Soviet and Ukrainian singer, honored (1980) and People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1988). He considers the events in Donbas (Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine since 2014) to be a civil war, which he accused the media of Ukraine and the West of inciting.
Biography
In 1973, he graduated from the music-pedagogical faculty of the Rivne Pedagogical Institute, sang in the ensemble "We are Odessans", studied at the studio of the Leningrad Music Hall and simultaneously toured with the oldest VIA "Druzhba" in the USSR. The success of an accidental recording with the orchestra of Rostislav Babich and his extraordinary telegenicity quickly made him a welcome guest in the studios - "Girl from Apartment 45", "Wings of Luck", "U veselogo klena", "If the Garden Dances" rang out from the screen.
1978 — became the winner of the 2nd Competition of Pop Artists of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia.
1979 — took 3rd place at the VI All-Union Competition of pop artists, which opened the way for him abroad.
David Tukhmanov's song "I dance with you" won him the Grand Prix of the pop song competition in Dresden, and Raymond Pauls' "Dance on the Drum" won the 1st place at the "Intervision" festival in Sopot in 1980.
1980 - sang for a short time with VIA "Malva", then - with his own ensemble "Benefits", then - with the jazz-rock group "Crossword", with which the first solo record with translations of French chansons was recorded. Then he collaborated with the State Variety Orchestra under the direction of A. Anufrienko, VIA "Mriya", his own ensemble "Svyato". Awarded the title "Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR".
1981 - the super hit "Bird of Happiness" appeared in Hnatyuk's repertoire. In terms of popularity in the USSR, he was surpassed only by Alla Pugacheva and the Belarusian Pesnyary.
1985 — Hnatyuk's second record with Yevgeny Shiryaev's songs was released, recorded at VIA "Labyrinth" (Tashkent). By that time, the excitement surrounding Hnatyuk's work had died down and he rarely appeared on TV screens, gradually losing popularity - even his own compositional attempts did not help.
From 1986 to 1994, he worked as a soloist of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Philharmonic.
1987 - the second wave of popularity came: Oleksandr Morozov wrote for him "Malynovy zvon", in 1988 - "White shutters". Received the title of People's Artist of Ukraine. Using this, with an interval of a year, he recorded two giant discs - "Malynovy zvon" and "Don't leave me".
Unexpectedly, he left the Ukrainian stage for several years and moved to Germany due to family reasons.
1993 — his return was met with enthusiasm by fans. The song "Time flows by a river" became especially popular. The self-titled album (on cassette and CD) was released in the summer of 1996 under the NAK label.
Divorced Ex-wife Natalya Shvachko and son Oleksandr (born 1983) live in Germany.
His brother Anatoly Hnatiuk (born June 12, 1964) is a leading actor of the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater in Kyiv, People's Artist of Ukraine (2015).
Socio-political position
The events of 2014, the worsening of relations between Ukraine and Russia, were extremely painful. According to some media, he considers the events in Donbas to be a civil war, which he accused the media of Ukraine and the West of inciting.
"I finally returned home from Russia, where I stayed with relatives for more than 40 days, traveled the territory from Bryansk to the coast of the Krasnodar Krai. What can I, a Ukrainian, share with both Russians and Ukrainians? I liked the Krasnodar region, the roads are no worse than in Europe, the fields are well-kept, the shops are full of locally produced products, the service is at a fairly high level, there are a lot of rich people, not to mention the houses (I haven’t seen such beauty for a long time, my Sumy region is years behind 200), and what kind of cars... The most important thing is that I did not see the movement of the troops of the Russian Armed Forces, although I had to drive both during the day and at night, and in Russia no one talks about the war with Ukraine... On the roads I met many cars with Ukrainian license plates and on my car number , but I have never been stopped at the posts of the State Security Service and I have not been caught by the FSB. At the very resorts of the Krasnodar Territory, I have met compatriots, and they confirm my words that they are resting peacefully and no one tells them that they are from Ukraine.
And yesterday I came to Sumy and everything went wrong: Russia attacked, Russia occupied, Russian tanks, battalions of paratroopers and marines, the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully repelled the attack of 100 tanks of the Kantemyriv tank brigade, the brigade was captured. Call, war - what can I say? Cheap propaganda, our mass media are fooling the Ukrainian people. I can confidently say that the media of Ukraine and the West are to blame for inciting the civil war in Ukraine.
»
— Hnatyuk Mykola Vasyliovych
These media reports were denied by the singer's brother, actor Anatoliy Hnatiuk in an interview with Glavkom. He denied the information that his brother - singer Mykola Hnatiuk - was on tour in Russia after the start of Russian aggression in Donbas and made pro-Russian statements.
"After the beginning of the Maidan, my brother, Ukrainian singer Mykola Hnatiuk, not only does not go to concerts there, but also does not cross the border with Russia at all. Fundamentally. He has not been on the territory of Russia for a single hour since that dayI, how the Maidan began. Indeed, information appeared on the Internet that he allegedly drove a car from Russia, that he passed through Rostov or some other city, about relatives in Sumy Oblast, or something like that, I don't remember all this in detail. But it's fake! Firstly, he does not know how to drive a car, in principle, he does not have a license. Secondly, all our relatives are in Khmelnytskyi. It was just an attempt to frame him. Well, the Russians know how to do it. My brother refuted this information on his personal website, but it did not spread so actively in the mass media," said Anatoly Hnatiuk.
Discography
1980 — Nikolay Hnatiuk and the group "Crossword", mini-album.
1980 — Mykola Hnatiuk and the Labyrinth ensemble, mini-album.
1981 - "Dance on the drum".
1988 - "Raspberry Bell".
1989 - "Don't leave me".
1996 - "Time flows like a river".
2005 - "Lord, save, save."
2006 - "Again".
