Katya Ogonyok is a story of life and death. Why did Katya Ogonyok really die? Kristina from Krasnodar region

Katya Ogonyok (real name Kristina Evgenievna Penkhasova) is a Russian singer, performer of Russian chanson.

The first album - from Alexander Shaganov

Kristina Pozharskaya (Pentkhasova) was born in the village of Dzhubga, Tuapse district, Krasnodar region. Parents: mother - Tamara Ivanovna, dancer (danced in Virsky's studio), father - Evgeny Semyonovich, musician (worked with the Gems ensemble). She graduated from 9 classes of high school, as well as music and choreography schools in Kislovodsk.

Her father was friends with the famous songwriter Alexander Shaganov, who came to visit him, and one day Christina’s dad persuaded his friend to write a song for his daughter. Then an album was recorded, where the singer sang songs in a smoke-free child’s voice. The album turned out to be of no use to anyone, but Christina’s work experience came in handy when she moved to Moscow.

Russian chanson

At the age of 16 she left for Moscow and began singing in the pop music genre. For some time she worked in Mikhail Tanich’s group “Lesopoval”. However, relations with the team, despite the support of Tanich himself, did not work out.

In 1995, Soyuz Production began preparing a project in the genre of Russian chanson. A competition was announced among performers, Christina won the competition and began performing in the project. Since then, she has performed songs in this genre (initially under the pseudonym Masha Sha, then Katya Ogonyok), toured a lot, and released several albums.

Masha Sha

First, discs with “hard” humor were released under the pseudonym Masha Sha: “Misha + Masha = Sha!!!” and “Masha-sha - Rubber Vanyusha”, in collaboration with Mikhail Sheleg, who took the pseudonym “Misha Sha” in these albums.

These albums differ sharply from subsequent work in their emphasis on sexual themes and the rough side of relationships between men and women.

“Love comes in different forms: with and without eroticism,
Beautiful, unhappy, and also just sex.
You will find a couple of condoms everywhere,
And it’s a sin not to “throw the stick”
If there is anyone and where!”

“I’m sitting alone in my hut,
I've been drinking moonshine for four days,
I'll tell the bottle like a girlfriend
That I don’t have good love”

“I’m Masha Sha, I’m pretty,
I am Masha Sha, a cheerful soul
... I have wine and anasha...
I have a hut for fooling around -
Shall we go to the hut with me, Misha Sha?..”

Here are some quotes from the first two albums in that spirit. The song "Doctor Dracula" is dedicated to a woman's strange attraction to a vampire, and the song "My Husband" is about lesbian love.

But in the same 1998, the singer changed both her pseudonym and the main theme in her performing work, and subsequently did not return to the genre of “hard erotic humor.”

Prison lyrics

Many of them are prison, convict songs, but there are also songs about simple, human things - about love and separation, fidelity and sadness, the loneliness of a person before life. In the 90s of the 20th century, songs of this genre were very in demand and popular.

Most of their performers were men. Katya Ogonyok was able to sing them like a woman, soulfully. The heroes and heroines of these songs are, as a rule, mature people with extensive and difficult life experience. There are no women's hysterics over trifles, there is no heap of empty phrases and banalities, “sucked out of thin air,” as in many popular songs of that time.

"I'll light a fire for you
In this godforsaken wilderness
I'll light a fire for you
On the wreckage of a tired soul"

With this song of a prisoner woman who, despite everything, retained love and hope for the best, a significant theme in her work begins.

Two songs from these two albums were sung by V. Klimenkov: “The Bonfire” and “The Soul Is Sick.” The songs “Thief”, “Black, Black Sea” are performed by Vyacheslav Klimenkov and Katya Ogonyok together, the rest are performed by Katya Ogonyok.

Music from the song “Khakinsk” still sounds (as background music) in every episode of the radio program for prisoners “Kalina Krasnaya”, broadcast weekly on Radio Russia.

In the “Legends of Russian Chanson” series, Katya Ogonyok’s disc (volume 5) was also released in 1999. There were no new songs in it, only those already released in the albums “White Taiga I” and “White Taiga II”, perhaps in slightly different arrangements. But the next album, “Calling from the Zone,” consisted entirely of musical premieres. Then again an album of remixes was released, then again new items in the album “Through the Years” (2000) with the song “Zhigan”, the hero of which, as Katya Ogonyok said in one of her interviews, became her favorite hero of her songs.

By 2000, Katya had earned wild popularity among listeners and stage colleagues. In 2000, bard Leonid Sergeev released the parody album “Katya Fitilek”. In 2000, producer Vladimir Chernyakov began working with Katya. 8 albums were recorded under his leadership.

