Where did the fun go. Alexey Evgenievich Potekhin: biography, career and personal life. Sergei Zhukov is touring with the repertoire of the group "Hands up", performing under the same name

Alexei Evgenievich Potekhin. Born on April 15, 1972 in Novokuibyshevsk, Samara Region. Russian musician, radio host, producer. Former member of the group "Hands Up!".

The elder brother is Andrey Potekhin.

Everyone in the family loved music, to which early years Alexey also joined.

He studied at the art school and the basketball section.

He learned to play the guitar, composed songs, and worked as a DJ at discos. At that time he was interested hard rock - Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cult, Metallica.

After graduation high school went to study in Samara at the river technical school, which he graduated in 1991.

He was a presenter at the Europa-Plus radio station in Samara, where he hosted the program "Nursery from Potekhin." There, on the radio in 1993, he met with.

In December 1994 they move to Togliatti, where they try to record songs in the studio. At the same time, they regularly go to Samara to listen to the broadcasts of Europe Plus radio.

In Togliatti, together with Sergei Zhukov, he created the Uncle Ray and Company group.

In May 1995 they find themselves in Moscow. They worked as DJs at the Moscow radio station "Rocks", then held a series of discos in Tbilisi.

At the end of 1995, the musicians handed over a cassette with several songs to the radio "Maximum" and signed: "This music will make you raise your hands up." The cassette fell into the hands of the presenters Olga Maksimova and Konstantin Mikhailov, who put on their show the song " Good morning and announced: "Young group "Hands up!"". Since then, this name has stuck with the group - "Hands up!".

Then producer Andrei Malikov became interested in the group, concerts and tours began.

Group "Hands up!" recorded the song "Baby", which became popular, then the hit "Student" was released. The songs "Baby" and "Student" are knocked out in the top ten of the hit parade "Russian Radio" "Russkaya Gorka". In the spring and summer of 1997, video clips were shot for these songs. To record the female parts, a session vocalist Elizaveta Rodnyanskaya, a member of the Melissa group, was found.

In 1998, the group received six silver medals, three gold medals and one platinum disc for the huge number of copies sold. In 1999, the group became the laureate of three diplomas at once from the second annual award of the Russian recording industry.

In 1999, the album "Without Brakes" was released, which was sold in 12,000,000 copies.

Their songs “My Baby”, “I'm Sorry”, “Ai Yai Yai Girl”, “Alyoshka”, “I Thought”, “Kind, Gentle, Affectionate”, “Little Girls”, “He Kisses You”, “Go away” became hits. , "Omut".

Hands up - Ai yay yay girl

In the late 1990s, the team created its own music label "Dancing Men" ("B-Funky Productions"), which began to produce the pop groups "Turbomoda", "Boys", "Revolvers", "Shark", singer Murphy.

In 2006, the group "Hands Up!" broke up. Alexey Potekhin said about the reasons for his departure: “Everyone asks me why I left Hands Up!” I will answer you: because we all became adults, but Sergey did not think so, he was comfortable. He is comfortable now. I always wanted fame, but I didn't."

He admitted that although the whole country sang their songs, he didn’t earn much money: “The most interesting thing is that of all the two hundred and thirty songs that we wrote, everyone was interested in only the simplest ones.“ La-la-la-la, all day I humming" - we became famous on such songs. Every girl in the country had cassettes "Hands Up!", But on our financial position it didn't show up at all."

After the collapse of the group "Hands Up!" in 2006, Alexey Potekhin, together with his friend Vladimir Luchnikov, created a project called "Raise Hands Up". With the team, he began to tour. Released a collection dance music Potexinstyle-3.

Alexey also started producing young performers such as Superboys, J Well (ex-member of the Discomafia group). During the period 2006-2008, 3 collections of Potexinstyle dance music were released, combining many young performers and hits famous bands such as "Demo", "Turbomode", "Plank", etc.

Then Alexei took up the TREK & blues project, in which he invited the ex-vocalist of the Turbomoda group Vladimir Luchnikov and the ex-member of the Svoi group Ruslan Achkinadze. In 2007, the TREK & blues group was invited former member TV show Dom-2 by Alessandro Materazzo, who toured with them in the summer of 2008 in southern Russia.

In 2013, the artist, together with his wife, as part of the Russian internet television (PeoplestarTV) project, presented new track"Summer Winter".

In 2014, the Arena Moscow club hosted a presentation of his solo album titled "I can't help it".

In 2016, at a concert dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the Hands Up! group, Potekhin and Zhukov reunited on stage again. However, their communication never resumed.

For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Alexei Potekhin wrote a song for Buranovskiye Babushki.

Cooperates with a company engaged in the production of textile products.

The growth of Alexei Potekhin: 182 centimeters.

