Emin Agalarov, biography, news, photos. Emin Agalarov: biography - Are you thinking about a new family

Emin Agalarov - bright Star, which rapidly ascended the horizon of modern show business. It's hard not to love his songs, it's hard not to remember his image. A languid voice, an attractive appearance, sparks in the eyes - the fans go crazy over him. What do we know about Emin's biography? We have tried to find the most reliable and Interesting Facts from the life of a popular singer, which we will gladly share with our readers.

Emin Agalarov, biography: childhood

In the sunny capital of Azerbaijan, the city of Baku, on a winter day - December 12, 1979, Emin Agalarov was born. His parents, mother Irina and father Aras, had known each other since school, and after they graduated from the university, they immediately sealed their relationship with a marriage union.

Emin was 4 when his parents left their hometown and moved to live in Moscow. But when the boy came of age to enter school, he was sent to Switzerland for private education. When the difficult times of the 90s came, Emin's father and mother were also forced to leave Moscow and move to the United States, this was required by the family business. At the age of 15, after Emin graduated from a private Swiss school, he moved to his parents in the United States, where he successfully entered New York University at the Faculty of Business Management.

What did Emin Agalarov look like in childhood, photo:

Already during his studies, the guy woke up the skills of a businessman, which he inherited from his father. Emin opened his first online store, and soon the first appeared in New Jersey real store Emin's clothes Then there were a couple of shoe boutiques on Madison Avenue and in New York itself.

In 2001, Emin left the states and returned to Russia. It was during this period that he received the position of commercial director of Crocus City Mall. The businessman also has several branded boutiques, owns the UBOAT watch brand and is the owner of the Crocus City Hall Concert Hall.

Emin has been drawn to music since childhood. Even as a 10-year-old boy, he admired the work of Elvis Presley. His first performance took place in New Jersey as part of the Mic Night project. Emin was then 18 years old. It was during that period that the future artist realized that there was a huge difference between amateur creativity and professional activity. And he set out to overcome it at all costs.

In 2006, the first album of the singer Still was released, which Alagarov released under the name Emin. Since then and to this day, Emin has created 6 albums, four of which were released in Russia, and two are international releases, the singer did them in collaboration with producer Brian Rowling.

Emin's English-language songs often became popular hits and topped the European charts. In 2011, Agalarov was nominated for the Grammy Award, and in 2012 the singer performed at Eurovision as a special guest. In Russia in 2014, Emin received the well-deserved Golden Gramophone award for the song I Live Best of All.

Now Emin is working on promoting his latest albums and arranges concert tours in Russia.

Personal life of Emin Agalarov: wife, children

From childhood, Emin got used to everything luxurious, rich and beautiful. It is not surprising that the daughter of the President of Azerbaijan, Leyla Aliyeva, became his chosen one. The couple met by chance in 2005, on ski resort in Switzerland. Sympathy immediately arose between them, and soon a serious relationship began.

Rumor has it that the high-ranking father of Leila at first did not favor his daughter's new friend. But the girl in love did not listen to anyone and continued her relationship with Emin. A year later, the couple announced their engagement.

Photo of Emin Agalarovas wife Leyla:

In 2006, Leila became the official wife of Emin Agalarov. Even before him, the girl was accustomed to a secular life and already at the age of 20 she became the owner of large foreign real estate. She also owns a significant stake in the aviation company of Azerbaijan and a stake in a mobile communications company.

Given the wealth of Emin and all the possessions of Leila, it is not difficult to guess what scale their wedding was. The newlyweds continued to celebrate for several days, first in Azerbaijan, and then in Moscow. Outside observers agree that the couple are very suitable for each other. Both have a brilliant foreign education, both are smart, successful in business and good-looking.

When Emin Agalarov's wife, Leila, two years after the wedding, gave birth to her husband two twin sons at once, she began to spend most of her time with children in London. Although Emin himself at that time was more in Moscow. It was then that rumors about a supposedly imminent or already completed divorce fell upon the couple. But the family denied these rumors. Today, the couple are happily married and live together.

To date, Emin Agalarov has strong family, raises two sons, develops his family business Crocus International and continues his musical creativity. We will wait for new successes and beautiful songs from the singer Emin, and we wish him good luck in all areas of life.

Emin (Emin Agalarov) is a versatile personality. He manages to simultaneously be a sought-after singer and manage a large company, the Crocus Group. About his childhood, education, business, musical career and personal life will go speech in this article.

Emin was born in Azerbaijan on December 12, 1979. His father is a successful businessman, Ph.D. in economics and author of books on the subject. In 1993, the family moved to the capital of Russia. Creative skills Emin appeared as a child, when he selflessly performed hits of world celebrities, but his father insisted on receiving a financial education. At the age of 15, the guy went to study in one of the private educational institutions Switzerland, and then entered an American college, where he received a diploma with a degree in business management. Living in New York, Agalarov worked for his father, who believed that children must work.

Business career

Since 2012, Emin has been Vice President of the Crocus Group and manages the following projects: the Crocus City shopping and concert complex, Shore, Nobu, Rose Bar, Edoko restaurants, the Vegas shopping and entertainment complex network. He also organized a business complex in the Moscow region and created a yacht club.

Musical career

Emin's debut took place in 1997 as part of the American project Open Mic, but the first album was released only 10 years later. Then 5 more albums followed: three of them were released in Russia, and the remaining two in collaboration with the world famous producer Rowling. Agalarov's singles regularly occupy leading positions in the charts of Europe, America and Russia. Emin performs songs mainly in English, but there are also Russian-language compositions in his collection. In 2015, he received an award from the Muz-TV channel for the best album ("To be Clean"). In 2016, the singer went on a big concert tour for the first time.

