Yuriy Vasilevich Shatunov, commonly anglicized as Yuri (Russian:Юрий Васильевич Шатунов; 6 September 1973 — 23 June 2022) is a Russian singer, best known as being the former frontman of the Russian 1980s band Laskoviy Mai (Ласковый май). He was born on in the city of Kumertau, Bashkir ASSR, in the former Soviet Union.

Name

Commonly spelled "Yuri Shatunov" in English, his official website, Shatunov.com, lists his name as "Yuriy" (which is the most precise transliteration of Russian), "Yury," and "Yuri." The English pronunciation of all three is identical. Yuri took his mother's, Vera Shatunova, surname at a young age due to the lack of a relationship with his father, Vasiliy Klimenko.

Personal life

Shatunov was born on 6 September 1973 in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of the former (USSR), in the autonomous Republic of Bashkortostan. At the age of three he was abandoned by his father and was raised by his mother. When he was eleven his mother died of heart disease, and he lived with his aunt and maternal grandparents, who soon found themselves unable to cope with his behavior.

Shatunov was sent to Orenburg Children's Home Number 2 in Orenburg, where he had a reputation for poor behavior, such as running away from the orphanage, playing guitar and singing on the streets to get money and cigarettes, getting into fights, and avoiding work.

Regardless of his troubled childhood, Shatunov sang very well. He met with Sergei Kuznetsov, a music teacher in the orphanage, and they created a band, "Laskoviy Mai" ("Tender May"). In this group they frequently sang about unfortunate love, which was not typical at that time, and was especially unusual for the young band members in their early teens in 1986.[4] This group, in which Shatunov was the frontman, existed from 1986 to 1992, and was very popular in Russia. In 1996, Shatunov moved to Germany, where he went to complete his education, which was unfinished due to his turbulent youth and early career in music, and to learn how to become a music producer.

Shatunov has a wife named Svetlana and two children, a son named Dennis (born 5 September 2006) and a daughter named Estella (born 13 March 2013). Shatunov and Svetlana got married in 2007 in Germany after seven years of dating.

Before Shatunov died, he was busy working on his solo career, and performed frequently in Russia, Germany and in Eastern European countries, as well as some of the former Soviet block countries in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Discography

• Belye rozy – The White Roses : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2003 remix, 2004, 2005, 2019
• Zabud – Forget : 2001, 2002 remix, 2004, 2019
• Tet-a-tet – One-in-one : 2011, 2019
• A leto cveta – The summer colors : 2012, 2018
• Detstvo – Childhood : 1992, 2002, 2005, 2019
• Sedaya noch – Grizzled night : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2001, 2019
• Ne boisya – Do not be afraid : 2003, 2005, 2018
• Rozovyi vecher – Pink evening : 1988, 1996 remix, 2003 remix, 2005, 2019
• Gryozy – Dreams : 2014, 2018
• Leto – Summer : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2001 remix, 2004
• Vecher holodnoyi zimy – Cold winter evening : 1986 demo, 2002, 2019
• Ryadom s nei – Next to her : 2014, 2018
• Chto zh ty, leto – What are you, summer : 2002, 2019
• Nu chto zhe ty – Well, what are you : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2004
• Zvyozdnaya noch – Starry night : 1992, 2018
• Poezda – Trains : 2014
• Pust budet noch – Let it be the night : 1986 demo, 1988, 2004
• Glupye snezhinki – Silly snowflakes : 1988, 2011
• Zhizn moya – My life : 2014, 2018
• Zapishi moi golos na kassettu – Record my voice on tape : 2005, 2018
• Medlenno uhodit osen – Slowly autumn leaves : 1986 demo, 1988, 2002, 2005, 2019
• Odnoklassniki – Classmates : 2015, 2018
• Maiskii vecher – May evening : 2008, 2012
• Zvezda – Stars : 2015, 2018

• Padayut listya – Fall leaves : 2001, 2002 remix, 2005
• Ot belyh roz – From the white roses : 2011
• Tayuschii sneg – Melting snow : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2005
• I ya pod kitaru – And I play guitar : 2015, 2017
• Ty prosto byl : You've just been : 1988
• Ya otkrovenen – I'm frankly : 1986 demo, 1988, 1996 remix, 2004
• Posle vypusknogo – After the graduation : 2005
• Ne molchi – Do not be silent : 2018
• Privet – Hi : 2012
• Esli hochesh – If you want to : 2004
• Ya teryayu – I'm losing : 2001, 2002 remix
• S dnjom rozhdenija : Happy birthday – 2017
• I upav na koleni – And having fallen on his knees : 1993
• Ya veryu – I believe : 2012
• Ty prosti menya, prosti – Forgive me, forgive : 2005
• V pozhdestvo – (On) The Christmas : 2018
• Bez tebya – Without you : 2012
• Skolko mozhno – How much: 2005
• A pomnish – The remember : 1999, 2005, 2019
• A ty vosmi i pozvoni – And you take it and call : 2018
• Ya peressorilsya v dozhdyom – I quarreled in the rain : 2001
• Ne hochu – I do not want : 2012, 2019
• Mama – Mum : 1993
• Ty mne ne verish – You do not believe me : 2018
• Romashki – Daisies : 2012, 2019
• Pismo – Letter : 1993, 2019 remix