The Legend of Prison Time

In a number of early interviews, the singer claimed that she was allegedly serving a sentence in prison:

“To be honest, I wouldn’t like to talk about this in detail. It’s hard to remember. I was convicted under Article 211, part two (then they changed it to part three). In principle, there’s nothing terrible in this article, it’s just that an unpleasant thing happened story related to the car. In general, an unexpected situation. Spent a little over two years in remote places. Got amnesty - parole, most likely not even for exemplary behavior, but for good singing"

This version spread across many media outlets. Subsequently, the singer stopped mentioning the “prison experience,” and producer V. Chernyakov finally refuted this legend after the singer’s death.

Simple Russian woman

Everyone who knew Katya Ogonyok noted her modesty. Vladimir Okunev said: “Katya didn’t earn that much. She lived in Moscow in a rented apartment, supporting her parents. Katya was a simple Russian woman (although she also had Jewish roots) and no one noticed any stardom behind her.

She was married, but at the time of her death she was officially divorced. However, until the end of her life she was in a civil marriage with former boxer Levan Koyava. In 2001, the singer gave birth to a daughter, Valeria.

Kati Ogonyok was popular not only in Russia, but also abroad. However, even the singer’s popularity did not sometimes save her from incidents. The American embassy twice denied her a work visa, at a time when all tickets for the singer's concerts in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco were sold out. Eight concerts were cancelled, and the organizers lost about 25 thousand dollars. She was told at the embassy: “You are not a star.” She presented CDs and posters, but was told that all of this could be easily counterfeited and was inexpensive.

Like any performer, there were many rumors about Katya. To the question - “What fables did she hear about herself?”, the singer answered: “That I am a drug addict, an alcoholic and generally a complete loser. At first this offended me greatly, I argued, proved something, and then I thought - what’s the difference! ", people like the way I sing, and I seriously doubt that an alcoholic drug addict could sing like that. I have nothing to do with drugs and have never had anything to do with them, I hardly drink vodka, I prefer red Georgian wines."

When asked about her musical preferences, Katya answered: “I like to listen to Al Gerol, Steve Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald... I sang their compositions in my youth. And at the same time, I adore Lydia Ruslanova. In general, I love strong people on the stage, bright personalities. The weak usually dissolve in this life. This means you have to be strong.”

She was fond of martial arts, in particular women's boxing.

Sudden death

Katya Ogonyok died on the morning of October 24, 2007 from pulmonary edema and acute heart failure, probably caused by cirrhosis of the liver. She was buried at the Nikolo-Arkhangelskoye cemetery in Moscow.

Trying to figure it out. Andrey Malakhov's program "Let them talk"

Guests of Andrei Malakhov’s “Let Them Talk” program on November 13, 2007 tried to understand the reasons for the sudden death of the 30-year-old chanson star Katya Ogonyok. According to the official version, the singer's heart stopped.

The discussion in the studio during the recording of the television program was heated, the dialogues reached the point of direct insults. By the end of the program, passions had heated up to such an extent that Katya’s mother Tamara Ivanovna had to call a doctor. It turned out that not only the death of Ogonyok raises many questions.

According to Tamara Ivanovna, Levon himself abused alcohol and did not restrain his wife. Levon constantly went on tour with Ogonyok and was not able to control Katya’s endless banquets, where the singer was invited with enviable regularity, writes the Moscow Correspondent newspaper.

Things were no better financially. The singer’s fees mysteriously evaporated somewhere. In addition, Ogonyok often worked for much less money than she was entitled to.

“She was constantly deceived,” confirmed program guest Willy Tokarev. Could it have been different if the singer’s financial affairs were in charge of a person who had nothing to do with show business and had absolutely no understanding of concert activities? This led to the fact that there was nothing to bury the chanson star with. They collected, as they say, from the world, piece by piece. “Levon didn’t want to work, but he squeezed all the juice out of Katya,” Ogonyok’s mother exclaimed in her hearts.

But much more shocking was another confession from the parents. Already when Katya was in intensive care, Levon asked the doctor treating her to get the singer back on her feet as soon as possible. In a couple of days, Katya had to go to concerts, for which Levon had already received an advance payment. Cynical, but true.

On the eve of these concerts, Katya died. In a conversation with a newspaper correspondent, the singer’s parents said that Ogonyok was treated by a doctor with whom the singer’s common-law husband had been friends for many years. At first there was a suspicion of liver cirrhosis, and then Katya was admitted to the cardiology department. When Tamara Ivanovna saw her late daughter, she was surprised by the terrible swelling of Katya’s face.

