On January 15, 84-year-old Soviet and Georgian artist Vakhtang Kikabidze died in a Tbilisi clinic.

“Everyone knows that for many years he had health problems, and this had an impact,” RIA Novosti quotes producer artist Rati Abzianidze.

According to the Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2, a few days before his death, Kikabidze became ill and was hospitalized.

A close friend of the singer Nana Kelaprishvili, in a conversation with MK, shared the details of his illness, specifying that for the last ten years "he has been on dialysis."

“Even on tour, he had to undergo dialysis every other day.

A day later, for sure.

Only on stage did he feel great, ”said Kelaptrishvili.

Vakhtang Konstantinovich Kikabidze was born on July 19, 1938 in Tbilisi in the family of a journalist and a professional singer.

Father, Konstantin Nikolaevich, went missing during the Great Patriotic War near Kerch.

At school, Vakhtang was fond of music, learned to play the drums, sang in an amateur circle.

After school, he entered the Tbilisi State University named after I. Javakhishvili, but in the second year, in 1959, he dropped out and became an artist of the Tbilisi Philharmonic.

The second attempt to get a higher education also ended in nothing: after studying at the Tbilisi Institute of Foreign Languages ​​in 1961-1963, Kikabidze plunged headlong into creativity.

Since 1963, the young artist has been working in the jazz vocal ensemble "Dialo".

For a long time he played drums and sang in the Orera band.

In parallel with his musical career, Kikabidze began acting in films.

In 1966, he was invited to play a small role in the film "Meeting in the Mountains" directed by Nikolai Sanishvili.

The next role, which the artist received only three years later, became the main one - Kikabidze played the doctor Benjamin Glonti in the tragicomedy of the legendary director George Danelia “Do not Cry!”.

The work of the young actor was highly appreciated: in 1970 he won the prize for the best performance of a male role at the International Film Festival in Cartagena.

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But one of the most famous for Kikabidze was the role of the pilot Valiko Mizandari in Daneliya's comedy "Mimino".

The image of a dreamer who came from a small village to Moscow to become a pilot of international airlines fell in love with the audience and brought Kikabidze all-Union fame, and his character’s phrases, such as “Hello, I want Larisa Ivanovna ...”, “Thank you, I’ll stand on foot”, “What she want?

- He doesn't want anything.

Dancing", instantly became winged.

The 1980s became a period of take-off for Kikabidze as an independent creative unit.

He not only began to perform solo on the stage, but also for the first time tried his hand as a screenwriter and director: in 1981, his film “Be healthy, dear!” Was released.

In 1983, this picture won the Grand Prix at the festival in Gabrov (Bulgaria).

In 1984, Kikabidze played an illegal CIA resident John Glubb in the cult Soviet serial film "TASS is authorized to declare ...".

A year later, the artist, again as a screenwriter and director, released another picture - "Men and Everyone Else", where he also played one of the roles.

After the release of this tape, Kikabidze began to pay a little less attention to cinema, focusing on music.

Kikabidze's discography includes dozens of positions - from collections and mini-albums to full-length works.

Many of the artist's songs became widely known, and he himself was one of the most popular pop singers in the USSR.

Vakhtang Kikabidze is the winner of many competitions, prizes and awards, holder of a number of orders.

In 1980 he received the title of People's Artist of Georgia.

He was awarded the Orders of Honor, Vakhtang Gorgasal III degree and Victory named after St. George in Georgia, the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Ukraine and the Order of Friendship in Russia.

He abandoned the latter after the operation to force Georgia to peace in August 2008.

In the same year, the artist canceled all his concerts in Russia and did not perform there anymore.

In the period from 2008 to 2022, he gave many interviews in which he admitted hatred for the coat of arms of the Soviet Union, expressed sympathy for Ukraine, stated that “if I was young, I would also have been in the ATO” in 2014, approved of Zelensky’s actions in 2022- m, while at the same time criticizing the position of the Russian authorities.

In 2020, Vakhtang Kikabidze became a member of the Georgian Parliament.

Since 1965, Kikabidze has been married to Irina Kebadze (died 2021).

The couple has two children.