Personal life

In 2006, the musician and businessman married the daughter of the President of Azerbaijan, Leyla Aliyeva. The newlyweds received congratulations from many influential people, including Vladimir Putin. In 2008, Leyla and Emin had twins - Ali and Mikail. Spouses long time lived in different countries, and in the spring of 2015 they officially filed for divorce. On the this moment Emin admits that his heart is free.

Brief dossier:

  • Zodiac sign - Sagittarius
  • Height - 180 cm
  • Weight - 79 kg
  • Instagram – www.instagram.com/eminofficial
  • Official site - www.emin-music.com
  • YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UCq85vkzB-cMq5tTKTBRyBHg


Photographing of EMIN Agalarov and his sons Ali and Mikail OK! held in Baku, where the ZHARA festival was recently held.

Photo: Vanya Berezkin

Initially, the idea to organize in his hometown seemed unrealistic to Emin, but it was so ambitious that the singer nevertheless decided to implement it. Put in front of you lofty goals, to overcome emerging obstacles and never retreat - the "brand name" of the Agalarov family.

To do an interview with, we met with him already in Moscow, in the office of Crocus Group, in his office. Before starting the conversation, Emin signed several important papers, made a couple of comments and gave assignments to his employees. After that, apologizing for the delay, he promised to atone for his guilt with an honest conversation.

Emin, I watched with curiosity as you sign the documents... How do you even keep all this in your head?

I don't know how to answer this question.

I have a feeling that you, maybe because of your status, are an outwardly restrained person, and music just allows you to give vent to your temperament. Or I'm wrong?

Definitely, creativity gives freedom of thought and action, but in principle, of course, I am not at all restrained ...

Seriously? But for this you have too impeccable reputation. I don't remember the news about you driving a Ferrari in Cote d'Azur at a speed of 240 kilometers per hour.

I just try to keep things like this out of the news. ( Smiling.) I try to behave, maybe as restrained as possible, because I am very unrestrained. Mom always says: "It's not good for you to be angry and it's not good for you to swear." I can’t get rid of either the first or the second - people periodically make me angry.

It pisses me off stupidity, out of sync with the system of work that I try to build in all my projects - both in music and in business. That is, a person must think like me, and then everything works out for us.

Is it even possible to find someone who thinks like you?

My deputy, for example, with whom we have been working since 2001, over these sixteen years of daily work, has learned to understand without words what decision I can make on a particular issue, and can independently take certain actions. Accordingly, it facilitates the workflow. The more such team people around me, the more I can do, build and implement.

What haven't you done yet? You even played in the movies!

You know, you can do a lot. You can play a movie a thousand times, but not achieve any success in it. You can sing a thousand songs and no one will need them. The question is not what you managed to do, but what you managed to do successfully. I measure success solely by this. Any artist can give a concert in Crocus: rent, pay, go out - and sing to your health in an empty hall. Real recognition is the recognition of the public, when there are people who want not just to buy tickets, but to buy good tickets, buy them in advance, when they know your songs... It can happen in New York, in Ufa, in Moscow, in Baku - it doesn't matter. It is important when people do not sit out your concert, but get high with you.

Have you had any projects that didn't work out?

I don't remember them.

Do you just forget them, or did they all fail?

No, I just don’t remember them, because, firstly, I’m not a stubborn person: if I initiated a project and it somehow doesn’t stick together, then I think that it should be abandoned and moved on. But if there are prospects for its implementation, then, of course, this must be achieved. Some straight failed projects I don't remember. Since my first restaurant project - jointly with Novikov Shore House - I have not closed a single restaurant. And opened about thirty already. More precisely, one closed, but through no fault of his own.

You know, when I discussed with your PR manager the possibility of laying out magazines with your photo on the cover at the ZHARA festival, she very gently said that you might not like it. What could you not like? You public person, this is your festival, your cover. True, you don’t have a single portrait of you in your office ...

Why don't I have my portrait? What nonsense in general! I need to give a task to urgently order a portrait for me! ( Laughs.) No, it’s just that there will be my guests, artists, colleagues at ZHARA ... And a magazine with my physiognomy ... It will be uncomfortable, ugly, like what, it turns out that I somehow bought it, organized it, I don’t know , specially adjusted ?! This is immodest.

Humble people achieve nothing.

Yes, modesty is the path to the unknown. But as long as I can do it, I think. To offer oneself somewhere, to shove oneself is strange, I think.

I am not chasing recognition, because there are all the opportunities and resources for this - you can paste over the whole of Moscow with your photographs, then everyone will know you for sure. I have no such goal, I want my songs, my music to be recognized.

Maybe even without knowing me. I am pleased when I recorded a cool song and my friends came and said: “Dude, this is awesome, we were in karaoke and sang” ...

You know, it's bad when a person has no talents other than the talent to sell himself...

Well, you can say the same about me.

Why?

It can be said that if I had not been the son of Araz Agalarov and the heir, as they say, of the Crocus empire, then maybe I would have been an absolutely empty place in music.

I do not think so.

Well, I don't think so either. It even seems to me that if I had not been connected with all this, I would have become a full-fledged great musician, because I would have both time and energy. I haven't written a single song in two years. Thinking about concrete, sand, metal structures, it's unrealistic to sit down and plunge into that mood to compose something... It's bad, because it's emotionally devastating, of course. From creativity, it turns into some kind of ... work. So you recorded a song, you need to get to the studio in time, in the studio you sing at the microphone and you know that you have a meeting in forty minutes, and you are in a hurry. You can not do it this way. But that's exactly what's been happening to me lately.

