Who is Boris Gorbonos: how Alla Pugacheva reincarnated as a man and why they believed her
'29.09.2020'
Source: lady.mail.ru
Composer Boris Gorbonos is the alter ego of Alla Pugacheva. Under this fictitious name, the singer wrote songs and once changed into a man and glued a mustache. lady.mail.ru recalled the history and reasons for this reincarnation.
Alla - composer
In 1977, Alla Pugacheva married director Alexander Stefanovich. Their marriage was not long - the couple divorced in 1980. However, many believe that it was Stefanovich who was the person who influenced Pugacheva and determined her style. Stefanovich was involved in the creation of the alter ego of Pugacheva - the non-existent composer Boris Gorbonos.
The director recalls: many times he persuaded Alla to write songs herself. According to him, this provided a significant increase in the singer's fee - royalties.
“I cited as an example my friend David Tukhmanov, who wrote Victory Day. In just one day on May 9, he earned two Volgas. For each performance of the song, they paid 17 kopecks - if you multiply them by the number of restaurants and stage venues in the Soviet Union, decent royalties ran up, ”Stefanovich said in an interview with the Sobesednik publication.
As a result, Alla gave up and once showed him several songs.
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The birth of Boris Gorbonos
In the second half of the 70s, Pugacheva was recruited to work on the musical film The Woman Who Sings. This picture told about the life of a pop singer, whose life in many ways resembled the life of Alla herself.
The music for the film was supposed to be written by the famous Soviet composer Alexander Zatsepin. However, Stefanovich and Pugacheva wanted to include the songs of the singer herself in the picture - but to do it so as not to cause a conflict with the composer.
As a result, one fine day Alexander Zatsepin learned that a certain Boris Gorbonos was writing songs for the film with him. A scandal erupted.
Stefanovich said that he was summoned "to the carpet" by the then director of "Mosfilm" Nikolai Sizov. He demanded to tell him who Boris Gorbonos is and what his songs are doing in the picture, the composer of which is Zatsepin.
“I told Sizov that I didn't know anything about songs. And in response I heard: “I am a general of the militia, I did not split such people. If you don't admit it, I will conduct an investigation. " And then I blurted out out of fear that the ban on songs would kill the boy. "What boy?" - Sizov was surprised. “A sick boy lives in Lyubertsy, he will soon die. Before his death, he wrote songs for Alla, ”Stefanovich recalled
The director also added that he did not come up with the name "Boris Gorbonos" - that was the name of his classmate, with whom he often fought at school.
Mustache
To hide the forgery from the Mosfilm management, Stefanovich and Pugacheva carried out a real espionage operation.
According to the singer's ex-husband, at first they registered Boris Gorbonos with the All-Union Copyright Agency: they filled out questionnaires and documents in his name. Then it was required to present the real Boris Gorbonos to the public. For this purpose, it was decided to make up Pugacheva as a man and hold a photo session.
“They found a wig with short hair at Mosfilm. Alla's hair was put under it. They picked up glasses, out of ten pairs, one came up. Alla glued a mustache. All filming was carried out in the office of director Georgy Danelia, ”Stefanovich recalled.
As a result, Alla was not recognized in the photographs. The photographs were quickly developed and taken to the director of Mosfilm.
“Here, the composer Gorbonos himself,” said the director. And he, having looked through the pictures, allowed to leave the "sick boy" among the songwriters for the film.
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True
The painting "The Woman Who Sings" was released in the spring of 1979. The film was watched by about 55 million viewers. Alla Pugacheva received the "Soviet Oscar" - she was named the best actress of the year by the most influential film magazine in the USSR "Soviet Screen".
The name of Boris Gorbonos also appeared among the composers on Pugacheva's first studio album, Mirror of the Soul. Work on it was carried out simultaneously with the film: the album was released in 1978. This album launched Pugacheva's solo career. He occupied the highest lines in the hit parade of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, although he was criticized in party circles. Pugacheva was reproached with vulgarity.
The truth about who was actually hiding under the name Boris Gorbonos was revealed by the artists themselves. At one of the press conferences dedicated to the release of the film "The Woman Who Sings", the people were explained that the Gorbonos is Alla Pugacheva herself. But it was too late to apply sanctions to the singer: the film was released and enjoyed great success.