All Malakhov’s guests agreed that Katya was ruined by the concert race and an unhealthy lifestyle. Trying to somehow justify himself, Levon told Ogonyok’s colleagues: “Yes, each of you once brought her a glass.” And this was said by the man without whom Katya allegedly could not take a step.

Frankly speaking, Katya simply went with the flow throughout her creative life. By and large, no one really dealt with it. At first she tried to become a pop singer and performed under the pseudonym Kristina Pozharskaya, leaving her real name. At various stages, composers Alexander Morozov, Alexander Shaganov and a number of others tried to help her. But it didn’t work out with pop music.

But in the chanson, Katya Ogonyok sparkled - so much so that she managed to move the generally recognized queen Lyubov Uspenskaya from the pedestal. True, for some reason Ogonyok did not perform at decent venues, but mostly shone in front of prisoners. Katya was invited three times to the Kremlin Palace of Congresses for chanson concerts, but each time at the last moment her name was crossed out.

Are two queens cramped in one concert or is it just a coincidence? The question is, of course, rhetorical. Nevertheless, for some reason singer Lyubov Uspenskaya did not come to the shooting of Malakhov’s program, although she was invited.

A little later, Katya even heard rumors that Lyuba harbored a grudge against her. In general, word of mouth did its job. Katya, of course, was a truth-teller and did not hesitate to say whatever she thought. But she never said a single bad word to Uspenskaya. And Katya had no intention of competing with the singer.

Kristina Pinkhasova got used to the image of Katya Ogonyok and carried it not only from the stage, but also in everyday life. Was she comfortable in this image? Some people think so, but others are inclined to think that, despite her success, she felt lost in the world of chanson and didn’t even really have friends.

Only one thing can be said for sure. The queen of chanson died a beggar and a truly lonely person at heart, whose only joy was the stage and her daughter. Ogonyok had no one and no time to have a heart-to-heart talk with. She also had no time to take care of her health. Even when, during the last tour, Katya complained to her friend Irina Krug that everything hurt, she did not attach much importance to Ogonyok’s words.

Katya Ogonyok is one of the most famous women performing chanson. She was loved and still loved by a huge number of listeners, because this woman was not only a talented singer, but also simply a good and kind person with whom you could have a heart-to-heart talk and discuss all your problems and successes.

Youth of Katya Ogonyok

Katya Ogonyok (her biography is short, but interesting and bright) was born on May 17, 1977 in the village of Dzhubga. Her real name is Penkhasova Kristina Evgenievna. The singer's mother was a dancer, and her father was a musician. The girl graduated from 9 classes, after which she began to study at music and choreographic schools in the city of Kislovodsk.

Christina's father was friends with a songwriter who was very famous and popular at that time. This is Alexander Shaganov. One day, Evgeny Semyonovich persuaded his friend to write a song for his talented daughter. Over time, little Christina already recorded an album. It should be noted that at that time the voice of the aspiring performer was still childish and not smoky. Unfortunately, this album was not needed by anyone, but Katya Ogonyok’s experience in this matter did not hinder her.

A bright personality, whose life was full of adventures, but ended very early, was Katya Ogonyok. The woman's biography is quite interesting. She tells how the singer’s creative career began, what events she had to endure, and why the life of the famous singer was cut short so early.

Moving to Moscow

At the age of 16, Katya Ogonyok moved to Moscow and began performing songs in the pop music genre. For a short time, the singer worked in a group called “Lesopoval”, but due to unsettled relations with the team, the lead singer was forced to leave the group.

In 1995, Katya Ogonyok took part in a project that announced a recruitment of chanson performers. The future singer won the competition, after which she began performing in the project. It was after participating in it that Katya began performing songs in this genre, touring a lot, and gained popularity and fame. At first, the singer chose the pseudonym Masha Sha, but later changed it to the well-known Katya Ogonyok.

The performer, whose voice is familiar to almost every fan of the genre, is Katya Ogonyok. The biography of a celebrity will help every fan of her work learn about how the singer lived her life, what events happened in her, how she came on stage and any other questions that interest him.

Masha Sha

When the singer sang under the pseudonym Masha Sha, her songs were distinguished by their emphasis on sexual themes. Almost all of her compositions contained erotic humor, but it is worth saying that in 1988 Katya decided to change her pseudonym and stopped performing such songs.

The fiery actress, whose songs touch every listener, is still the same Katya Ogonyok. Biography, photos, significant events, etc. have always been and are still of interest to fans of the young woman’s work. It must be said that she deserved such attention, because Katya Ogonyok was truly talented.