Which exit?

Now I will hold the festival "ZHARA". The third Vegas will open in September. And I will be doing music in October and November.

Everywhere. In Moscow, England, Germany. I'm going to concerts, tours...

I thought you'd say: I'll go and rest.

So it will be an absolute rest. When I go on tour, I have the whole day free: a concert in the evening, and in the afternoon you can take a walk, work out in sports, go for a massage. AT ordinary life I don't have that opportunity - I even cut my hair in the office! A hairdresser comes to me, and between meetings we find time. She says, "I need twenty minutes." I say: "You have seven."

Is the ZHARA festival for you business or leisure?

Both. Many of my colleagues are my friends. Of course, I try to treat everyone with attention, because they go to my home, to my city, to my homeland. The festival takes place in fact in my village Sea Breeze Resort, which I have been building for ten years. And the idea with the festival was partly such a promotional campaign. And everything turned into a completely different scale. And now I want to make such a mini-Jurmala there, so that there are hotels and restaurants, so that everyone would be interested. This is a really big and important project. And the idea was born when the New Wave moved to Sochi and ended up in September. "Volna" was the only competitive summer festival, the brightest, and it was made by the inimitable Igor Krutoy, and still does, but in September. Accordingly, the summer season was completely free, and Grisha Leps and I were sitting right in Baku in the summer, after both of them had finished their concert, and Sergei Vitalyevich Kozhevnikov was also sitting with us ... We decided that we should hold a festival here, - there is everything for it. Everyone loves both summer and Baku, and there is something to surprise - both tasty and hospitable.

We decided to try to make a festival for at least ten to fifteen artists, and last year four hundred people came, this year there are already more than eight hundred. And next year there will be even more days, and I want to add an International day broadcast on the American channel. Then I will have the opportunity to invite foreign artists.

Very ambitious! However, you have the same slogan "anticipating the future."

Yes, all our projects are ambitious. My father always inspired me with his ideas. I remember he held the first press conference when I just returned from America in 2001, when Crocus City Mall was already under construction. He printed posters with photographs of projects that he planned to build on the Moscow Ring Road, where, apart from gas stations, no one built anything. And he told reporters: here will be the most luxurious shopping center countries, and here - the world exhibition center, and here there will be a concert hall. At some point, I got the feeling that he went crazy, because there is a field, grass grows. That is, nothing - we have neither infrastructure nor credit. But he said: “I pledged all my property and invest everything in my project” ... We watched TV at home in the evening, drank tea, and I had a clear understanding and confidence that he would break against the wall, but build this city. Therefore, “Anticipating the Future” is, by and large, believing in your dream and going towards it every day. No one forces my father at sixty-odd years old to wake up in the morning, go in for sports, come here and personally delve into the cross-section of the drainpipe for a new building, into air conditioning, the load per square meter, etc. He is a creator.

Ivanka Trump, talking about how her father raised her, admitted that he gave her exactly as much pocket money per week as he gives his children ordinary american. And he always said that she should not stand out in anything, she herself has not achieved anything yet ... Do you say something like that to your sons?

It is not enough to explain, it must be provoked. And why don't wealthy parents give more pocket money or more opportunities? But because they want to motivate their child to strive for something, artificially in principle. And I, of course, am grateful to my parents that I have this desire. Because if it wasn’t there, then there wouldn’t be a business. When there are opportunities, it is very easy to lose motivation. My children, of course, live in privileged conditions: on the one hand and on the other hand, they have quite famous grandparents, and everyone pampers them. But I'm still waiting, because they are now eight. Another couple of years will pass, and I will be able to teach them something by my example, like my father did in his time. Let's say I bring them to work and make them sit here on the couch all the time while I have meetings. Or I try to take them to construction sites. And this is also participation - it seems to me, at some magical level, it lays in children the understanding that you need to work, you need to strive for something. This is part of education. This is the plan, but how it will be implemented - I do not know. The most risky area that I need to deal with is raising children.

You have a song dedicated to your father. She, of course, is full of respect and love, but to write such a song, it is not enough to respect and love your father. Surely at one time you told him that you understand everything better and you don’t need advice.

It’s not so obvious and bold, but sometimes it happens even now. I always want - I wanted in any case - to say that I, too, can do something, that I can do something on my own, separately. And it always tormented me - that I want to open a restaurant myself, so that he would come there as a guest, so that he could not say that black should be repainted in green, and this column should be removed altogether. ( Laughs.) And part of my business is my own, and my father is well aware that it can not be corrected. But on the other hand, if you take my musical life, I deliberately took the stage name EMIN, without a surname.

On my 35th birthday, my father, making a toast, admitted that now abroad, at negotiations, he will be recognized as Emin's dad. He said: “I wanted to ask you to return your surname so that I no longer hide from you that you have already taken place, taken place in full, so everything is fine now.” I do not quite agree with him: I still have work to do. I respect him immensely, of course, and he, for his part, gives me both opportunities and trust. Sometimes he even consults with me about business, which is especially valuable to me, because my father is one of the coolest businessmen I know.

They say that raising modern children the way you were raised is useless. They, for example, do not doubt anything and are not afraid of anything. Do your sons also think that they will succeed?

