On the eve of the New Year, People's Artist of Russia Oleg Gazmanov spoke in an interview with about his plans for the coming year, his anniversary, about the new concert program, his attitude towards artificial intelligence in music and how he sees the future of the country in the coming years
About age and attitude towards anniversaries
Oleg Gazmanov was born on July 22, 1951; In 2026 he will turn 75 years old. Talking about the upcoming anniversary, the artist emphasized that he does not attach much importance to this day. According to him, age for him is not a reason to reevaluate life. “I don't think about the anniversary at all, because it's almost 6 months away. The anniversary is just a number, this time it's more or less round – 75,” the male singer noted.
At the same time, he admitted that the group has started preparing for the anniversary year and a busy work schedule is being formed in advance. According to Gazmanov, in the upcoming season the audience will enjoy a large number of new songs and a fundamentally new concert program. “My team and the director are ready, we have created a new music program. In addition, in 2026 there will be a lot of new songs,” the artist added.
About the song
The new show is called “I Have Lived a Happy Life.” The artist explained that the choice of the name was related to the unexpected return to the charts of the song of the same name, written more than thirty years ago. According to him, this composition suddenly received a new wave of popularity in the digital environment and in just a short time collected hundreds of millions of views and listens. “The 35-year-old song suddenly went viral. In almost three months, more than 200 million people participated: views, upvotes and likes,” said Gazmanov.
The musician noted that in the past two years he has written significantly more songs than in the previous decade. He directly connects this creative outburst to current events and the inner need to respond to them through music. According to him, recently he mainly writes songs addressed to Russian soldiers. “During these two years, I wrote more songs than ten years ago. This is associated with the Northern Military District. Recently, I wrote for our soldiers who are currently fighting. For me, this is very important, the most important,” the artist emphasized.
About the anniversary tour and the geography of the performances
Speaking about the concert plans, Gazmanov said that an anniversary tour has been prepared and will be large-scale. According to him, concerts will be held not only in Russia, but also abroad. At the same time, the artist has not yet revealed the exact locations of the performances, noting that the roadmap is still being formed. “You don't have to say anything. I'll perform wherever they want!” – he said.
According to him, there are many requests from regions and work continues on schedule. Gazmanov added: “We are organizing a tour, many people have asked. This year, 2026, there will be a lot of difficulties but also interesting things.”
About production and support for young artists
Speaking about production, Gazmanov notes that he is not the producer of any particular artist, although this field is very close to him. He recalled that he was the producer of the Gazmanov-Rodniki movement, in which he worked with young musicians. According to him, a busy tour schedule and active creative work do not allow him to fully participate in production work. “I am not a producer of individual groups and musicians, although I feel this is necessary. But I am a very famous artist: I have a lot of concerts, tours, I write a lot of new songs. And I simply do not have time for production”, he explains.
At the same time, Gazmanov spoke about the young artists coming out of the “Springs” project, whose production he will undertake. “I often pay attention to young talents in our competitions and I want to become their producer. For example, Anastasia Ivanova now wins most television competitions. I saw this a long time ago and knew that she has a great future <...> Kirill Teplykov is also our guy, he performs great everywhere, talented,” said the singer.
The artist notes that young artists from Rodniki need professional support, the supply of which is still lacking, but says that a production center has been established within the movement. “Despite the difficulties, we have organized a production center and will take our artists forward because they need support,” he added.
About artificial intelligence and music
The talk paid special attention to the topic of artificial intelligence in culture. Gazmanov admitted that he was initially wary of the emergence of such technologies. According to him, the Rodniki project began to receive a large number of songs created with AI, including vocal parts. “At first there was a reaction – that's it, chase them away with a 'dirty' broom. But then I realized that this is inevitable. This process cannot be stopped,” he noted.
The artist emphasized that technology should not be banned but must be understood and oriented towards construction. “We need to restrain him, understand him and make him work for the good of the music industry,” Gazmanov said.
He drew a parallel with the advent of the synthesizer, which was also controversial at the time, but eventually became an integral part of music production. Separately, Gazmanov draws attention to the fact that AI elements have long been used in the industry – in vocal processing and performance correction. “In fact, this is the same artificial intelligence, just poorly crafted. Now artificial intelligence simply eliminates the middleman. It is even more honest,” he noted.
According to him, the quality of the results still depends on people. “People without talent will create bad works with the help of artificial intelligence. And people with talent will use it as an assistant,” the artist emphasized.
About the future of Russia
At the end of the conversation, Oleg Gazmanov shared his views on the future of the country. He calls himself an optimist and notes that Russia has enormous development potential. “I see that Russia is developing very quickly. <...> We will probably have a very fast leap and we need it, because we have to catch up and surpass the whole world in terms of technology and production. We have a large country with many resources, God has given us and we need to use it correctly. So I think that hostilities will definitely end in our favor, victory will be ours and we will move forward, catching up and surpassing everything around,” the artist concluded.
Sofia Kudryashova, Polina Bogomolova