The singer's criminal past

Katya's popularity grew at breakneck speed, every year she became more and more popular and well-known not only among ordinary listeners and fans, but also among her colleagues. It is worth saying that in some of her interviews Katya Ogonyok spoke about “places of deprivation of liberty.” The chanson performer did not like to talk about these topics, but said that she was convicted under Article 211, part 1, but later she was convicted under article 3. Ogonyok says that there is absolutely nothing scary in this article. An unpleasant story happened in her life, which was connected with a car. Katya spent 2 years in prison, after which she was granted an amnesty. As the singer herself says: “This happened, most likely, not because of good behavior, but because of good singing.” However, as it turned out later, it was just a legend, which is so necessary for every performer of this genre.

Throughout her short life, Katya Ogonyok performed music in the chanson genre. The woman’s biography will help every fan of her work understand how the singer became so famous and popular, what events happened in her life.

Famous singer Katya Ogonyok: biography, death

It is worth saying that Katya’s life was quite bright, emotional, but, unfortunately, short-lived. The famous chanson performer died at the age of 30, on October 24, 2007. Her death became a tragedy not only for Katya’s family and friends, but also for lovers of the work of the cheerful and beloved singer.

Katya Ogonyok: biography, cause of death of the singer

The public's favorite died due to pulmonary edema, which was caused by heart failure. According to another version, the famous singer suffered from epilepsy since childhood and was hospitalized after another attack. The woman’s producer said that Katya spent 5 days in the hospital and was recovering. However, unfortunately, the disease turned out to be stronger than her.

The singer has a daughter, Valeria, who is already taking her first steps on stage. She, like her mother, also dreams of singing and has already recorded several compositions in the chanson style. Among them there is a song dedicated to my beloved mother...

