Laima Vaikule celebrates a beautiful anniversary

On 31 March, Laima Vaikule, the famous singer who for decades after Latvia regained its independence has mostly performed in Russia, but has not lost touch with Latvia, turned 70.

Laima Vaikule was born in Cesis, but moved to Riga with her family when she was three years old. In her early teens, Laima Vaikule began to engage in creative endeavours. When she was 15 years old, she was noticed by Raimonds Pauls and he offered that a year later she could perform with the Latvian Radio and Television Orchestra.

Laima Vaikule did not want to wait that long, as she was ready to go on tour with her band. After graduating from primary school, Vaikule enrolled in medical school while working in an ambulance – her dream of becoming a doctor never faded despite her obvious success in the entertainment industry.

In 1979, the singer started performing in the variety hall of Jūras pērle restaurant in Jurmala, not only singing, but also staging dances, inventing costumes and attracting musicians. It was only in the early 1980s that the singer seriously considered solo work.

She became better known in 1985 thanks to the song “Vernisage”, the joint work of Raymond Paul and Ilya Reznik, performed in duet with Valery Leontiev, and participation in the annual poll “Song-86” of the Central Television of the USSR with the song “Night Fire”, written by Paul.

In 1987, Laima Vaikule’s first album “Vernisage. Songs with lyrics by Ilya Reznik” was released, the same year she won the Bratislava Lyra competition in Czechoslovakia, which further increased her popularity.

In total, Laima Vaikule has recorded more than ten successful albums over the years of her musical career.

Photo: from the archives of Žurnāls Santa, Voroncovs Mihails, publicity (Austris Auziņš).