Vladimir Kiselyov, the artistic director of "Zemlyane," has endured many trials in both his career and personal life. Today, July 10, he turns 74.

Kiselyov was born in Leningrad to a military father and a pro-rector of a medical institute. At six, he lost his father, and at eight, his mother. "I was always a versatile person; I played sports, participated in KVN, and in school, I was a champion of literary and historical Olympiads. I read all the literature one could possibly read. And then my mother passed away — in October, so I only studied for a month in a regular school. After her death, I was immediately taken to an orphanage. I ended up among other disadvantaged children like myself — this is one of the reasons why I didn't become embittered with the world," Kiselyov recalled. As a teenager, he was already published in "Pionerskaya Pravda" and played keyboard accordion and drums.

In the early 70s, Kiselyov played in the group "Sovremennik," and then created his own collective "April." After serving in the army, he led "Zemlyane." His dream was to create a group that played heavy rock. "I had to recruit the best musicians in the city and not be afraid to compare myself with them, because it was a kind of challenge. I gathered the best musicians, decapitated three or four city groups, choosing leaders from them, inviting them — the best musicians began to create my product with me," the producer said.

"Zemlyane" quickly became popular and earned 500 rubles per concert. However, the collective soon faced problems: a commissioned article about a performance "on stage with an American flag" led to a ban on their work. Kiselyov found out that it was only about the foreign jeans of one of the musicians, and he managed to lift the ban.

The peak of the group's popularity came in the 80s, when Sergey Skachkov was the soloist. Kiselyov stepped away from stage activities, focusing on administrative work. "We had 70–80 concerts a month, plus trips abroad, plus recordings, plus television, plus records," the media manager explained. In 1988, Kiselyov parted ways with the group and organized a production center, where he worked with the collectives "St. Petersburg," "Russkiye," and "Passazhiry."

Two years later, Sergey Skachkov tried to revive the early "Zemlyane" with guitarist Igor Romanov, but he quickly left. Skachkov assembled a new lineup and toured until the 2000s. In 2004, he reunited with Vladimir Kiselyov, but in 2007, their views diverged, and a series of lawsuits over the brand began. "He behaved incorrectly. During a concert in 2006, he approached me and hissed maliciously: 'I'll fire you! You'll go with an outstretched hand!' We stopped communicating. Vladimir then recruited young guys and started touring under the name 'Zemlyane.' The lawsuits lasted a long time. I won the first court case, but it's hard to fight the system," Skachkov reasoned.

Vladimir Kiselyov saw the situation differently, claiming that he was at the origins of the group. After the lawsuits, the copyrights were assigned to him, but Sergey Skachkov continued to use the name "Zemlyane" on posters. In 2025, after Skachkov's concert in Krasnodar, the conflict between the former colleagues flared up again. "Everyone I once took from the streets and made into musicians, suddenly at some stages began to consider themselves entitled, not only illegally, to count themselves among the 'Zemlyane brotherhood,' but also to call themselves soloists, leaders, creators. Does Mr. Skachkov ever, looking in the mirror, remember that the first records were recorded by Igor Dembovsky and Yura Ilchenko, where he was not even close on the horizon? 'Zemlyane' was created by me, Igor Romanov, and Borya Aksenov, who certainly never allowed themselves such things. Igor later created the group 'Soyuz,' achieved success, recorded solo albums — honor and praise!" Kiselyov explained.

Vladimir Kiselyov married for the first time in the 70s, and they had two daughters — Zoya and Svetlana. The spouses gradually grew apart. In 1992, when the producer organized the "White Nights" festival in St. Petersburg, 39-year-old Kiselyov met 19-year-old Elena Severgina. The student did not know about his position and marital status when he gave her his number. "It was later that I found out about the 21-year age difference, and that he was married," Elena confessed. "It was a disaster. But we couldn't stop. By that time, a lot connected us. From the very beginning of our relationship, one of us would start a phrase, and the other could continue it; that's how we understood each other. Everything was serious. Not just an affair..."

Elena tried to break off the relationship several times, but Vladimir Kiselyov had the power of persuasion and did not want to give up his feelings. He managed to divorce peacefully and maintain warm relations with his daughters, and with Elena, create a harmonious and strong family.

The couple grew together: Vladimir Kiselyov headed the "Russian Media Group" holding, and Elena Sever became a festival host and singer. Their sons, Yuri and Vladimir, also tried their hand at music and production work. The family faced criticism and accusations of nepotism, but the media manager is confident that this made his sons stronger and more professional.