Yes, there is. And this is a very deceptive feeling and wrong, so you have to fight it. A doubting person asks himself questions: am I doing the right thing, and should I do it, will I succeed. Take even Donald Trump - he seems to be unshakable, and he knows that he will succeed. But, believe me, this is also a person who asks himself questions, and this is right, it should be so, otherwise it is impossible to achieve great success.

Are you a risk taker?

Highly. The ZHARA project was generally like this ... Fifty-fifty that it will take place, and the air on Channel One, and all the artists will go. This project seemed unreal... But I didn't want to make a small festival. If you do, then the coolest.

What you need to be successful is clear. And for Have a good mood? Get up in the morning and hear music, not hear the phone, maybe to wake up the children? ..

Children, when they are at home with me, are happiness, happiness, when they jump into my bed, even if they got up much earlier than me ... It's cool when you open your phone and don't see messages that someone is feeling bad, someone sick (in last years it was often - and grandfather was sick, and grandmother, they were gone). And as long as everyone is healthy, everything is fine. I usually wake up positive: I have the whole day ahead of me, and I have to do a thousand things.

And happiness depends on external circumstances or is it within us?

Inside, of course. Sometimes you meet a simple gardener who provides his family with a piece of bread every day, and he is absolutely happy. And maybe he doesn't need anything else. And there is a person who has everything, and he is absolutely unhappy. And this is such an amplitude where you need to find the golden mean. And this must be remembered when burrowing in the constant movement of the so-called profit ...

It's like this gambling?

Yes, you discovered something, it worked out, you want more and more, more Vegas, and even cooler than Vegas. And it seems you won’t take anything with you, but you’re wasting time on it. Time that you will not spend later on your children, on your loved ones, you will not spend it with your mother, with friends. And life is one, it needs to be properly distributed, prioritized. So far I have problems with this: so far I have time to do only what I have planned, but I absolutely do not have time to do what I want.

What do you want?

I haven't figured it out yet. ( smiling.)

Do you want to become a director? I won’t be surprised if you come up with clips for your songs yourself.

Usually I always took people who came up with. Recent times I started to invent it myself and realized that I like it more ... I recently had time: I rode a bicycle in Miami, every day for three hours, and invented it. Basically, I easily constructed a plan that we implemented.

I took a cameraman, director, and we shot the video “Spain. Summer”, they didn’t even write the script, because I told in detail all the scenes - what they will be, in what order, how I will be dressed. Then they chose an actress, and that's it.

Was the previous clip in which your girlfriend Alena starred was filmed by Alan Badoev?

She drowns everyone there hard! Did you immediately agree to this role?

Yes. ( laughing.)

Emin, who is your main censor? Do you show Alena your songs?

Showed before. By the way, she mostly criticizes, for which I am grateful to her, because it is useful. It is very tonic when there are people around who can honestly tell you ... I have friends to whom you turn on any song, they say: “Awesome!” And then you show, and nine out of ten they tell you that this is bad ...

Are you offended?

On the contrary, it makes you do better. Mom will never tell me that: no matter what I send her, she likes everything.

What else do you expect from a loved one,

except that he must tell you the truth?

I need to feel comfortable with a person, to be well-mannered, intelligent, gentle, always sincere. And there must be some qualities in him that distinguish him from others - a sense of humor, or a sense of tact, or something else that makes him stand out. With friends, I should have the same views on friendship.

For me, friendship is when in an uncomfortable situation you still do not turn off the path, you still go straight. And for some short period, such a position can warp your friendship, but in the long run it will only keep it. And in relationships with women, it seems to me, the same thing. There is some straight line, I think. When you choose a path, you must go straight ahead.

What is love, Emin?

No one knows.

You sing about her! It turns out that you do not know what you are singing about?

I reason.

So you are a philosopher?

There is such, but in songs. But what about philosophizing in life - we still don’t decide anything, we have to do it.

Useful data for tourists about Yemen, cities and resorts of the country. As well as information about the population, the currency of Yemen, the cuisine, the features of visa and customs restrictions in Yemen.

Geography of Yemen

The Republic of Yemen is a state located in the south Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. It is part of the Middle East, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is washed by the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

In Yemen, there are three geographical areas: coastal arid zone of Tihama; occupying most of the territory of Yemen, a mountainous plateau with maximum height 3,600 m (Mount An-Nabi-Shaib); desert zone in the north and east of the country. The northeast of Yemen is covered with a hot, rocky desert, where it has not rained for years. In the mountains separating this desert from the coastal plain, abundant rains fall every winter. Most of The territory of the country is devoid of vegetation cover.


State

State structure

Yemen is a unitary presidential republic. The head of state is the president, elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of 7 years. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Council of Ministers. legislature is the National Assembly, which consists of two chambers - the Consultative Council and the House of Representatives.

Language

State language: Arabic

Yemeni dialect is used in everyday life Arabic, which retained many elements of the ancient South Arabian language. The majority of the population speaks dialects of Sana'a, Taiz-Aden and Hadhramaut. In the extreme east of the country and about. In Socotra, the Mahri and Socotri languages ​​are widespread, dating back to the ancient South Arabian language. Hindi, Somali and other languages ​​are spoken in immigrant communities. Of the Western European languages, English is the most widely spoken.

Religion

The overwhelming majority of the population professes Islam, which is the state religion. These are Shiites (46%) and Sunnis (53%), a small number of Ismaelites live in the mountains, there are also Christians, Jews, Hindus.

Currency

International name: YER

One Yemeni rial is equal to 100 fils. In circulation are banknotes in denominations of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50 and 20 Yemeni rials, as well as coins in denominations of 10, 5 and 1 Yemeni rials. In fact, fils have not been canceled by anyone, but they are extremely rare in circulation.