Personal life of Alexei Potekhin:

Was married twice.

The first wife is Irina Tomilova, a dancer in the Hands Up! group. They got married on April 13, 2002. Divorced in 2004.

The second wife is Elena Potekhina, a veterinarian by profession, but works as a stylist. They got married on September 12, 2009.

Alexey Potekhin with his wife Elena and daughter Maria

Alexey loves antique things that he collects.

Discography of Alexey Potekhin:

2011 - Scorpio Leo
2014 - I can't help it

Alexey was born on April 15, 1972 in Novokuibyshevsk ( Samara Region). In the Potekhin family, it was customary to constantly listen to music. Moreover, the boy's mother was fond of the symphonic direction, the father - pop. The older brother instilled in Alyosha a love for foreign music.

As a child, the boy had a cocky character. Parents decided to enroll him in the basketball section and art school. After the 11th grade, Potekhin left for Samara, where he entered the river technical school. Alyosha remembers the period of study in this institution with warmth. There were teachers who, even at their venerable age, liked to joke along with the young.

Potekhin liked to follow the latest hits. At first he just listened to the songs, and then he bought a guitar and began to try to compose himself. The young man even got a job as a DJ at discos.

After graduating from a technical school in 1911, Potekhin (not without the influence of his mother) again becomes a student, now at the Samara State Technical University. In 1996, he had a diploma in the specialty "systems engineer" in his hands.

In Samara, Alexey worked at the Europa-Plus radio station as the host of the program "Potekhin's Nursery Rhymes". After moving to Tolyatti, together with Sergei Zhukov, he founded the Uncle Ray and Company group. This was the beginning of a stellar future called "Hands Up!". But at that time the project was not profitable. For stabilization financial condition the duo organized several discos in Tbilisi.

Arriving in Moscow, Alexey and Sergey got a job at the Pavian Records recording studio. They created arrangements for other bands for the opportunity to record their own songs. It was during this period that the duet was renamed into “Hands Up!”.

The music business took off after hiring a professional producer. Already after the release of the first album "Breathe Evenly", the group gained overwhelming popularity. The musicians began to tour around Russia and abroad. During the existence of the group, an impressive number of songs were written, many concerts were held. The duet has received many awards.

After the breakup of the group in 2006, Potekhin began producing young talents (Superboys, J Well, etc.). In two years, 3 collections of Potexinstyle dance music were released. They combined young performers and hits famous bands(Turbomode, Demo, etc.).

Currently, Alexey Potekhin is working in his TREK&blues project. The manager and organizer of the performances is his brother Andrey Potekhin, a former member of such groups as Boys, Turbomoda, Revolvers.

Potekhin's personal life

Alexei was married twice. His first wife was Irina Tolmilova, whom he met as part of the Hands Up! group. The girl was at their back-dancer. Within two years after the legalization of relations married couple unsuccessfully attempted to have a child. Before the final separation, the couple decided to live separately for a while. However, the “pause” taken could not save the marriage, the young people divorced.

In September 2009, Potekhin married again. His chosen one this time was the girl Elena, who has nothing to do with show business. Before meeting Alexei, she worked as a veterinarian. In March 2010, Potekhin became a happy dad. His wife bore him a daughter, Maria. Elena left work for the sake of the baby. However, she does not sit idle. The young mother moonlights as a make-up artist, periodically takes part in professional photo shoots.

At the turn of the century, the group "Hands Up" churned out one teenage anthem after another. The duet of two charming guys won the hearts of the Russian audience and surpassed even "Tender May" in terms of the number of performances. The ex-member of the band, Alexey Potekhin, continues to write music and release compositions to this day, oriented both to a time-tested audience and to young people.

Childhood and youth

Potekhin Alexey was born on April 15, 1972 in Novokuibyshevsk (Samara region). His father worked as an engineer, and his mother worked as the head of the personnel department. Although the parents were not creative people Music was constantly playing in the house. Mom was a fan symphony orchestras, and dad listened to the stage. The elder brother Andrei also instilled in Alexei a love for foreign performers(Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Cult, Metallica)

At school, Potekhin earned a reputation as a bully. He brought teachers to nervous breakdowns and often made fun of classmates. The obstinate young man also could not boast of exemplary studies. Teachers gave him grades for drawing wall newspapers.

Parents, in order to rein in their son, who had gotten out of hand, sent him to the basketball section. There, Alexei was "knocked out of all the nonsense." He was not only instilled with a love for sports, but also taught to strictly follow the daily routine (after classes at 14.00 he went to art school, then at 5 pm for training).

After graduating from school, Alexey went to study in regional center- Samara - and entered the technical school there. Having received a diploma as a shipbuilder, the guy continued to gnaw at the granite of science already at the Samara Technical University, from which he graduated in 1991 with a degree in systems engineer.