Real name: Kristina Penkhasova

Biography of Katya Ogonyok

The celebrity family is creative. Mom was a dancer and worked in Virsky’s studio, and dad was a musician who at one time worked at the VIA “Gems”.
Kristina graduated from the 9th grade of secondary school, music and choreography schools in Kislovodsk.
Katya's father knew the songwriter Alexander Shaganov. He came to visit them and once the father of the future singer persuaded his friend to write a composition for his daughter. This was followed by an album where Katya Ogonyok sang in a smoke-free child’s voice. However, no one needed the record, but the future artist’s experience came in handy.
Conquest of Moscow
At the age of 16, Katya Ogonyok moved to Moscow. There she began to sing songs in the pop music genre. For some time she even worked for Mikhail Tanich at Lesopoval. But the young singer’s relationship with the team did not work out and, despite Tanich’s support, the girl left.
In 1995, Soyuz Production began preparing a new project in the genre of Russian chanson. The company announced a competition among musicians. Christina won it and got into the project. Since that time, she began performing in this genre, first under the pseudonym Masha Sha, and then as Katya Ogonyok. The girl toured a lot and released several records.
First, Masha Sha released discs with rather “hard” humor called “Masha-sha - Rubber Vanyusha” and “Misha+Masha=Sha!!!”. The records were released in collaboration with Mikhail Sheleg, who performed as “Misha Sha”.
Hard erotic humor
The albums are radically different from Christina’s subsequent work. Here the artist focuses on sexual themes, as well as the rough side of the relationship between a man and a woman. For example, a song called “Doctor Dracula” is dedicated to a woman’s strange love for a vampire, but the composition “My Husband” has a lesbian theme.
→ Katya was born into a creative family
In 1998, Christina changed her pseudonym and is already beginning to immerse herself in the main theme of her work; after that she did not return to the genre of “hard erotic humor.”
Main creativity
But Katya Ogonyok’s next albums, “White Taiga I” and “White Taiga II,” were created together with Vyacheslav Klimenkov. They are already in the genre of Russian chanson, which has become the main one in the singer’s work. Many of the compositions are prison and convict compositions, but there are also songs about love and separation, sadness and fidelity, loneliness. In the 90s of the last century, these were very popular and in demand. However, most of these compositions were sung by men, but Katya Ogonyok was able to perform them with soul, in a feminine, soulful way. The heroes of the songs are often mature people with extensive life experience. In the songs you won’t hear platitudes, women’s trifling hysterics, or empty phrases.
“I will light a light for you, in this God-forsaken wilderness, I will light a light for you, on the ruins of a tired soul,” is sung in a song on behalf of a prisoner woman who has retained her love for everything and hopes for the best. Thus begins a significant theme in Christina’s work.
Klimenkov sang two compositions from two albums. These are “Kosterok” and “The Soul Is Sick”, two more songs - “Black, Black Sea”, “Thief” - the musicians sing together, but the rest are sung by Katya Ogonyok herself.
Film of memory...Katya Ogonyok
By the way, music from “Khakinsk” still sounds as background music in episodes of the radio program for prisoners “Kalina Krasnaya”. The program is broadcast weekly on Radio Russia.
In 1999, Katya’s next disc (volume 5) was released as part of the “Legends of Russian Chanson” series. There were no new songs, but the old ones were presented in new arrangements. The next album, called “Call from the Zone,” consisted entirely of new songs. A record of remixes was released next, and in 2000, again only new items in the album “Through the Years.” This record contained the song “Zhigan” and, as Katya Ogonyok admitted, the hero of the composition became her favorite.
By the beginning of the new century, Katya Ogonyok had become very popular among both colleagues and listeners. In 2000, a parody record “Katya Fitilek” by bard Leonid Sergeev was even released. At the same time, Christina begins working with producer Vladimir Chernyakov. The singer recorded 8 albums with him.
Prison life
By the way, in some interviews Katya Ogonyok said that she herself served her sentence in places not so remote.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t really like to talk about this in detail. It's hard for me to remember. I was convicted under Article 211, part two (then changed to part three). There is nothing terrible in this article, it’s just that a rather unpleasant thing happened with my car. This is an unexpected situation. I sat there for a little over two years. I was released on parole and was granted an amnesty. Probably not for exemplary behavior, but for good vocals,” says Katya Ogonyok.
Katya Ogonyok at the Musical Ring
This version about serving a sentence in prison spread across the media. Afterwards, the singer stopped mentioning her prison past altogether, and after the death of Katya Ogonyok, the producer denied the legend.
Just Katya
Katya's friends and relatives note her modesty. In particular, Vladimir Okunev said that Katya did not earn that much. The girl lived in a rented apartment in Moscow and supported her parents. “Katya was a simple Russian woman, albeit with Jewish roots. No one ever noticed the star quality in her,” says Vladimir.
Personal life
Katya Ogonyok was married. But at the time of her death she was already officially divorced. Until her death, she lived in a civil marriage with former boxer Levan Kojava. The singer has a daughter - Valeria was born in 2001.
Incidents
Katya Ogonyok was in demand and popular both in Russia and abroad. But even this status did not prevent her from avoiding life’s incidents. The American embassy twice did not give her a work visa, although at that moment absolutely all the tickets to her American concerts - in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami - had already been sold. As a result, eight concerts were canceled, and the organizers lost about 25 thousand dollars. The embassy only replied, “You are not a star.” Katya showed the CDs and posters, but they only told her that all this could be easily faked, and inexpensively.
There were a lot of rumors about Katya, like any other performer. Some claimed that she was a drug addict, an alcoholic and a complete loser. Ogonyok herself was offended by this at first, proving the opposite, but then she calmed down:

→ With my little daughter
“The main thing is that people like the way I sing. I seriously doubt that I could sing like an alcoholic and drug addict. I’ve never been into drugs, I hardly drink vodka, but I can drink red Georgian wine,” said the singer.
The artist herself loved the work of Al Gerol, Ella Fitzgerald and Steve Wonder. She sang their songs in her youth. Katya was fond of martial arts, mainly women's boxing.
Death
Katya Ogonyok passed away on the morning of October 24, 2007. She died of acute heart failure and pulmonary edema, possibly due to cirrhosis of the liver. According to some reports, the singer suffered from epilepsy and was taken to the hospital after an attack. Katya Ogonyok was buried in Moscow at the Nikolo-Arkhangelskoye cemetery.
The monument to Katya Ogonyok’s grave was erected only in the fall of 2010. The funds were raised thanks to a concert in Krasnogorsk, which was organized by the artist’s father.

Katya Ogonyok (real name Kristina Evgenievna Penkhasova). Born on May 17, 1977 in the village. Dzhubga (Krasnodar Territory) - died on October 24, 2007 in Moscow. Russian singer, chanson performer.

Kristina Pozharskaya (Penkhasova) was born in the village of Dzhubga, Tuapse district, Krasnodar region. Then the family moved to live in Kislovodsk.

Mother - Tamara Ivanovna, a dancer - danced in Virsky's studio. Father - Evgeniy Semyonovich, musician, worked with the Gems ensemble.

She graduated from 9 classes of high school, as well as music and choreography schools in Kislovodsk. I did poorly at school. “The teachers must have crossed themselves when they handed me a document indicating the end of their torment,” she said.

