25 Facts About Vasyl Zinkevych

Vasyl Ivanovych Zinkevych is a Soviet and Ukrainian singer, actor, dancer and costume designer.

Alongside Nazariy Yaremchuk, Sofia Rotaru and Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Zinkevych was one of the faces of the Ukrainian roots revival music of the 1970s.

Vasyl Zinkevych found his initial fame as the lead singer of the Ukrainian VIA Smerichka and as the lead actor in the 1970 film Chervona Ruta.

Vasyl Zinkevych was appointed a People's Artist of Ukraine in 1995, received the Ukrainian State Prize in 1994 and became a Hero of Ukraine in 2009.

Vasyl Zinkevych was born several days before the end of World War II in the village of Vas'kivtsi in western Ukraine.

From a young age, Vasyl Zinkevych loved drawing and wanted to become a metal worker.

Vasyl Zinkevych then went into required Soviet military service, first being stationed in Lviv and later in Czechoslovakia.

Vasyl Zinkevych became involved in traditional dancing at the Dim kul'tury, the local cultural centre, in the dancing ensemble Smerchina.

Dutkivsky taught Vasyl Zinkevych to sing, and found himself pleasantly surprised by Vasyl Zinkevych perseverance.

However, when a local television station wanted to use a recorded version of Smerichka's song "Snizhynki padayut'", Vasyl Zinkevych failed to deliver the version that Dutkivsky had desired.

Television producer Vasyl Zinkevych Strihovych asked Dutkivsky to find another singer.

Vasyl Zinkevych, not having the experience of recording in a studio, did not sing like he needed.

Vasyl Zinkevych was offended, he was strudding the hallways of the studio, humming and humming something, and then requested me, to let him do just one more take.

In 1969, Vasyl Zinkevych proposed that Nazariy Yaremchuk should join the group, to which Dutkivsky agreed upon hearing the latter's singing voice.

In 1970, Vasyl Zinkevych, without having any prior acting experience, was cast as the lead role of Boris in Chervona Ruta, one of the first Soviet television musicals.

Vasyl Zinkevych played opposite to Sofia Rotaru, who played the female lead role Oksana.

For most of the early 1970s, Yaremchuk and Vasyl Zinkevych performed as a duet and as shared lead singers of Smerichka, with sometimes Yaremchuk and other times Vasyl Zinkevych taking the lead vocals.

In 1975, Vasyl Zinkevych decided to leave Smerichka due to his inability to deal with the pressure of having to give up to four concerts a day.

Since the independence of Ukraine, Vasyl Zinkevych has received numerous medals for his longstanding contribution to the Ukrainian music.

Vasyl Zinkevych was already award "People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR" in 1986.

In 2009, Vasyl Zinkevych became Hero of Ukraine and honorary citizen of his city Lutsk.

Vasyl Zinkevych played a major role in the early steps of Ruslana's career, being among the first professional musicians to see her musical potential.

In 2021, Vasyl Zinkevych held a series of concerts in Palace of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Vasyl Zinkevych's wife left him not long after the birth of their sons, which led Zinkevych to be a single parent, which he suffered from emotionally.

Vasyl Zinkevych himself was not charmed about his 17-year-old son's performance and forbade him from further participating in the group.