Mikhail Krug: biography and interesting facts from life. Famous chanson performer. Son of Mikhail Krug: biography, family and interesting facts Does Mikhail Krug have a
Mikhail was born in 1962 in Tver. Even in his youth, Krug’s creative nature made itself felt in his biography - at the age of fourteen he wrote his first poems. Then he graduated from the Tver School, becoming an auto repairman, and after getting married, he entered the institute. After serving in the army, he began playing the guitar, trying to perform songs in the style of Vysotsky. A further creative turn in the biography of Mikhail Krug was participation in a song competition, which inspired him to improve himself.
In 1990, the first album of the Circle, “Tver Streets,” was recorded at the Tver studio. Both the first and second (“Katya”), the third albums were not officially released. Mikhail Krug’s first official album was “Zhigan-Lemon” in 1994. In 1996, Krug’s first video was released, and the first concert also took place.
The following albums by Krug (including those published posthumously): “Green Prosecutor”, “Living String”, “Zhigansky Songs (collection)”, “Lyrics (collection)”, “Madame”, “Rose”, “Crossroads”, “Mouse”, “After the third walk” (concert in Serpukhov), “Boys” (collection), “I walked through Siberia...” (collection), “Dedication”, “Confession”, “Chronicle. Volume 1. Concert in Donetsk”, “10 years later...”, “Magadan” (collection).
In 2000, in the biography of Mikhail Krug, he played a role in the film “April”.
On the night of June 30, 2002, Mikhail Krug was fatally wounded while he was at home. The film about Krug “Bard Mikhail Krug” was shown in 1999, although it was filmed back in 1994.
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He was born in 1962 in Kalinin and, together with the secondary school, attended music school, taking the accordion class. Mikhail was a lively boy, he studied reluctantly, often ran away from classes and preferred playing hockey. After graduating from school, he served in the army and worked as a driver for 10 years. Having “risen” to the head of a motorcade, Krug was sent to study at the Polytechnic Institute in 1987. But this work became boring for him and he got behind the wheel again, quitting his studies.
However, upon entering the Polytechnic, Mikhail took part in an art song competition and took first place with his song “About Afghanistan”: his long-time love for Vysotsky and the bard’s song affected him. The famous bard Evgeny Klyachkin, who was present at the competition, advised Mikhail to continue working in this direction and he believed in himself. It was then that the usual surname Vorobyov was replaced by the pseudonym Krug. Already in 1989, Mikhail Krug recorded his first album, “Tver Streets,” at a studio in Tver.
Krug’s second album, “Katya,” and another, untitled one, were never officially released: they were stolen and distributed illegally. Mikhail Krug's first official album, Zhigan-Limon, was released in 1994. He is considered decisive in the formation of a new famous Russian bard. In addition to songs with criminal themes, it contained lyrical and comic works. This album was later reissued several times. In 1995, the singer became the subject of the documentary film “Bard Mikhail Krug” and shot his first video “It Was Yesterday”.
Having become famous, Mikhail performed a lot, went on tours abroad and enjoyed special love from fans, often with a criminal record. On the night of July 1, 2002, Krug’s house in the village of Mamulino near Tver was attacked. In addition to the singer, there were 5 more people in the house: his wife, mother-in-law and three children. Two unknown men opened fire with pistols and the wounded Krug died in the morning in the hospital, on the operating table. The rest of the family were not seriously injured. There were many versions of this murder.
In 2012, a message was received from criminal sources that Mikhail’s killer had been found dead and he turned out to be bandit Dmitry Veselov. He was identified by the singer’s wife, and his guilt was confirmed by the killer of the Tver Wolves gang, Alexander Osipov. The press wrote about how and why Mikhail Krug died: the robbers did not expect to meet him in the house and shot the 40-year-old bard, whom their crime boss wanted to force to pay “tribute” from concerts. The second killer of the Circle has not yet been found.
Mikhail Krug (real name Vorobiev) is a Russian bard, performer in the chanson genre and, according to fans, “the king of Russian chanson.” The author of the most popular composition in this genre is the song “Vladimir Central”. His life was cut short by a bullet fired at him in his own home by robbers. For many years, Krug’s murder and his mastermind were unknown, but in 2019, new details appeared in the case that helped identify the killers.Childhood and youth
Mikhail Vladimirovich Vorobyov was born in the city of Kalinin (present-day Tver) on April 7, 1962. His father, Vladimir Mikhailov, worked as an engineer at a carriage factory, and his mother, Zoya Petrovna, worked at a cotton mill. Mikhail became the second child in the Vorobyov family, whose daughter Olga was already growing up. 
