Kris Kelmi would have turned 71 on April 21. But on January 1, 2019, his heart stopped, and this happened in the Moscow region village of Novoglagolevo, in a cottage with a pool. Around him were empty bottles. His only son learns from the notary that he inherited 100 million. What was the idol of the 1990s like in life and on stage?
“Closing the Circle”
From the age of four, the future musician began to learn the piano and later graduated from the prestigious music school named after Dunaevsky. In 1972, as a student, he decided that for a rock musician, the name Tolya (his real name) sounded too boring, so from then on, he would be Kris, in honor of the hero of Tarkovsky’s film “Solaris.”
The path to the stage was swift. In the mid-1970s, he was already in the spotlight: playing in the bands “Leap Year” and later in the legendary “Autograph.” In 1980, he created his own group “Rock Atelier,” which collaborated closely with the Lenkom Theater.
The breakthrough happened in 1987: he gathered 27 stars to record the song “Closing the Circle,” which became the anthem of a generation. In the tumultuous 1990s, his hits “Night Rendezvous,” “Tired Taxi,” and “Lady Blues” echoed on every corner, solidifying Kris’s status as a legend. But in the 2000s, everything collapsed.
The Curse of Genius
His career was on the rise, but Kris himself was falling lower and lower. He had always struggled with alcohol, but in the 2000s, it turned into a deadly disease. In 2017, Kelmi underwent treatment in Thailand alongside Yevgeny Osin and Dana Borisova, but the course did not help. In the spring of 2018, doctors diagnosed him with a terrible condition — cirrhosis of the liver. Even a drop of alcohol could kill him. After Osin’s death in the fall of 2018, Kelmi was scared and promised to quit. But he did not keep the promise he made to himself — he relapsed.
The outcome was inevitable. On January 1, 2019, the heart of the 63-year-old musician stopped.
A Will Worth 100 Million
While already seriously ill, Kelmi legally formalized his last will. In December 2018, he notarized a document in which all his property would go to his ex-wife Lyudmila and his 30-year-old only son, Kristian. The musician then stated: “Everything is fine there, everyone will have enough.”
According to real estate agents, the total value of the musician's inheritance in 2019 was about 100 million rubles (1.1 million euros). It included a luxurious cottage and three apartments in Moscow, two of which were located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and Smolenskaya. Kristian Kelmi is the only son of Kris Kelmi. Like his father, Kristian plays the guitar and piano excellently.
But even more valuable than square meters are the copyrights. According to various sources, Kris Kelmi wrote about 257 musical works. And all rights to such superhits as “Closing the Circle” and “Night Rendezvous” also passed to his son Kristian.