But, as time has shown, the “techie” did not work out of Alexei.

"Hands up"

And Alexey Potekhin worked at the Europa Plus radio station (Samara), where Sergey led musical broadcast(“Hit-hour”), and Alexey - humorous (“Nursery rhymes from Potekhin”). Even though the guys for a long time worked side by side, they met only in 1991.

Already at that time, the glory of radio hosts "did not cover" the relentlessly growing ambitions of young people. They decided to go to new level and create the Uncle Ray and Company group. The next three years were spent in creative search and musical experiments.

In 1994, at a rap festival in Moscow, where they got by chance, their performance was recognized as the best. But from a commercial point of view, the project was unsuccessful. Fame came to the musicians only two years later, when they finally moved to the city great opportunities.

Rise to the heights musical Olympus Zhukov and Potekhin were helped by producer Andrei Malikov, who previously worked with the Tekhnologiya and Van Moo groups. The guys met him in 1996 at the Pavian Records studio. First of all, the man recommended that the guys change the long, non-binding name of the group to a capacious and sonorous “Hands up!”. Then Malikov convinced the record company J.S.P. to invest in the shooting of the first videos and the release of the band's debut album.

The first hits of the group "Hands up!" - "Baby" and "Student" - "blew up" the radio. Later, clips were shot on them, which were often broadcast by both TV channels and radio stations. The songs quickly gained popularity and became the favorite hits of the discos of the time. Encouraged by success creative team released the album Breathe Evenly.

After that, tours around the cities of Russia began. Tickets for concerts were sold out long before the arrival of the group, and the performances of the artists were held with large houses.

When the project began to bring serious income, Zhukov and Potekhin "escaped" from Malikov and opened their own production center "Dancing Men" (2000). Having failed to defend his rights to the name and songs, the producer tried to promote other artists and made the then sensational "Jealousy Rat" with the then little-known. But the man could not achieve such a stunning success with anyone else.

In 2006, fans are shocked by the news that their favorite group has broken up. The fans had only one question: why did Alexei Potekhin leave? The answer was simple: once best friends could no longer exist harmoniously within the same project. Their views on what product should be released to the masses diverged. The mental connection was lost.

Zhukov was tired of being a hostage to the image of "the guy singing about Alyoshka." The charismatic performer wanted to develop further and conquer new heights, but already alone.

Each of the participants went their own way. Potekhin began to produce young performers, and Sergey took up solo career, continuing to use the promoted name of the group in his work.

Zhukov explained this by the fact that an agreement had previously been concluded with Potekhin, according to which the rights to “Hands Up”, which previously belonged to both of them, passed into his sole possession. Alexey claimed that he was a victim of deception and at one time even planned to sue a former colleague, but it never came to lawsuits and noisy proceedings.

During the existence of the team "Hands up!" released 14 official and 12 unofficial albums. Each new song the group became a hit. “My baby”, “He kisses you”, “Ataman”, “I’m already 18”, “Alyoshka”, “Territory”, “Tears are dripping” - this is far from full list tracks that fans across the country still know by heart.

Among other things, the guys repeatedly became prize-winners and laureates of prestigious music festivals, charts and awards ("Album of the Year", "Golden Gramophone", "Song of the Year", "Russian Radio Hit").

Solo career

After the collapse of "Hands Up!" Alexey Potekhin released a collection of dance music Potexinstyle-3

In the spring of 2008, the artist, together with the vocalist of the Turbomoda group Vladimir Luchnikov and a member of the Svoi group Ruslan Achkinadze, toured the country.

Their group "Track and Blues", despite the sincerity, did not find popularity among young people. And even cooperation with scandalous famous participant the reality show "Dom-2" by Alessandro Materazzo (2008) did not bear fruit.

In 2013, the artist, together with his wife, presented the new track "Summer-Winter" as part of the Russian internet television (PeoplestarTV) project. In 2014, the Arena Moscow club hosted a presentation of the singer's debut solo album entitled "I can't do otherwise."

Later, the enterprising composer returned to the Track and Blues project and changed both the name and the soloist of the band. IN this moment Alexei, together with a good friend Sergei Bogdanov, is promoting them general group"Put your hands up."

Personal life

In the program "Popular Truth" (2011), Potekhin said that in his biography there was a moment when, in his youth, he and his best friend Sergey Zhukov fell in love with one girl. At that time, the guys had friendship as a priority, and neither one nor the second thought about arranging their personal lives. The comrades agreed that no one would take care of the beauty.

It is authentically known that the performer was married twice. The man met his first wife, Irina Tolmilova, as part of the Hands Up! team. The girl danced and "sang along" to the duet to the soundtrack. The charismatic young lady won the heart of romance, and in April 2002, young people legalized their relationship.