“At school, I talked mainly with boys and I can list variations on the theme of school dirty tricks endlessly. For example, in winter you break several raw eggs onto hot radiators, and literally after a couple of hours it is impossible to be at school. Thus, everyone is guaranteed a vacation of two days. Once "I went into the teachers' room and burned the class magazine. They even got away with that; they probably didn't want to lose the school 'actress'. I took a very active part in school amateur performances, sang and danced," she recalled.

At the age of 16 she moved to Moscow.

“It was Moscow that taught me to smoke and drink wine and made me an adult,” noted the artist.

She worked with Shaganov for several years and released an album. Then she sang pop music, but already at that time she began to take a closer look at Russian chanson.

She performed as part of the group “10 A”. For some time she worked in Mikhail Tanich’s group “Lesopoval”. However, relations with the team, despite the support of Tanich himself, did not work out.

In 1995, Soyuz Production began preparing a project in the genre of Russian chanson. A competition was announced among performers and Christina won the competition and began performing in the project. Since then, she has performed songs in this genre (initially under the pseudonym Masha Sha, then Katya Ogonyok). She toured a lot and released several albums.

Katya Ogonyok - Escort

First, discs with “hard” humor were released under the pseudonym Masha Sha: “Misha + Masha = Sha!!!” and “Masha-sha - Rubber Vanyusha”, in collaboration with, who in these albums took the pseudonym “Misha Sha”.

The songs from the albums “White Taiga I” and “White Taiga II”, created in collaboration with Vyacheslav Klimenkov, already belong to that genre, to that direction of Russian chanson, which will become the main one in the work of Katya Ogonyok for years to come. Many of them are prison, convict songs, but there are also songs about simple, human things - about love and separation, fidelity and sadness, the loneliness of a person before life. Two songs from these two albums were sung by V. Klimenkov: “The Bonfire” and “The Soul Is Sick.” The songs “Thief”, “Black, Black Sea” are performed by Vyacheslav Klimenkov and Katya Ogonyok together, the rest are performed by Katya Ogonyok.

Music from the song “Khakinsk” still plays (as background music) in every episode of the radio program for prisoners “Kalina Krasnaya,” broadcast weekly on Radio Russia.

In 2000, producer Vladimir Chernyakov began working with Katya. 8 albums were recorded under his leadership.

Katya Ogonyok - Zhigan

In a number of early interviews, the singer claimed that she was allegedly serving a sentence in prison. In fact, a special “legend” was invented for Katya Ogonyok, designed to increase her popularity among listeners of “blatnyak” - in an interview she said that in her youth she was convicted under part two of Article 211 (hijacking an aircraft, water transport or railway rolling stock) , and allegedly served more than two years. She said that she received an amnesty “for good singing” - she sang in places of detention in local amateur performances.

“There I recorded some songs on a cassette recorder, mostly pop hits, and passed them on to my parents. My dad took this tape to Moscow, showed it to the producers from Soyuz Production. They became interested in me and came to the zone with a professional port studio, where, having received permission, we recorded the album “White Taiga” for two weeks. I performed songs by Slava Klimenkov, a Moscow author, written especially for me. There were four months left before release,” the singer said. But this, we repeat, is only a legend for the development of the stage image.

Subsequently, the singer stopped mentioning the “prison experience,” and producer V. Chernyakov finally refuted this legend after the singer’s death.

Everyone who knew Katya Ogonyok noted her modesty. Vladimir Okunev said: “Katya didn’t earn that much. She lived in Moscow in a rented apartment and supported her parents. Katya was a simple Russian woman (although she also had Jewish roots) and no one noticed any stardom behind her.”

Katya Ogonyok - I'm jealous of you

She was fond of martial arts, in particular women's boxing.

Katya Ogonyok died in Moscow on the morning of October 24, 2007 from pulmonary edema and acute heart failure, probably caused by cirrhosis of the liver (according to other reports, she suffered from epilepsy and was hospitalized after an attack).

“She was in the hospital for some time, and they already thought that everything was getting better, but, as you can see, they were mistaken. As far as I know, she had some illnesses for a long time, from which, unfortunately, she could not get out This year we celebrated her thirtieth birthday, and, of course, no one could have imagined how everything would turn out,” said the director of Chanson radio, Artur Vasin, at the time.

She was buried at the Nikolo-Arkhangelskoye cemetery in Moscow.

In October 2010, a monument was erected at the singer’s grave, to raise funds for the installation of which Katya Ogonyok’s father organized a concert in Krasnogorsk near Moscow.

In June 2013, in the Mir concert hall, producer and official representative of the family, Elena Bader, organized a concert in memory of Katya Ogonyok, the funds from which went to support Katya Ogonyok’s family.