Misha Vorobyov spent his childhood and youth in the old proletarian district of the Morozov town, about which he later wrote the song “My Sweet City.” These were ancient barracks, heated with peat. They lived poorly, but amicably. Little Misha was different from the dejected inhabitants of the microdistrict: he constantly joked, amused the adults, and was a tomboy. Later, his father was given an apartment on Ordzhonikidze Street, but the memories of his childhood in the Morozov barracks remained with Mikhail for the rest of his life.
At a music school, the boy learned to play the button accordion, but completed his education. Vorobiev studied poorly at secondary school, and, as his relatives and friends recall, he constantly skipped classes.
The teachers bombarded schoolboy Vorobyov with comments: his classmates could have one, maximum two comments, but he once accumulated as many as 47: either he didn’t say hello to the teacher, or he didn’t bring his shift. When mom wanted to know the reason for this behavior, Misha took the pose: “I don’t greet her because she’s unfair!”
Mikhail always took the side of truth and justice. Although he was considered the first bully in the class, he was also the most sympathetic and caring student. He was the first to go out on cleanup days, and many years after graduating from school, he was the only one who visited his first teacher.
At the age of six, Mikhail first heard the songs of Vladimir Vysotsky and immediately fell in love with the work of this poet and musician. This passion helped Misha fall in love with music. At the age of 11, the boy had already mastered the guitar, and when he was 14, he wrote his first poems, which he dedicated to a classmate. One day at school, Mikhail sang the song of his idol Vysotsky, after which a scandal broke out. 
Having received a matriculation certificate, the future musician went to the Kalinin School and received the profession of a car mechanic there, and then was called up for military service in the Sumy region of Ukraine.
Upon returning from the army, Mikhail continued to perform songs, imitating Vysotsky. From 1986 to 1993, Vorobiev worked as a driver at various enterprises. He was fired from one of his jobs, at a dairy factory: he lost his temper when he learned that some cans were filled with full-fat milk for party officials, while water was added to the milk in those intended for ordinary residents of Tver. He changed the cans, but the deception was revealed.
Then, for a short time, Mikhail was the head of the city motorcade. He quickly became bored with office work, and he returned to the driver’s seat, where he worked until 1996. By that time, he could already make a living exclusively from music.
Creative path
In 1987, Mikhail was sent from work to study at the Polytechnic University, which he, however, soon dropped out of. That same year, he decided to take part in an art song competition, where he performed his composition “About Afghanistan” and took first place.The first victory instilled in him more self-confidence, and he took songwriting seriously. The bard Sergei Klyachkin, who was the chairman of the festival, also pushed him into creativity. The musician appreciated Vorobyov’s talent and told the debutant: “Misha, you need to work...”. The aspiring bard chose the pseudonym Mikhail Krug.
Why Circle? We don’t know the exact answer to this question, but we will quote his mother’s words:
He liked this figure. He told me: “If you stand in the center of the circle, you will be equally distant from any point.” And thirdly, as in fairy tales: “If there is any trouble, draw a circle around yourself - and you are safe.”
However, there is an opinion that Mikhail Krug was named after a character from his favorite Soviet TV series “Resident's Mistake.”In 1989, Krug released his first album entitled “Tver Streets”. A year later, a second album appeared called “Katya” and a third without a title at all. However, none of these records were officially released - they were all distributed throughout Russia through piracy. Later, Krug himself re-recorded almost all the compositions from the albums on his next records.
Mikhail Krug - “Zhigan-lemon”
In 1994, the artist’s new album, “Zhigan-Limon,” appeared, which became a turning point in the musician’s fate. Despite the fact that the name of the record refers to criminal themes, not only criminal, but also lyrical compositions were recorded on it. “Zhigan-Limona” was subsequently reissued several times, and it was this album that became Mikhail Krug’s symbolic invasion of Russian musical and poetic culture.
In 1994, a documentary film “Bard Mikhail Krug” was made about the musician, which was shown on the “Culture” TV channel only in 1999. For some time, Krug was simply not allowed on television - the musician’s videos began to be broadcast only in 1996. The first audience saw was the video for the song “It Was Yesterday.”