You can exchange currency in almost any Yemeni bank, large shops and hotels, as well as in numerous private money changers. In small provincial towns, foreign currency is often impossible to exchange at all.

Credit cards are accepted for payment in some hotels and Yemeni banks in the capital and major cities, in the provinces their use is difficult. There are very few ATMs. Traveler's checks can only be cashed in a few Yemeni banks and hotels in the capital.

Popular Attractions

Yemen Tourism

Office Hours

Banks are usually open from Saturday to Wednesday - from 08.30 to 12.00, on Thursdays - from 08.00 to 11.30.

Shops are usually open from Saturday to Wednesday - from 08.00 to 12.00-13.00 and from 16.00 to 19.00-21.00, on Thursdays - from 08.00 to 13.00. Markets are open almost all daylight hours.

Public and government organizations open daily, except Thursday and Friday, from 8.00 to 15.00. During Ramadan, most institutions are open from 10.00 to 15.00.

Purchases

Bargain like everywhere else Arab countries, you can almost everywhere. However, unlike other countries in the Arabian Peninsula, the amount of discount that can be obtained as a result of trade is small here.

Security

By the governments of many countries of the world (including the Russian Federation), Yemen is included in the list of regions that are dangerous to visit. The reason for this is the incessant kidnapping of tourists, which serve as a tool for clarifying the relationship between local tribal leaders and the central government. It is recommended to stay only in hotels that specialize in receiving foreign guests, and when moving around cities, do not go beyond the central streets. Avoid crowded places, and at the slightest danger contact the police.

Emergency Phones

Emergency ( Ambulance and fire service) - 191 (Sanaa).
Red Crescent Service - 203-131.
Police and road rescue - 194.

Photo and video shooting

- It’s probably not a secret for you that behind your back they call you the golden boy, who rides like cheese in butter from birth ...

“…sleeps on a golden bed and eats from silver plates. I know, I know, I've heard a lot of similar stories about myself. It would not be true to say that these tales are indifferent to me. In fact, they are frustrating, especially since all this is far from the truth. Of course, everyone knows that I am the vice president of Crocus Group, one of the largest companies in the country, which was founded by my father, Aras Agalarov. But few people know that nothing fell from the sky on my family, our well-being is the result of the incredible efforts of my father, and for some time now mine too. And it did not appear immediately - when I was a teenager, my mom and dad lived modestly, like the whole country, and lived in a communal apartment for several years.


I was born in Baku, in the Old City, inside an ancient fortress, which is known to everyone who has ever been to the capital of Azerbaijan. Our house was lost in back streets, and there was one window for two rooms in the apartment. In one room there was hardly room for a bed, in another there was a sofa, an armchair and a table, and there was also a small entrance hall, in which the kitchen was located at the same time. This is how I lived the first three years of my life. But this tightness did not bother me at all, I even managed to ride a bicycle around the room - I circled around the table.

I also remember very well how I was three years old and the children and I burned some matches in the yard. An older boy, five years old, probably set fire to plastic bag and threw it away. It flared up, melted and stuck to my leg. Barely extinguished, the burn was healthy! Dad was very surprised when I reminded him about this incident. “How did you keep it in your memory, you were very small!” Mom was then a student and taught at the same time English language at school. Dad also studied, and in 1981 he decided to go to Moscow to defend his dissertation in economics.

- Did you have an apartment in Moscow?

We didn't have anything or anyone there. Dad traded our tiny kopeck piece in a fortress in Baku for a one-room apartment in Chertanovo - by metropolitan standards, this was the end of the universe. For the first ten years in Moscow, our family moved all the time, dad tirelessly changed something, improved it: from a one-room apartment to a two-room apartment right on the horns, from there again to a one-room apartment, but closer to the center. It was an endless chain of exchanges, exchanges and surcharges. Of course, there were no nannies or housekeepers - my mother ran the house herself, raised me and my sister Sheila, who had just been born.

And now, after ten years of constant moving, we found ourselves in the very center, on Malaya Bronnaya Street. We had two luxurious rooms at our disposal, however, in a communal apartment. Everything was right there: a shared toilet and shower, a telephone in the corridor and a kitchen where the neighbors gathered in the evenings. Dad had far-reaching plans - he wanted to resettle this communal apartment: to persuade neighbors to exchange. However, my mother used to cook a lot and every day invited the neighbors to the table. She cooks magically, so it is not surprising that soon the citizens who inhabit our communal apartment forgot to leave - they were well fed there, as they say. I had to spend two years trying to resettle them all, but at that moment I was already living abroad.

— By your own will? Or did dad decide that?

- Since we were constantly moving, while living in Moscow, I changed schools every year and studied, to put it mildly, not very well, but, on the contrary, I was actively hooligans. He climbed with a dubious company on abandoned buildings, roofs, smoked. My father did not give pocket money (he was afraid that I

I will spend on cigarettes), so I had to earn money myself. At the age of 13, I washed cars on the Garden Ring. Of course, my father didn't like it. By that time, he had already begun to engage in commercial activities, in 1990 he held the first large computer exhibition Komtek, and the bandits found out about his successes, including financial ones. One day, some homegrown racketeers came to my school, took out sharpeners and announced: “You will bring us money every week, or we will cripple you.” Naturally, I was a proud guy and at first I didn’t tell my parents anything, but when the day of H came, I realized that troubles could happen, and nevertheless decided to consult with my father. He reassured me, and I did not see the bandits again. As I now understand, guards were assigned to me from that very day. But when, a few days later, the elevator exploded on the first floor of our house and my father saw broken windows, twisted pieces of concrete and all the rest of the "beauty", he realized: he had to take his son away from here until he was knocked down on Sadovoye by some reckless men or bandits who blew up the elevator with me. The time, to be sure, was unpleasant. So at the age of 13 I ended up in one of the private schools in Switzerland.