On May 17, 2016, a concert was held in memory of Katya Ogonyok in honor of her birthday, organized by Elena Bader and actress and singer Lyudmila Sharonova. At this concert, the premiere of the second song of Katya Ogonyok’s daughter, Lera Ogonyok, entitled “Wish,” took place.

Katya Ogonyok's height: 157 centimeters.

Personal life of Katya Ogonyok:

She was married and gave birth to a daughter, Valeria, in 2001.

“If we talk about first love, then I didn’t even have it as such. At least, I don’t remember that, like other girls, I cried into my pillow. All kinds of suffering had already come to me by the age of twenty, when I had first divorce from my husband, maybe, by the way, this was my first love, I was waiting for my husband to return from the army, although what kind of love is there at 19 years old, still a girl, it was just a habit. And a white dress, a wedding - I wanted to try it. In general “I tried for 2 years, although we were officially married for 3 years. Then another person appeared, and my husband and I divorced,” said the artist.

She was in a civil marriage with former boxer Levan Koyava.

Daughter Lera, with the support of Elena Bader and the Soyuz Production company, recorded a song in the style of chanson, which she dedicated to the memory of her mother. The official representative of Katya Ogonyok’s family is now Elena Bader, who is also the director and producer of Lera Ogonyok.

Lera Ogonyok - Wind-breeze

Katya Ogonyok's parents - Tamara Ivanovna and Evgeniy Semenovich Penkhasov - are sure that their daughter was practically killed.

The singer’s fees mysteriously evaporated somewhere. In addition, Katya Ogonyok often worked for much less money than she was entitled to. “She was constantly deceived,” confirmed program guest Willy Tokarev. Could it have been different if the singer’s financial affairs were in charge of a person who had nothing to do with show business and had absolutely no understanding of concert activities? This led to the fact that there was nothing to bury the chanson star with. They collected, as they say, from the world, piece by piece. “Levon didn’t want to work, but he squeezed all the juice out of Katya,” Ogonyok’s mother exclaimed in her hearts.

Seeing the conditions in which the queen of chanson lived, many of those present were speechless. In common parlance, such an apartment is called a homeless apartment. Being a sought-after singer, Katya Ogonyok was unable not only to buy a home for herself, but even to renovate her rented apartment. How is this possible? For all of the above, as well as for the death of Ogonyok, the singer’s parents blame her common-law husband Levon, from whom Katya gave birth to a daughter, Valeria. According to Tamara Ivanovna, Levon himself abused alcohol and did not restrain his wife. Levon constantly went on tour with Ogonyok and was not able to control Katya’s endless banquets, where the singer was invited with enviable regularity.

Katya Ogonyok - Victim of chanson. Let them talk

Even more shocking was another confession from the parents. Already when Katya was in intensive care, Levon asked the doctor treating her to get the singer back on her feet as soon as possible. In a couple of days, Katya had to go to concerts, for which Levon had already received an advance payment. Cynical, but true. On the eve of these concerts, Katya died.

The singer’s parents said that Ogonyok was treated by a doctor with whom the singer’s common-law husband had been friends for many years. At first there was a suspicion of liver cirrhosis, and then Katya was admitted to the cardiology department. When Tamara Ivanovna saw her late daughter, she was surprised by the terrible swelling of Katya’s face.

“It looks more like asphyxia than cardiac arrest,” Katya’s mother said with tears in her eyes. And Father Evgeniy Semenovich frantically repeated: “This bastard killed her. I'll definitely figure it out. They deprived us of our daughter.” All Malakhov’s guests agreed that Katya was ruined by the concert race and an unhealthy lifestyle. Trying to somehow justify himself, Levon told Ogonyok’s colleagues: “Yes, each of you once brought her a glass.”

Throughout her creative career, Katya Ogonyok swam with the flow. By and large, no one really dealt with it. At first she tried to become a pop singer and performed under the pseudonym Kristina Pozharskaya, leaving her real name. At various stages, composers Alexander Shaganov, Alexander Morozov and others tried to help her. But it didn’t work out with pop music. But in the chanson, Katya Ogonyok sparkled - so much so that she managed to move her off the pedestal.

True, for some reason Ogonyok did not perform at decent venues, but mostly shone in front of prisoners. Katya was invited three times to the Kremlin Palace of Congresses for chanson concerts, but each time at the last moment her name was crossed out. Are two queens cramped in one concert or is it just a coincidence? Nevertheless, for some reason singer Lyubov Uspenskaya did not come to the filming of Malakhov’s program, although she was invited.

