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

Kiselev was born in Leningrad to a military father and the deputy rector of a medical institute. He lost his father at the age of six and his mother at eight. "I was always a multifaceted person, I did sports, played in KVN, was a champion of literary and historical Olympiads at school, I read all the literature that was available. And then my mother passed away - in October, so I only attended regular school for a month. After her death, I was immediately taken to an orphanage. I ended up among children who were just as unfortunate as I was - this is one of the reasons I didn't become embittered towards the whole world," Kiselev recalled. As a teenager, he was already being published in "Pionerskaya Pravda" and played the keyboard accordion and drums.

In the early 70s, Kiselev played in the band "Sovremennik," and then created his own group "Apelsin." After serving in the army, he headed "Zemlyane." His dream was to create a band that played heavy rock. "I had to recruit the best musicians in the city and not be afraid to compare myself with them, as it was a kind of challenge. I gathered the best musicians, decapitated three or four city bands, choosing leaders from them, inviting them - the best musicians began to create my product with me," the producer recounted.

"Zemlyane" quickly became popular and earned 500 rubles per concert. However, the band soon faced problems: a fabricated article about a performance "on stage with an American flag" led to a ban on their work. Kiselev 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 band's popularity came in the 80s, when Sergey Skachkov was the lead singer. Kiselev withdrew from performing, focusing on administrative work. "We had 70-80 concerts a month, plus international tours, plus recordings, plus television, plus records," the media manager explained. In 1988, Kiselev parted ways with the band and organized a production center, where he worked with the groups "Sankt-Peterburg," "Russkiye," and "Passazhiry."

Two years later, Sergey Skachkov tried to revive the early "Zemlyane" with guitarist Igor Romanov, but the latter soon left. Skachkov assembled a new lineup and toured until the 2000s. In 2004, he reunited with Vladimir Kiselev, but in 2007, their views diverged, and a series of lawsuits over the brand began. "He behaved inappropriately. During a concert in 2006, he came up to me and hissed maliciously: 'I'll fire you! You'll be begging on the street!' We stopped communicating. Vladimir then gathered young guys and started touring under the name 'Zemlyane.' We sued for a long time. I won the first lawsuit, but it's hard to fight the system," Skachkov reasoned.

Vladimir Kiselev saw the situation differently, claiming that he was the one who stood at the origins of the group. After the lawsuits, the copyrights were registered to him, but Sergey Skachkov continued to use the name "Zemlyane" on posters. In 2025, after Skachkov's concert in Krasnodar, the conflict between former colleagues flared up again. "All those whom I once picked up from the streets and made musicians, at some point began to consider themselves entitled, not only illegally, to associate themselves with the 'Zemlyane brotherhood,' but also to call themselves soloists, leaders, creators. Mr. Skachkov, when looking in the mirror, does he ever recall that the first records were made by Igor Dembovsky and Yura Ilchenko, where he wasn't even 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!" Kiselev explained.

Vladimir Kiselev married for the first time in the 70s, and they had two daughters - Zoya and Svetlana. The couple gradually grew apart. In 1992, when the producer organized the "White Nights" festival in St. Petersburg, the 39-year-old Kiselev met the 19-year-old Elena Severgina. The student didn't know about his position or marital status when he gave her his number. "Later I found out about the 21-year age difference and that he was married," Elena candidly admitted. "It was a disaster. But we couldn't stop. A lot connected us by then. From the very beginning of our relationship, one of us would start a sentence, and the other could continue it, that's how we understood each other. It was serious. Not just a fling..."

Elena tried to end the relationship several times, but Vladimir Kiselev had the power of persuasion and did not want to give up his feelings. He managed to get a divorce peacefully and maintain warm relationships with his daughters, and with Elena, he created a harmonious and strong family.

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