Lena Katina

Creator and then-manager of t.A.T.u., Ivan Shapovalov, has stated that the idea for the group stemmed from the common male fascination with schoolgirl lesbian lovers.

After auditioning 400 girls, Shapovalov selected Katina at the age of fourteen. With the project still in development, Katina had the opportunity to record demos, including "Belochka" and "Yugoslavia". The then-fourteen-year-old Julia Volkova was added to the project some time afterward, and in 2001, the duo rose to popularity in Russia and later in the world.

Lena Katina at a concert in Moscow, 2008

Feeling satisfied with his choices, Shapovalov signed Volkova and Katina to t.A.T.u., but the contract also demanded that the girls present a lesbian image. After breaking away in 2004, the girls came clean and stated that Shapovalov had created the image, and that they were even told what to say in interviews.

t.A.T.u. soon became the most successful Russian group of all time, leaving a number of hits behind them, such as "All the Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us", and "All About Us". They took part in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third with "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia". In 2007, Katina, along with Volkova, appeared in the film You and I, with Mischa Barton playing the lead role. Based on the 2006 Aleksey Mitrofanov novel t.A.T.u. Come Back, itself loosely based on the story of the pop duo, it was directed by Roland Joffe and presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. The film was released in 2011 and 2012 in Russia and the United States, respectively.

In March 2011, t.A.T.u. officially disbanded and rumours appeared that Katina would release a solo album the same year.[6] The duo celebrated their twelve years together by releasing two remix albums, entitled Waste Management Remixes pt. 1 and Waste Management Remixes pt. 2.

Lena Katina at the You and I movie premiere in 2011

Katina hosted a fan event at The Trail in Los Angeles on 29 May 2010[7][8] and gave her first solo performance the next day at the Troubador.[9] She was the opening act of PrideFest in Milwaukee on 12 June 2010[10] and on the same day, she released a free download of a song from her upcoming album, titled "Lost in this Dance".[11] Alongside the release of this track, Katina contributed vocals to the song "Guardian Angel" by Canadian electronic metalcore band Abandon All Ships, which was featured on their 2010 debut album, Geeving. On 17 June 2011, Katina's single "Never Forget" premiered on Mexican radio station FMTU 103–7 in Monterrey.[12] The single, once available on iTunes, also included the song "Stay".[13]

Katina and her band appeared on Rawsession, where they performed original acoustic versions of Owl City's "Deer in the Headlights", Alexandra Stan's "Mr. Saxobeat", and her own "Never Forget".[14] The three tracks were later released as an EP titled RAWsession 07.14.11.[15]

On 19 September 2011, Katina released the song "Waiting"[16] and on 9 December 2011, "Keep on Breathing" came out. The latter track was used to raise funds for children affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.[17]

In September 2012, Katina collaborated with Russian rapper T-Killah on the track "SHOT".[18]

On 17 March 2014, Katina released her first live album, European Fan Weekend 2013 Live, which included her solo material as well as a number of t.A.T.u. tracks. In September, she announced via Facebook that her debut studio album, This Is Who I Am, would be released on 18 November 2014, preceded by the single "Who I Am" on 7 October. On 12 March 2015, the album's fourth single, An Invitation, aired.[19] In July 2016, a Spanish version of This Is Who I Am was released, under the title Esta Soy Yo.

In October 2017, Katina released her new English-language single "Silent Hills". In December, she published the song "Here I Go Again", a collaboration with Daddy Mercury. On 3 March 2018, she released the Russian-language ballad "после нас" ("After Us"), a nostalgic retrospective on her time with t.A.T.u. This was followed by three more Russian-language singles later that year: "Косы" ("Braids"), "Куришь" ("You Smoke"), and "Макдоналдс" ("McDonald's"). In 2019, Katina published the singles "Стартрек" ("Star Trek") in April and "Моно" ("Mono") in June. Later the same month, she announced the upcoming release of her first Russian-language opus, titled Моно. The eight-track album was released on 26 July. In November, another single, "Никогда" ("Never"), came out.

In 2020, Lena Katina joined ex-Neposedy member Sergey Lazarev as a judge on Russia-1's reality competition series All Together Now!/Ну-ка, все вместе!, where a contestant's singing ability is judged by a team of 100 musicians.[20] Alongside Katina, the panel of judges included Valentina Pyatchenko and Yekaterina Shklyayeva, members of the ethno-pop group Buranovskiye Babushki.[21] She also made an appearance on the Russian edition of The Masked Singer as Spider/Паук. She was eliminated from the show on 13 April, landing in sixth place.[22][23]

Katina released a number of singles in 2020, including "Virus",[24] "Killing Me Softly",[25] "Crybaby",[26] and an English version of "Никогда", titled "Nevermind".[27] Her acoustic EP Акустика (Acoustics) was published in April.[28] In June 2021, she released the single "Из темноты".[29]

On 27 January 2023, she released the single "Tакси" ("Taxi"), from her upcoming Russian-language album, манекен ("mannequin"), which is set to be released on February 24.

In September 2012, Katina and her band performed at the international festival Queerfest in Saint Petersburg. She stated, "We all are very different people and we should celebrate our differences. We should not be silent when we see this intolerant aggression towards LGBT-community". The organisers noted that "Lena's participation in Queerfest is a truly historic moment: for the first time such a high-profile Russian artist supports the festival".[39]

In September 2014, Katina's former t.A.T.u. bandmate, Julia Volkova, appeared as a contestant on a Ukrainian game show called Lie Detector and made comments considered to be highly homophobic, especially towards gay men.[40][41] Katina reacted, saying:

Hey, all! I am seeing some comments lately regarding my position about LGBT and my religion. I can say one thing: God is teaching us to live in love, to be tolerant and not to judge other people! And I do so! Love is love and it is a wonderful feeling! I think everybody should be free to love who they love and be with whom they want to spend their life with! Xoxo[42]

In 2010, Julia Volkova expressed her opinion on Katina's solo career, saying, "[Lena] has the right to [sing t.A.T.u. songs], but it's so stupid, absolutely stupid. If you do a solo career, it means that you do your own work. Her stuff, that she makes, I think, is silly and very soon her career will wither away and disappear".[43] Katina responded to this interview via her YouTube page, saying, "I saw Julia's interview. Of course I got upset. But I want to tell everybody that I have a completely opposite attitude towards the whole situation, Julia's project included. I believe she's a very talented person and I sincerely hope that she'll be successful in all the things she plans".[44] The group officially disbanded in 2011.

While the duo reunited briefly in 2012–2014, with a performance at The Voice of Romania while promoting the re-released edition of 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, a concert in Kyiv, and a pre-opening performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, on 17 February 2014, Katina posted a video message on her official YouTube channel, stating that she would no longer be working with Volkova.[45]

On 22 May 2014, both singers introduced their appearance in Cornetto Russia's A Sight of Cupid project while at the Cannes Film Festival. Both separately recorded a song and a video, titled "Love in Every Moment".[46]

In 2016, Katina and Volkova appeared together at the 25th anniversary celebration of the children's musical group Neposedy, of which both were members before t.A.T.u. was formed. Katina performed her song "All Around the World", and together with Volkova, sang "Нас не догонят" ("Not Gonna Get Us").[47][48]

In September 2022, Katina and Volkova performed together under the name t.A.T.u. at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, Belarus, as part of the Ovion Show event.[49] This was followed by another performance at a sporting event at the Gazprom Stadium in Saint Petersburg in May 2023.[50]