- When the elevator exploded on the first floor of our house and my father saw broken windows and uprooted pieces of concrete, he realized that he had to take his family away from here. With father and mother (1980). Photo: From the personal archive of Emin Agalarov

- Did you feel the difference?

- Not that word! The Swiss school, with its order, remotely resembled a prison. At 08:00 the first bell rang indicating that you could enter the breakfast room. You must be in a suit, tie, neatly ironed shirt, combed, washed and practically ready for the reception. English queen. If this is not so, you are deprived of breakfast. Five minutes later, the second call, calling for complete silence. The third call is a command that you can start eating. I didn’t have time to go in - they deprive me of food. He did not shut up - they deprive him of food. They punished you for everything: you didn't clean your room, you didn't make your bed, a wrinkle in the bedspread - they lock you up and force you to rewrite a German dictionary for three or even five hours in a row. At 21:45 - lights out, and if at 00:00 a passing inspector with a flashlight discovers that you have eyes

somehow open - your parents have to pay a fine of 150 francs. Three such fines ended with a warning, and the fourth with a departure from school.

Dad, when it dawned on him where he brought me, he got worried himself, he realized that he had gone too far. True, at first he was excited about something else. When he entered my room, his eyes fell on someone else's size 45 boots. Dad immediately went to figure it out: “Why was my 13-year-old son settled with some adult uncle ?!” The fact is that my neighbor was a Turk - my age, but a guy of gigantic growth. Now his height is 2 m 10 cm. By the way, he was the first person I beat in backgammon at that school. He was upset, and I realized that I had found a gold mine. It was backgammon, and also the game of poker, that at first became the main source of my income. Then I came up with this: I glued models of cars and planes, painted them and sold them. The children were happy to buy.

- How many years of “strict regime” did you endure?

“It took me two years. Then my father suggested that I move to America, to the city of Tenafly, New Jersey - by that time he had sent my mother and sister there and did not want to return either them or me to their homeland, it was painfully tense criminal situation for young businessmen. I gladly accepted this offer. Do you know what seduced me? I watched a lot of American films and knew that they get the rights there at 16 years old. And I terribly wanted to taxi to school in some kind of jeep, just like in the movies.

Then I was only 15 years old, and at first I had to limit myself to the rights to a moped, which was also not bad. I rode it perfectly, tuned it up - it could go 10 miles faster than a regular moped. He built headphones into the helmet ... It was a cool car! And around the same time, my friend Roma (we are still working with him) offered to get a job as a salesman in a large store, an analogue of Your House. I worked in the electronics department, paid $ 5 an hour, worked four hours a day - more children of our age could not.

In total, a 15-year-old child earned $ 20 a day - there was enough for cigarettes (and by that time I was a heavy smoker), and for everything that a teenager's heart desires.

Then I worked at a gas station and moonlighted as a cloakroom attendant in a restaurant. There was already some serious money there: for a night, taking jackets and coats, you could get $200. I spent them on my hobby: I loved Elvis Presley very much and collected everything related to him - number cards, CDs, various collectibles. By the way, it was with Elvis that my love for music began, and I also picked up a guitar thanks to him - I had never studied music before. And then he began to pick up melodies both on the guitar and on the piano, and gradually things started to go. He translated his songs into Russian, worked out his own repertoire. In general, I admit, I am self-taught, no one taught me music.

- I confess, I am self-taught, no one taught me music. My love for music started with Elvis Presley. I began to pick up melodies on the guitar and piano, and things went well. Photo: Arsen Memetov

- But at the same time, you often mention Muslim Magomayev as your teacher ...

- Our families were friends, and as a child I often visited him, and he and his wife Tamara Ilyinichna Sinyavskaya, in turn, came to my grandfather's house. remember funny story. Grandmother cooked very tasty, and under her fried potatoes It was a sin not to drink. This is exactly what my father and Muslim Magomedovich did once. They then drank heavily. Tamara Ilyinichna went home with the driver, but Muslim remained. And in the evening he says to dad: “Aras, will you take me?” Dad nodded, got behind the wheel and slowly and carefully drove People's Artist past the traffic cops so that they do not notice that the driver is drunk. But this did not help dad - he was stopped anyway. "Yeah, drunk"

the policeman stated, looked into the passenger seat and saw Magomayev. “Are you out of your mind, drunk driving such a person! Well, get out of here! Get in the police car and I'll take him myself." So Magomayev arrived home with honor.

Later, I again began to visit Magomayev at home. But the fact that I began to sing, I hid from him - it was somehow embarrassing even to talk about music with such a person. However, he soon saw everything himself. On my father's 50th birthday, I prepared a program of Elvis Presley songs for the hero of the day - I went on stage and sang. And I see the face of Magomayev. It was a complete shock for him: he had known me since childhood and could never have imagined that I was interested in music at all. I've already been busy family business- My father gave clothing stores under my management, and I quite successfully turned them from unprofitable enterprises into prosperous ones. So, Magomayev approached his father and said: “What are you doing?! What other business? Don't distract the guy, he should be a singer!"

