term. “She was a sweet girl, but the couple could not maintain their love. The family broke up,” said relatives of the ex-couple.

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 show 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.

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

// Photo: From the personal archive of Ekaterina Shelyakova

The death of the first soloist of A’Studio from a heart attack a year ago turned the lives of his relatives upside down. Ex-wife Ekaterina Shelyakova and 14-year-old son Maksut were left without a roof over their heads - the house in America that Batyrkhan Shukenov was building was taken away from the family as soon as payments on the loan stopped coming in. The singer's inheritance turned out to be poor. The one-room apartment in Moscow, where the body of the author of the hit “Julia” was found, turned out to be removable, and the talk about land in the Moscow region was fiction.

Only the fate of royalties remains unresolved. “Batyr’s family stated that his mother was ready to renounce her half of the intellectual property rights, but the notary had not yet signed any documents,” Ekaterina shared with StarHit. – I don’t know who is dealing with this issue on the part of the relatives; they regularly ignore meetings with my lawyer. Because of this, we cannot get money from the Russian Copyright Society and the Russian Union of Copyright Holders, where we need to bring a document about entering into an inheritance.”

Valery Meladze became the support for the woman and the singer’s only heir. “I am incredibly grateful to Valera, he always finds time to call and write to us,” she says. “Batyr’s friend Kanat Uskenov helps a lot.”

Even the common grief did not unite Catherine with the musician’s family - his mother and three brothers. “Relatives do not contact Maksut. Apparently, the big time difference is a hindrance,” sighs the widow. “We communicate only with Baurzhan, one of Batyr’s brothers, and solve legal and financial issues together.”

After the singer’s death, Catherine sued a construction company for a house in Florida. “Batyr managed to pay only a third of the loan - $190 thousand, and the remaining $460 thousand fell on Katya,” says Olzhas Baykanov, a close friend of the singer. “She didn’t have that kind of money, the land and cottage were taken away.” I was lucky, at least through the court I was able to get back part of the invested amount.”

Last summer, the Batyrkhan Shukenov Foundation was created in Kazakhstan, which has already held several charity concerts in Astana and Moscow.

“I thank the Kazakh and Russian artists who participated in the performances. Now we can afford our own corner,” admits Ekaterina. – In addition, thanks to the “Let Them Talk” program, after the release of which funds began to flow into the fund. We hope that in early May we will move from my friend’s apartment to a new house. Maksut and I still can’t get used to the fact that Batyr is no more. They even came up with a legend for themselves that he just went on tour.”

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.

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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.”