“It Was Yesterday” - the first video by Mikhail Krug
Mikhail Krug performed abroad for the first time in 1997 - at the Russian Chanson in Germany festival he sang with the Zhemchuzhny brothers. At that concert, Krug performed four songs, one of them – “Madame” – in a guitar version. In the same year, a new soloist, Svetlana Ternova, began working with Mikhail Krug.
In 1998, Russian migrants in American cities became acquainted with the work of the Russian performer, and in 2000 the musician toured Israel. Mikhail Krug very often gave charity concerts and performed for free in prisons.
It is worth noting that the artist himself never sat in places not so remote.
Usually Krug sang songs of his own authorship, but a number of compositions were written for him by Alexander Belolebedinsky. These are “I passed Siberia”, “The process is over”, “Hello, Mom”, “Sparks in the fireplace”, “Cry, violin (In every city)”, “Chaim” and “Student”. These songs were previously performed by Arkady Severny. But “Svetochka” was written by Leonid Efremov - Krug only slightly changed the original text. 
The most popular and beloved among fans was Mikhail’s song “Vladimir Central”, which became one of the most famous compositions of Russian chanson in general. The song was first performed in the album “Madame” (1998). There is an assumption that it is dedicated to thief in law Sasha Severny.
Mikhail Krug - “Vladimir Central” (concert at Luzhniki, 2000)
In March 1998, Mikhail Krug received the Ovation Award in the Russian Chanson category. And in the fall of 1999, the musician entered the “Music Ring” together with Sergei Trofimov and defeated his colleague in a friendly duel. In the same year, the singer took second place in the Russian Chanson competition. At that time, he became one of the most popular artists in the country, although the attitude towards his work among different circles of society was ambiguous - the creative intelligentsia called the success of the Circle a symbol of the crisis of Russian culture in difficult times for the country.
Personal life of Mikhail Krug
Mikhail Krug's first love was called Marina. The young man spent all the pennies he earned on her. She promised to wait for him from the army, but did not keep her word. Mikhail got married for the first time after serving in the army. The wife's name was Svetlana. She was a seamstress, and they met through a mutual friend. But family life was short-lived: the wife did not like that her husband often came home drunk, and her intelligent parents never tired of reminding her that a vocational school graduate was not a match for her. In 1988, Mikhail Krug divorced his wife and sued her son Dmitry - he decided to raise the child on his own. 
In 2000, Krug married for the second time. His chosen one was a waitress from Chelyabinsk Irina, with whom he, a restaurant client, fell in love at first sight. In order to constantly be close to this beautiful woman, the musician offered her a job as a costume designer, but at first the girl refused. But, after weighing all the pros and cons, Irina later accepted the job offer and for a year simply carried out her tasks and toured with the Circle. The musician rented her a one-room apartment in Moscow and helped her financially in every possible way.
Finally, in 2001, Irina married Mikhail. She already had a daughter from another marriage, Marina, whom Krug took under his wing and began to raise as his own. In 2002, the family had a common child - son Alexander.
By the way, the musician was an adherent of monarchist political beliefs, a conservative and a homophobe, supported the Domostroevsky way of life in the family and had an aversion to feminism. He considered the Russian stage to be “dominated by people of non-traditional sexual orientation.” Krug was a member of the LDPR and one of the assistants to its leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Death
On the night of June 30 to July 1, 2002, in the Tver village of Mamulino, the artist’s house was attacked. At that moment, in addition to the singer, his wife, mother-in-law and children were in the house. Two unknown men entered the third floor of the house, attacked the artist’s mother-in-law and began to injure her. Krug himself and his wife Irina came running to the woman’s screams. Then the criminals opened fire on them. Irina was able to escape, and Mikhail, who protected her from the bullets, received two serious wounds and lost consciousness. In the confusion, the attackers managed to escape, finally shooting the dog. 
The circle came to its senses and was able to get to neighbor Vadim Rusakov, where Irina had fled. The man took the musician to the Tver City Hospital. At this time, the police were already working at the scene, and doctors were helping the musician’s mother-in-law. Fortunately, the children were not harmed.
The farewell service took place on July 3. The whole world saw off the musician on his last journey. Not only colleagues, but also government officials came to say goodbye. The funeral ceremony stretched for several kilometers. Mikhail Krug was buried at the Dmitrovo-Cherkassky cemetery. 
