Ruslana Lyzhychko

Ruslana's Biography

Date of Birth: 24.05.1973

Place of Birth. Education. Ruslana was born in Lviv. She has been involved in music since the age of four. She sang in the band 'Orion' and in the children's ensemble 'Usmeschka'.

In 1995, she graduated from the Mykola Lysenko Music Conservatory in Lviv as a conductor and pianist.

Career. She is one of the most famous and successful pop singers in Ukraine. She performs under the stage name Ruslana. In 1995, she worked as a sound engineer at Radio Lux. In the same year, she co-founded the Luxen recording studio. Since 1996, she has been the Deputy Director of the Limited Liability Company 'Tonstudio Luxen'.

In 2006, she was elected as a people's deputy of Ukraine for the 'Our Ukraine' bloc. During the election campaign, she was listed as part of the bloc and ranked fifth. She was the head of the Subcommittee on Information Provision for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Committee on European Integration of the Ukrainian Parliament. She is non-partisan.

After resigning as a people's deputy, she focused once again on her artistic activities. Recently, she signed a contract with the American production company 'Warner'. In March 2008, the sales of her new album 'Amazon' began. According to the terms of the contract, the singer will have to release four more albums in collaboration with 'Warner'.

One of Ruslana's projects is a duet with African American rapper T'Pain.

In May 2011, she participated as a star trainer in the music show 'The Voice of the Country' on the channel 1+1.

In 2013, she participated in the show 'Battle of the Choirs' on the channel 1+1, as the choir trainer from Lviv, with which she won.

Rank and Achievements. In 1993, she became a laureate of the All-Ukrainian Festival for Modern and Pop Music 'Chervona Ruta'. A year later, she won the Grand Prix of the All-Ukrainian Music Festival 'Melody'. In 1996, Ruslana won the International Festival 'Slavic Bazaar' in Vitebsk.

From 1998 to 2001, she was a laureate of the awards 'Person of the Year', 'Singer of the Year', 'Golden Firebird', 'Crystal Lion'. In 2003, she received a 'Platinum Record' for the commercial success of the album 'Wild Dances'.

In 2004, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul with the song 'Wild Dances'. Thanks to this victory, the subsequent competition was held in Kyiv for the first time in 2005. In the same year, she received the World Music Awards in the category 'Most Sold Albums by a Ukrainian Artist Worldwide'. In the same year, she was awarded the title of People's Artist of Ukraine.

Social Activities. From May 2004 to February 2005, she was an advisor to then-Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych for social affairs.

In 2005, she became a UNICEF ambassador of Ukraine for good.

In late November 2013, Ruslana became one of the key figures in the pro-European mass protests known as EuroMaidan. Since December 2013, she was one of the activists of EuroMaidan, supporting opposition forces and conducting nightly actions, almost to the point of hoarseness. For more than 4 months, Ruslana completely suspended her concert activities and spent almost every night from midnight to morning at the Maidan of Independence in Kyiv, which became the center of the protests. Overall, Ruslana spent more than 100 nights on the Maidan of Independence and sang the Ukrainian national anthem over 500 times, becoming a symbol of peaceful protest.

Discography. 'Moment of Spring' (1998), 'Best Concerts of the Ringing Wind' (1998), 'Wild Dances' (2003), 'Amazon' ('Wild Energy', 2008), 'My Brother!' ('Together!', 2013).

Views and Reviews. During the 'Orange Revolution', she actively supported the opposition presidential candidate of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko.

Ruslana states that she is very happy today that she is no longer a parliamentary member. She says that she simply 'degenerated' in parliament.

Family. The singer is married. Her husband is Oleksandr Ksenofontov, a producer.

23.05.2022