Group Bi-2 is known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. Their first big performance took place in 1989 at a rock festival in Mogilev. Today Bi-2s are among the most popular and highly paid musicians. In 2018, they took the twelfth place in the list of stars of show business and sports according to Forbes.
Bi-2s have been on the scene for thirty years, but their popularity has not waned. They constantly tour the country, participate and organize various festivals, appear in television shows and films, and shoot video clips. Their income for 2018 exceeded $ 6 million.
Biography facts
For several decades now, the creators and leaders of Bi-2 have been Lyova (Yegor Bortnik) and Shura (Alexander Uman).
Lyova was born in Belarus, which was then part of the Soviet Union, in the fall of 1972. Yegor's father was an assistant professor and teacher at one of the faculties of the University of Belarus. He was invited to teach a course in radiophysics for students in the African Republic of the Congo. The whole family of the boy went there.
Yegor began to be called by the name of Lev during this period. Once the father gave his son a lion's fang, from which Yegor made a pendant and never parted with it. Then the friends began to call him Leo or Leo.
The boy spent his school years in Minsk. In 1985, he began attending a theater studio and it was there that he met Alexander (Shura), who in the future became the second participant in Bi-2.
Participation in the studio, the boys, together with their friends, wanted to stage their own performance. Traditional classics did not appeal to them very much. Then they decided to take an absurdist direction and a play written in the spirit of an absurd drama as a basis. They staged the play, but after it was shown, the theater was closed. Representatives of the Ministry of Culture did not like this view of drama.
After that, the friends decided to leave the theater and take up music, organizing the first group, which later became known as Bi-2.
In the early 1990s, Shura left for Israel. Soon Leva moved there. There he had to undergo military training in the ranks of the country's armed forces. His musical career did not start immediately. To earn a living, Loew had to work first as a security guard, then as a construction worker. Soon he assembled his own team and began to engage in painting and renovation of premises.
It was this occupation that brought Loew a good income and allowed him to take up music seriously in the future. About ten thousand dollars were spent on the recording of the first disc of the group from the money earned.
In the late 1990s, Leva travels to Australia, where Shura already lived. They start working together again, and soon record their first full-length album.
A year later, Bi-2 travels to Russia, where their rapid ascent to the musical Olympus begins.
The second constant member of the group is Shura (real name Alexander Uman). He was born in the winter of 1970 in Bobruisk. When Alexander was fifteen years old, the family moved to Minsk. There he began attending a theater studio, where he met Lyova.
After leaving for Australia in the 1990s, Shura began performing as a member of a local group. Then, after Levy's arrival in Australia, he again begins performing with him.
Return to Russia and continued musical career
Arriving in Russia, the group recorded their second album. Soon their songs were heard on many radio stations.
Bi-2 gained wide popularity after recording musical compositions for the film "Brother 2". They performed several songs, including the famous composition "Nobody Writes to the Colonel." Soon it began to sound on all radio stations. For many years it was one of the most popular songs, beloved by fans of Russian rock.
Then the group went on tour with famous rock musicians, and their performance at the Nashestvie festival made them one of the most sought-after rock bands of those years.
In 2010, the musicians decided to experiment and, unexpectedly for everyone, performed with a symphony orchestra. According to the leaders of the group, this was a new stage in their concert and musical activities.
A few years later, the band presented their new program "Best of", which included many popular songs of the past.
Two years ago, in 2017, the group recorded two new compositions that immediately became popular. The musicians performed one of them under the name "Whiskey" together with John Grant. The second, titled "It's Time to Go Home" - with Oxxxymiron.
The next event in the band's musical career was the release of the "Event Horizons" album.
Creative way, awards, tours, fees
During their musical career, the group has recorded ten studio albums. They also became the creators of eleven music projects between 1991 and 2019.
The group recorded musical compositions for many famous films: "Brother 2", "Sisters", "War", "Dreaming is Not Harmful", "I Remain", "Election Day", "Yolki 3", "Metro", "About What Men Talk”,“Moms 3”,“Londongrad”,“What Men Talk About: Continuation”,“Hello, Oksana Sokolova”.
The group won numerous music awards and nominations, including: Golden Gramophone, Soundtrack, Muz TV Award, MTV Russia Music Awards, Chartova Dozen, Russian National Music Award.
Today Bi-2 is one of the most demanded and highly paid groups. According to Forbes magazine, their income in 2018 was $ 6.7 million. The group took the 12th place in the list of stars of show business and sports, increasing its income over the previous year by $ 1 million.
Bi-2 has its own music channel on YouTube, which has brought them more than 13 million rubles to date.
Bi-2 constantly tours and performs on the stage of large concert halls. The cost of tickets for events depends on the city and venue of the concert. It varies from 2,000 to 6,000 rubles. You can find out about the upcoming concerts on their official website.
There are also special offers for fans and fans of the musical group. For example, for a concert that will take place in St. Petersburg in November 2019, you can buy Meet & Gree + VIP fan tickets, which cost 20,000 rubles. With these tickets, fans will be able to personally chat with the musicians after the concert and receive gifts. There is also an autograph session and a photo session.
Based on the data cited in some sources, participation in a corporate event of the Bi-2 group will cost the customer about 50 thousand euros and more.