Since then, as soon as I came to visit Muslim, he offered: “So, let's sing this” - and sat down at the piano. He started: "O sole mio ...", and I picked up in English: "It's now or never ..." We could talk endlessly about musicians, discussed for hours, whose version of "My Way" is better - Sinatra or Elvis, and I even convinced that Presley also sang well. Between us began, one might say, a warm musical friendship already without the support of dad and grandfather, we had our own interests. And there were plans to do something together, but they managed to record only one song, the same “My Way”.

- Muslim Magomedovich knew me from childhood and could never even think that I was interested in music. Emin with family friend Muslim Magomayev (1983). Photo: From the personal archive of Emin Agalarov

When did you first appear on stage? Remember your feelings?

- It's unforgettable! It was in America, I studied at the university and at the same time earned money by selling Russian watches, night vision devices, badges, flasks, Gzhel, Palekh, Zhostovo trays, nesting dolls - everything that was in great demand among the then Americans. For example, he arranged the supply of watches directly from the factory: he took them for $5-6, and sold them for $30. I also found an artist at the vernissage, who in a day painted me a picture measuring 25 x 40 cm. The plot is simple: a hut, a sunset, a lake or a hut, a sunrise, a chicken - everything is bright, recognizable, popular prints. I bought works from him for $25, I could sell them for $200. And he is happy, and I profit.


Gradually acquired employees, rented an office, transported goods to America in containers, brought the turnover to $50,000 in a good month. I bought a car for myself ... Something I got a little distracted from the music. So, when I organized a website for my business, I became friends with two employees - an Iranian and a Korean, one played the guitar, the other the piano. We played with them at our leisure. And then the Iranian suddenly says: “Soon there will be a festival where everyone can perform. Shall we play?" We are coming. A bar, a stage, a microphone and speakers, a bunch of people who take turns going out and playing. We are waiting for our exit, shaking with fear. And now, when only drunks remain in the hall, we finally decide. The guitarist starts the intro to "Johnny B. Goode" and all of a sudden I realize I've been hit. Panic! How will I sing? In general, he sang his song - all past the notes. It was hell. Fortunately for me, iPhones have not yet been invented, and I sincerely hope that the recording of that enchanting performance does not exist in nature. Because if I ever see this, I will die of shame a second time.

Now, of course, the scene does not cause such panic in you. Although in the auditorium of Crocus City Hall on December 11, clearly not three people will be present.

- There will be something else. Crocus is without a doubt the best hall in Moscow, and perhaps the whole country, I will tell you this without false modesty. But if I could choose, I would never perform there. And, in fact, for the first three years of the existence of Crocus, I did just that. I was uncomfortable in front of the audience, who looked at me and thought: “They built a hall for themselves and now they sing on their own.” And when Crocus became the central venue, I still arranged my performances in other places. Even realizing that every time I offend my father with this.

However, for a long time my father could not understand why in my work I tried to do everything so that no one would have any associations with either the Agalarovs or Crocus, why on my first album there was only the name Emin, and neither the surname nor my photo I did it deliberately. Once Muslim, announcing my exit at his anniversary, said: “I sang mine, now I want to present young musician whom I have known since that age. Emin Agalarov, the son of my closest friend Aras.” When Muslim passed away and we did a concert in his memory, I asked the director to cut out the part of the phrase where I was introduced as the son of Aras. Dad was then offended: “What does it mean to cut out? This is what Muslim said - why cut it out? And only recently he confessed to me: “Now I understand everything. Sometimes I come abroad to meet with partners, and they tell me: “Are you Emin’s dad?”

Abroad, you are judged only by your music. And in Russia, of course, everyone knew who my dad was, and it began: “Of course, he is the son of an oligarch, he can buy and sell everything here.” And immediately the desire to sing disappeared. Now, when I am confidently standing on my feet and overgrown with an army of fans, it has become easier. And now I finally perform at Crocus, confident that people buy tickets without thinking why I chose this particular hall to perform. It is important for them that I sing, no matter where.


Often my friends come on stage with me. I support with many musicians good relationship. Sometimes this results in creative duets, as is the case with. But one of the closest friends among colleagues is probably. And I can tell that he rare person who can make friends. I often turn to him for advice, and he never refuses. And recently it turned out to have a rest together - he spent his vacation in the south of France, and I ended up there too. Grisha is the soul of the company, he tells jokes in such a way that everyone is laughing. And he perfectly performs Vysotsky's songs, accompanying himself on the guitar. Well, I talked with him, and we had several creative ideas - soon Leps and I will surprise you.

- Emin Agalarov has another hypostasis - you are the father of two sons. Has your life changed since they arrived?

- As soon as my now ex-wife Leila became pregnant, life was instantly divided into before and after. We went to America and I dropped out of habitual life doing just her. I dreamed about children early age, and when the doctor told us that we would have two boys, he went crazy with joy. I screamed and jumped so hard that the doctor wanted to call an ambulance for me. Ali and Mika have become the most important part of my life.

- I dreamed of children from an early age, and when the doctor said that we would have two boys, I went crazy with joy. Ali and Mika have become the most important part of my life. Photo: From the personal archive of Emin Agalarov

Are they at school? They are not yet seven years old.

- Already in the second grade, and entered the first at the age of five and a half. Geeks! We wanted to send our sons to school earlier because they are incredibly smart boys. Both have three languages: Azerbaijani, Russian, English. Mika is good at math, he adds five-digit numbers and asks questions that I can’t immediately answer. For example: “Dad, how many millions are in a billion?” But it’s not easy with him, he wants everything to be according to him, he’s already shaking his rights and is very upset if he can’t get his way.


