Russian band t.A.T.u. promote their debut album 200kmh In The Wrong Lane in London back in 2003. Photo / Getty Images
Russian band t.A.T.u. promote their debut album 200kmh In The Wrong Lane in London back in 2003. Photo / Getty Images
They had one of the biggest hits of 2002 – but 20 years later, Russian pop duo t.A.T.u's lives couldn't be more different.
The All The Things She Said singers – red-headed Lena Katina and brunette Julia Volkova, both 37 – went their separate ways in 2011 following a string of albums.
They're still best-known for their English language debut single though, a surprise global smash hit back in 2002 – helped along by the then-teenage duo's controversial image.
Dressed in schoolgirl outfits, the stars played up a faux-lesbian image that they later confessed was all concocted by their manager to sell records.
Julia (left) and Lena courted controversy with their schoolgirl outfits. Photo / Getty Images
Twenty years on, and Lena is now married to a multi-millionaire businessman named Dmitry Spiridonov. It's her second marriage, after splitting from rock star Sasho Kuzmanovich, who she has 7-year-old son Alexander with.
She and Spiridonov wed earlier this month on his 40th birthday, with the singer earlier showing off her three-carat diamond engagement ring. The Sun reports Lena said the ring was a "museum piece" with a price tag that had "a lot of zeros".
Julia Volkova made headlines in 2013 when she declared she had converted to Islam three years earlier. Despite opening up about her bisexuality in numerous interviews, Volkova caused a huge fan backlash in 2014 when she went on a homophobic tirade during a Russian talk show appearance.
Saying she would "condemn" her son if he turned out to be gay, she said: "I believe that a real man must be a real man … a man has no right to be a f*g."
She also claimed, "two girls together – not the same thing as two men together".
"It seems to me that lesbians look aesthetically much nicer," she said.
Her comments drew widespread condemnation – including from her estranged former bandmate, who said: "I think everybody should be free to love who they love and be with who they want to spend their life with."
Volkova later backtracked and insisted she "loved" t.A.T.u's gay fans.
The last time the pair appeared together was at a 2016 concert, where they briefly put aside their differences to perform the early t.A.T.u. single Not Gonna Get Us.
They both appeared in a 2021 Russian documentary tracking the rise and fall of the group – but refused to be interviewed together.
