Ranetki Girls

History

The band that would become Ranetki Girls came together in 2005 when songwriter Dmitry Popov and producer Sergey Milnichenko held auditions for a new youth-oriented rock group. The first members were vocalist and guitarist Lena Galperina, bassist Alina Petrova, keyboardist Zhenya Ogurtsova, and drummer Lera Kozlova. They initially called themselves Clip SA because of their tomboy look. As they wrote more songs focused on first love, they changed the name to Ranetki Girls to match the new style. Around this time, guitarist Natasha Milnichenko and Anya Rudneva joined. Sergei Krylov helped form the band, teaching Kozlova how to play drums, and the group practiced songs by The Beatles and Nazareth. By the end of 2005, Galperina left to join Tuki-Tuki, Lena Tretyakova took over on bass from Petrova, and Kozlova added lead vocals to her drumming duties. The group signed with Megaliner Records in late 2005. In May 2006, they played at the Eurovision competition and also performed at the Radio Day concert in Moscow. That September, they competed at the Five Stars festival in Sochi with a cover of Shocking Blue's "Venus," and later that month they opened for the Russian punk band Tarakany!. Their first single, "She's All Alone," came out on November 19, 2006. Their self-titled debut album followed in December 2006, recorded at Milnichenko's home and presented live on December 5 at the B-2 Club. Two tracks from the album were used in the Russian TV series Kadetstvo. On December 13, the band took part in MTV Russia's musical battle programming. The album hit number one on the Russian Albums Chart and earned a platinum certification from NFPF. In January 2007, they performed at the Russian Winter festival at Trafalgar Square in London. Yes! magazine named them one of the "Face of the Year - 2007" in September. They played at the 2008 Eurosonic festival in January and were recognized as winners of the Five Stars and Eurosonic competitions. In March 2008, the CTC network launched a TV series named after the band, which aired until 2014. The song "About You" appeared in Grand Theft Auto IV, and "She's All Alone" was included in The Sims 2: Apartment Life. In November 2008, Kozlova left the group after a conflict with Melnichenko. According to Kozlova, she was "asked" to leave on November 1, ten minutes before the start of their concert at Luzhniki, and was replaced by Anna Baydavletova of Nine Lives. Their concert at State Concert Hall in Luzhniki on November 1 was the eighth best selling concert of 2008 in Russia. In 2009, Ranetki won the Muz-TV Music Award for Best Album, as well as the single "Angels" for Best Soundtrack. In April 2009, the group released their second studio album, It's Our Time, presented on April 4 at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. The album peaked at number one on the Russian Albums Chart and was certified gold by the NFPF. It spent more than four months in the top 10 on the International Album Sales Chart. On June 23, the band was selected to open for Britney Spears on the Circus Tour at Moscow on July 21. In November 2009, the group embarked on a headlining tour, beginning in Komi Republic. It's Our Time was ranked at number four by the News Music readers poll in December 2009. The band was also presented with the Artists of the Year award for being the most searched entertainment group in the country by Google Russia. On May 31, 2010, the group announced their third studio album, I Will Never Forget, released on June 15. A music video for the song "Taxes on Love" was released, and the group embarked on a Russian tour in October 2010. The album reached number four on the Russian Albums Chart. In December 2010, they were named Best Band of the Year by the News Music readers poll, as well as their album I Will Never Forget for Best Album. On October 30, 2010, the group released two singles, "Tears" and "Ice" for their fourth studio album. On January 19, 2011, the band announced the title of their fourth studio album, Bring Back the Rock N' Roll, and that it would be released on March 1. The album was presented live at the B-2 Club on March 1. In 2011, Rudneva left the group following a conflict with one of the band's producers, pursuing a solo career and starting her own production company called Ann Rudneva Production. In April 2012, the group made their first live performance after one year at the Milk Moscow club, with support from Pudra. In 2012, each member of the band began solo careers, while the group still remained together. In June 2012, they re-issued the album under a different name titled, Bring Back Ranetok. In 2013, the group officially disbanded. In 2017, the band returned without Milnichenko and Baydavletova, not as a music group, but created a YouTube channel called Kuraga, where they would talk about their personal lives. Kozlova rejoined them for the first time since departing in November 2008. In November of that year, Rudneva and Milnichenko revived the group name and reunited as a duo to release the single, "We Lost Time." In March 2018, Baydavletova, Kozlova, Ogurtsova and Tretyakova briefly reunited without Rudneva and Milnichenko at the Zhara Music Awards. In May 2019, Baydavletova, Kozlova, Ogurtsova and Tretyakova teased a reunion, before showing that the group were recording new tracks in June. In November, they made a surprise appearance at the International Festival of Creative Youth Generation NEXT 2019, performing a cover of Billie Eilish's "Bellyache." In May 2024, the group re-released their 2006 song "About You" with featured vocals from ТРАВМА.