Ali is completely different. He creative person- dances, sings, recently clearly "copied" the dance of Michael Jackson. Ali will never convince head on, he will find a workaround. Recently fought with them, I warn: "If you continue to fight, I will pull you both out of the pool!" Five minutes later, another fight. The second time I say, the third. I’m already angry at the fourth: “That's it! Get out both of you! “No, daddy, please, no! Well daddy!” they yell in unison. “We agreed that if you fight, I will pull both of you out of the pool, what is not clear here?” “Dad,” Ali says carefully, bargaining for time, “the first time I didn’t fully understand what exactly you said to me.” Such is the trickster. And they fight all the time. Ali found Mika's "buttons", hurts him, teases him, and he gets furious and instantly gets into a fight. I separate them, and Mika through tears: “Dad, I have to hit him back. Understand? Should". In general, you can’t leave them together in a room - they will kill each other.

Although we do not see each other every day, we are in touch all the time. We send video messages to each other. I told them - serious: “Wait, I'll come the day after tomorrow. What to bring? Surprisingly touching and smart guys. Their questions are sometimes confusing. "Why are you leaving?" - "I have to work". “Dad, why can’t you work where we live?” And how to answer? The time spent with Mika and Ali is very important to me, it is important to take part in their development and remain in their memory, just as my father and mother, who are always there, will forever remain in my memory.

- Do you spoil your children or, on the contrary, do you try, like American millionaires, to keep them in a black body?

— I influence the situation as best I can. I agree with my father, who once said: “When we were small, our parents hid from us the lack of prosperity, and now we are forced to hide our excess from our children.” And by the way, my father really did this - I think he was right not to give me extra money. And maybe that's why I had a desire to work, earn money in order to buy a car, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, a piano - whatever.

- I think that my father was right not to give me extra money in childhood and adolescence. Maybe that's why I had a desire to work, to earn money in order to buy a car, a snowmobile, a piano - whatever. Photo: Arsen Memetov

“But you didn’t follow in your father’s footsteps: your children are still very young, and each of them has his own house in Azerbaijan…

- Here is how it was. We had a dacha on the seashore in Baku, quite large. My friends, my father's friends, and relatives stopped there when they came to visit. And at some point, we all ceased to fit there. Escort friends to the hotel? Uncomfortable. We're not used to it. And by that time, Leila was already pregnant, we imagined that two more boys and their nannies would live in this house - in general, we think we won’t fit in here. We decided to build something with my father. At first, we conceived one house, and then figured it out - maybe it’s better to have two identical ones at once? And in the process they got carried away: let's have an indoor pool for each of them? And in the garage? So the houses grew to giant size. But since we are builders, it doesn’t really matter to us how much space to build, in terms of money, it’s practically the same.

We have everything at cost - concrete, glass, fittings. In general, it turned out two houses. And both are filled to capacity, never empty. Let this be the legacy of the guys.

So in our situation, depriving children of pocket money only so that, God forbid, not to spoil them, is somehow wrong. The only thing that can be done is to show by personal example how the money is obtained. My father began to take me to his job at the age of ten, sometimes during the holidays I stuck around from morning to evening, played some kind of Tetris, climbed in boxes from under computers or sat on the edge of the sofa in the meeting room and listened to how my father communicates with partners. And it was best school life. I understood what exactly my father was doing, why he was doing it, I was learning the secrets of doing business. And at the same time, I clearly realized that I would not be able to play the fool with such a father all my life - he would not allow me. And I hope that my children, looking at their grandfather from their father’s side (the president of one of the largest companies in the country), at their grandfather from their mother’s side (the president of Azerbaijan), will also feel the desire to be successful in something, develop and work on themselves .

Your sons are growing up successful family, but for some time now it has been incomplete. You and Layla are officially divorced. Do you think this will affect their psychological well-being?


“We do our best to avoid any impact. And, honestly, you don’t have to try too hard - Leila and I great relationship. Usually couples get divorced due to the fact that someone hurt someone, offended, betrayed. But this is not our story. We have long lived separately from each other - it did not work out, but at the same time we always had great respect for each other. And now, when we have finally decided, it has become even easier to maintain relations - we have no reason to quarrel. We raise children together. Leila recently adopted a girl from an orphanage, a charming one-year-old baby named Amina. I also plan to take part in her upbringing. In general, it seems to me that the divorce affected the relationship in better side.

- It seems to me that the divorce affected our relationship with Leila for the better: we had no reason to quarrel. We raise children together. With ex-wife Leyla Aliyeva. Photo: PhotoXPress

- A o new family do you think?

- Despite the fact that we have a wonderful relationship with Leila, my experience in creating a family is still unsuccessful. Divorce is definitely a failure. And I don't want to try again. Yes, and I have no time to create it. I have children whose upbringing takes all the mental strength and free time. There is musical career which I do with full dedication. And there is a big business that I manage. In general, I have something to think about now. And a new family, if it is destined to be, will develop. Everything has its time.

Family: father - Aras Agalarov, president and owner of the Crocus Group; mother - Irina Agalarova, business woman; sons - Ali and Mikail (6 years old)

Education: graduated from Marymount Manhattan College (New York)

Career: First Vice President of Crocus Group. In 2006 he released his first album - "Still". In total, there are 10 albums in the discography. Signed to leading international music label Warner Music Group. Laureate of World Music Awards (2014), Golden Gramophone (2014), awards of MUZ-TV channels (2015)

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