Consequences and memory
After the death of her husband, Irina began performing under the pseudonym Irina Krug. Most of her repertoire are songs dedicated to the memory of her late husband.Irina Krug - To you, my last love
Mikhail's eldest son, Dmitry Vorobyov, was barely 14 when the bard was killed. Relatives were worried that the loss of his father would have a negative impact on the teenager and decided to transfer him to the cadet corps. Of course, at first the boy did not understand why such a punishment would be given to a man who had just lost his father? But he quickly got involved and even fell in love with cadet life. Subsequently, he graduated with honors from the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became a policeman.
Dmitry is similar to his father in appearance, but not in character: he is a very reserved person, does not play the guitar, does not sing, and avoids communicating with the press. However, relatives say that he changes around those close to him: he jokes, smiles, and is always ready to help.
The youngest son of Mikhail Krug, Alexander, does not remember his father, nor does he remember that ill-fated night. According to press reports, the boy officially took the surname Krug, as his mother Irina wanted. Unlike his brother, Sasha loves attention: he runs Instagram, which has several thousand subscribers, and sometimes participates in talk shows. Outwardly, he clearly took after his mother.
In 2007, a bronze monument was erected to Mikhail Krug on Radishchev Boulevard in Tver. A Russian bard and chansonnier sits on a bench and leans his hands on a guitar, next to him there is a free place where anyone can sit and take a photo. Funds for the installation of the monument were raised by the Mikhail Krug Foundation, which was headed by his older sister, Olga Medvedeva.
Investigation into the murder of Krug
A variety of versions of the murder appeared one after another. Producer Vadim Tsyganov suggested that it was a banal robbery attempt. On the eve of the murder, the musician, together with Vika Tsyganova, Vadim’s wife, recorded the record “Vladimir Central-2” and was supposed to receive a large fee. According to another version, the artist became the victim of a planned and perhaps even contract murderThe case of the musician’s murder got off the ground only in 2008: the Tver Wolves gang, possibly related to the murder of Krug, was arrested in Tver. One of its participants, Alexander Ageev, was identified by the musician’s widow Irina as the killer of her husband. However, his involvement could not be proven. Ageev received a life sentence, but for other crimes. The case was suspended out of despair.
Mikhail Krug: murder solved?
2019 brought new clues. An investigative experiment was conducted in Krug's house. Two members of the Tver Wolves gang, Dmitry Veselov and the same Ageev, testified. It turned out that one of the local crime bosses, nicknamed Lom, gave them the order to rob Mikhail Krug. He believed that the chansonnier’s modest house was stuffed with antiques and jewelry.
The bandits thought that no one was home, but in the midst of searching for the valuables, Mikhail’s family returned home. The criminals hid on the top floor and were taken by surprise by Mikhail's mother-in-law. The men hit her with the butt of a pistol and tried to escape, but on the way out they ran into Krug. While fleeing, Veselov shot the musician twice. The wound turned out to be fatal.
Veselov is no longer alive. A year later, he was shot by another member of the Tver Wolves, an admirer of Mikhail Krug’s work, Alexey Osinov. He is now serving a life sentence. Since Ageev is already serving a life sentence, and also due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for attempted theft (his offense was included in this article), his punishment has not changed. The criminal case has been discontinued. Mikhail’s mother never found out the names of her son’s killers - she died of a heart attack in January 2018. Irina Krug thanked the Investigative Committee staff for solving the case.
Mikhail Vladimirovich Vorobyov (April 7, 1962 – July 1, 2002) – Russian poet and performer. The most popular composition was his famous “Vladimir Central”, for which Mikhail was nicknamed “the king of Russian chanson”.
Childhood
Mikhail Vladimirovich was born on April 7 in the city of Kalinino, into a working-class family with an average income. His father was an engineer and combined two jobs at once: a factory and a construction company, where he managed several small projects. Misha’s mother worked as an accountant at a high school, where Vorobiev himself later studied. Besides him, the family had an eldest daughter, Olga, whom her brother loved very much and always helped.
From childhood, Mikhail was sent to a music school to learn how to play the button accordion. Initially, the parents planned to send their child to the piano, but Vorobiev himself asked to study the button accordion, because he considered learning the piano a waste of time.
The first manifestation of creative abilities dates back to the same period of his life. Despite the fact that Mikhail Vladimirovich had not yet composed songs or poems, he tried to give the compositions something new when performing them on the button accordion. By the way, many of the “innovations” of the young talent were subsequently used by professional accordion players and music school teachers.