A little later, Katya even heard rumors that Lyuba harbored a grudge against her. Katya Ogonyok, of course, was a truth-teller and was not shy about saying whatever she thought. But she never said a single bad word to Uspenskaya. The queen of chanson died a beggar and a truly lonely person at heart, whose only joy was the stage and her daughter.

Discography of Katya Ogonyok:

1998 - “Misha + Masha = Sha!!!”
1998 - “Masha-sha - Rubber Vanyusha”
1998 - “White Taiga I”
1999 - “White Taiga II”
1999 - “Legends of Russian Chanson. Volume 5"
2000 - “Calling from the zone”
2000 - “Remixes”
2000 - “Through the Years”
2001 - “The Road Home”
2001 - “The Road of My Life”
2001 - “Road Romance”
2002 - “Commandment”
2003 - “Refugees”
2003 - “Debut album”
2004 - “Kiss”
2004 - “Tattoo girl”
2005 - “Katya”
2006 - “Bitter Honey”
2006 - “Happy Birthday, Koresh!”
2006 - “A for the Tramp”
2007 - “Eternal Sorrow”
2007 - “Applause and Flowers”
2008 - “In my heart”

Why did Katya Ogonyok fade away?
Yesterday the ranks of chanson thinned out. This morning, the star of this genre, Katya Ogonyok, died in the intensive care unit of one of the capital’s clinics. Even those who had never listened to or liked chanson knew her. On October 26, she was supposed to perform at an evening in memory of Mikhail Krug in Nizhny Novgorod...

Katya was only thirty years old. After divorcing her husband, she raised her daughter Valeria alone. Some time ago, the singer was taken to one of the capital’s clinics.

According to rumors, Katya had serious kidney problems. It was rumored that recently the famous singer had been abusing alcohol, which is a very common phenomenon in the chanson community.

“It’s not good to discuss these problems when a person is gone, but I think that Katya died precisely because of this,” said another representative of the chanson, who, for obvious reasons, asked not to use her name. – Here, you know, both men and women drink, it’s like a way of life. Tours, constant feasts, the genre itself...

Well, you understand. And if, in addition to this, a person also has personal problems, then one cannot escape from a glass. I know that Katya loved cognac. After the divorce, she somehow weakened, or something, the spark in her disappeared. Yes, she drank. But the female body cannot stand much. So I ended up in the hospital. I am very sorry that we lost this man. She was very kind and open. There simply wasn’t a worthy male shoulder nearby, and she burned out.”

Even those who knew her very superficially regret Ogonyok’s death. During the ill-fated feasts, which may have really brought Katya to an early grave, she was the life of the party - cheerful, perky, witty. In general, she fully corresponds to her stage name – Ogonyok.

In this love for life, they were very similar to their mother, a former dancer at Virsky’s studio. Their external resemblance was also striking. And the hospitality characteristic of the people of the Krasnodar region was overflowing.

I remember when Katya performed under the name Christina with a pop repertoire, she tried to monitor her weight and constantly pulled herself together at the table. “I eat like a cow!” - Christina laughed, and could not do anything about her healthy appetite.

I had the chance to meet Christina back in 1997. We met in Vitebsk, at a festival. The poet Sasha Shaganov and his friend the composer Igor Pyankov simply took me by the arms and said: “Come on, you’ll meet our singer!” Kristina is a cool girl!”

And it really turned out to be glue, although at times it amazed me with its spontaneity. Then I even began to like this spontaneity; it was the highlight of Christina, who in any place and in front of any people could say whatever she thought and do as she wanted. She was absolutely not shy about who would say what about this.

We became friends. New Year's Eve of the coming 1998 was celebrated vigorously, resounding with joyful cries in the cozy area of the Shchelkovskaya metro station, where Christina's apartment was. "Let's sing?" - the hostess suggested. And all the guests sang, then continued this on the street, drinking the cognac that Christina truly loved.

And one evening Christina called and, without any preamble, blurted out: “Lenchik, come!” I’ve got a fur coat here, my mom and I think it will suit you!” I was speechless with surprise, but this was all Christina.

In general, this fur coat, although it has already lost its marketable appearance, is still kept in my wardrobe - as the most extravagant and pleasant friendly gift. It will always remind you of how unpredictable and lively Kristina Pozharskaya, aka Katya Ogonyok, was.

Even having gained incredible popularity, she still remained a person of a broad soul, always ready to help. It’s a pity that lately I’ve been able to communicate less and less.

Christina changed her phone number, but left a new one through my parents. She asked me to call back. It’s sad that, due to the everyday bustle, I never got around to making a call... I express my sincere condolences to all of Christina’s family and friends.