For two years, the couple unsuccessfully tried to have a child. There were rumors that in a marriage with Alexei, a woman had a miscarriage, and Irina could no longer have children. Potekhin and Tomilova unanimously denied this information. Before finally breaking up, young people lived separately from each other for a short time. "Pause" did not become a "savior" and finally separated the lovers.

September 12, 2009 Potekhin married a second time. The name of Alexei's chosen one is Elena. The girl has nothing to do with show business and worked as a veterinarian before meeting the singer. Despite the fact that the couple did not sign "incognito", this event was not covered in the press. The fact is that on the day of their marriage there was also a wedding at and, so the attention of the media was riveted to the eminent skater and music producer.

In March 2010, the artist shared with fans the news that he had become a dad. The wife gave birth to Potekhin's daughter, whom it was decided to name Maria. During childbirth, the musician was in Moscow and personally delivered his wife to the Family Planning Center.

Despite the fact that Elena left work for the sake of her daughter, the young mother does not sit idle: the young lady works as a makeup artist and often participates in professional photo shoots.

Alexey Potekhin now

At the moment, Alexei continues to tour the country, performing at concerts songs from both his personal repertoire and the favorite hits of the Hands Up! group. It is authentically known that the star of the 90s is now working on new material and promises to release a fresh composition in the near future.

Among other things, the artist as an invited guest performs at various festivals and shows (“Brides of the Moscow Region”, “Big Disco”).

In 2017, Potekhin began to cooperate with a company that produces textile products, and on his page

Alexey Potekhin and Sergey Zhukov have not communicated for a long time.

In the 90s, the group "Hands Up!" was incredibly popular. Sergey Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin toured the country, many knew and loved their songs “My Baby”, “I'm 18 Already”, “He Kisses You”. After the breakup of the group, the participants divided the entire repertoire among themselves. Sergei Zhukov continued to tour the country with hits, and Alexei Potekhin, together with Vladimir Luchnikov, created the Raise Hands Up group. According to the musician, he does not collect many thousands of fans, but he does not worry about this either.

"We are not going big cities, and most often in the villages, Sergei Zhukov will not go there, for example. Like most of the people you see on TV. They only know that walking on red carpets, putting on masks, dancing on skates and receiving various awards in the form of plates, which are of little use, ”admits Potekhin. When asked by journalists about why the once-popular “Hands Up!” team actually broke up, the man replies that the reason was the disagreement between the participants.

“Everyone is asking me why I left Hands Up!” I will answer you: because we have all become adults. But Sergei did not think so, he was comfortable. He is comfortable now. He always wanted fame, but I didn't. Do we communicate? Ask him. Although you are unlikely to get through to him. He is a VIP, ”the publication quotes the words of the artist.

Recently, the group "Hands Up!" won the MUZ-TV award in the nomination " Best Song Fifteenth Anniversary". The award for the song "My Baby" was taken by Sergey Zhukov, who appeared on the stage without Alexei Potekhin. But once the guys were inseparable.

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The journalists contacted the former member of the team and found out why he is no longer visible. “Yes, I left show business for a while, but I didn’t stop playing music,” Potekhin said. “I recently wrote a song for Buranovskiye Babushki. It will be dedicated to the World Cup.”

About my former colleague the artist did not say nasty things. “Everyone is asking me why I left Hands Up!” I’ll answer you: because we all became adults, but Sergey didn’t think so, he was comfortable. He is comfortable even now. He always wanted fame, but I don’t " - Alexei spread his hands.

Apparently, the musicians do not maintain relations after the collapse of the team. “Do we communicate? Ask him. Although you are unlikely to get through to him. He is a VIP,” the performer replied evasively.

If Zhukov continues to lead an active social life and occasionally appear in the news (for example, in connection with the sensational), then Potekhin's pen sharks managed to forget. "Honestly, I am very surprised that you wanted to interview me. I have not been popular for a long time. I am sitting on the Internet - there is silence. Nobody writes. Although I am ready to answer everyone!" - The site "Interlocutor" quotes the artist.

Alexey admitted that although the whole country sang his compositions, he did not enrich himself. "The most interesting thing is that of all the two hundred and thirty songs that we wrote, everyone was only interested in the simplest ones. "La-la-la-la, I sing all day" - we became famous on such songs. Every girl in the country had cassettes " Hands Up!", but this did not affect our financial situation," Potekhin complained.

According to a former member of the "Hands Up!" group, all the money went to other people. “Our producers had everything. They had apartments, cars, wives. We had nothing. If you ask how much Andrei Cherkasov, who led us, and the ARS-Records company, earned from us, I will answer you: one hundred and forty million rubles Be sure to write about it! the artist asked.