But in high school things were very bad. Vorobyov’s character was quite grumpy and selfish, so many of his classmates had a hard time. The boy often fought, and even ended up in the local police station several times, from where his parents, tired of his antics, took him away.
Numerous conversations and persuasion to “change anger to mercy” did not help - the next day after a serious conversation, Misha again quarreled with his friends and again received complaints from teachers.
Youth
At the age of 11, the boy decides to quit playing the button accordion and learn to play the guitar. It was no accident that he chose such a musical instrument - at that time Vladimir Vysotsky became his idol, some of whose songs he would later begin to perform independently.
At the age of 15, Misha writes his first poem, which is dedicated to a classmate - the first love in Vorobyov’s life. But the feelings turn out to be non-reciprocal, and at the school graduation Misha performs one of Vysotsky’s compositions with numerous uncultured language, after which he becomes the main character in a huge scandal.
After school, Krug leaves for military service in the army. He is sent to Ukraine, to the city of Lebedin, from where he returns after a couple of years and gets a job at the Production Association of Freight Transport (POGAT). Since the guy does not have a higher education, he cannot apply for a good and highly paid job, so he agrees to be an ordinary driver. By the way, he has been delivering goods by truck for ten years. And even when in 1987 he was appointed head of one of the production departments of POGAT, Krug refused to work and again chose cargo delivery.
The beginning of a musical career
A couple of months after resigning from the position of boss, Mikhail begins to realize that he simply needs to graduate from college so as not to work on a truck for the rest of his life. Therefore, he goes to the Polytechnic Institute and there he learns about the art song competition. Naturally, he decides to take part in it, performing the composition “About Afghanistan”, and becomes the undisputed winner of the competition.
There, Vorobiev meets the bard Evgeny Klyachkin, one of the members of the competition jury. An experienced performer advises Misha to choose a pseudonym and seriously engage in creativity.
In 1989, Mikhail Krug’s first album, Tver Streets, was released. Six months later, two others appeared - “Katya” and another untitled album. Despite the fact that the compositions in them are not absolute chanson, the performer is prohibited from officially releasing them. But fortunately, albums are leaked to the radio and copied by pirates, released as “bonuses” to other artist albums.
In 1994, Krug sought the release of his first official album, “Zhigan-Limon”. It still remains unclear to many fans that the first three albums with lyrical compositions were banned, but for “Zhigan-Limon,” an album with a lot of chanson, the author received almost instant permission. Nevertheless, this was the first official success of the Circle and a statement that from now on there is another direction in the music industry - chanson.
After the government and the public officially recognized his talent, Mikhail Krug began recording songs both solo and in duets with such bards as Alexander Belolebedinsky, Leonid Efremov, Arkady Severny and many others.
The compositions “When we met”, “Chaim”, “Hello, Mom!”, “I went through Siberia”, “Cry, violin” appear. The composition “Vladimir Central” stands out separately - a song that has become the most popular and famous of all the works of Mikhail Krug. According to rumors, it was dedicated to the authoritative thief in law Sasha Severny, but Mikhail himself always denied such rumors.
Killing a Bard
On the night of June 30, unknown persons burst into the house of the Krug family, where at that time the bard himself, his wife, three children and mother-in-law were located. Having gone to the third floor, they found the performer's mother-in-law, who tried to escape, but was severely beaten, after which she lost consciousness. Mikhail Krug came running to the noise and tried to disarm the criminals, but he was seriously wounded and also lost consciousness due to loss of blood. Later, after waking up, Mikhail Vladimirovich manages to reach his neighbor Vadim Rusakov, to whom his wife ran.
A friend tries to call an ambulance, but the doctors, having heard about the robbery attack on the family of the perpetrator, refuse to come to the call without the presence of the police. Risking everything, Rusakov himself takes Krug to the nearest hospital, where doctors fight for his life until the end of the night. However, the severe wounds received, broken ribs and large loss of blood lead to the death of Mikhail Krug on July 1, 2002.
There are several versions about the reason for the attack on the Krug family. According to some sources, the criminals wanted to get the artist’s last fee; according to others, it was a contract killing (however, Misha’s friends stated that the bard was respected in the criminal world, so they would not allow this to happen). Mikhail’s mother-in-law completed a rehabilitation course and recovered from her injuries. The performer's wife and children remained unharmed.
