Sergey Vyacheslavovich Lazarev (Russian: Серге́й Вячесла́вович Ла́зарев, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈlazərʲɪf]; born 1 April 1983) is a Russian singer. He is most famous for his singing career, when he rose to fame as a member of the group Smash!!. The group broke up in 2006. Since then Lazarev has pursued a solo career. He represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, and finished in third place, coming first in the televote.^[1] He represented Russia again at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song "Scream", and similarly finished in third place.

Lazarev was born in Moscow on 1 April 1983.^[2] From age of four, Lazarev practiced artistic gymnastics, but stopped due to his parents' divorce.^[3]

Lazarev got to know about Neposedy's existence merely by accident. A shopkeeper recommended Lazarev to apply for Neposedy while Lazarev was buying bread.^[4] In 1995, he became part of the children's group alongside Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. With Neposedy he regularly performed at the Russian television show Morning Star and in 1996, he performed at a concert at the Slavianski Bazaar.^[5][6] In September 1996 Lazarev won the first prize at the contest Bravo Bravissimo in Italy. The same year he sang with the president orchestra led by Pavel B. Ovsyannikov.^[7]

Next to singing, Lazarev worked as a child actor. When he was eleven, he performed in the Pokrovsky Theatre and had parts in several plays.^[8] Lazarev also appeared in children's sketch comedy programme Yeralash in 1997^[9]

In 2000, Lazarev entered Moscow's MKhAT Theatre School and graduated in 2004 as a professional actor. In 1999 he enrolled at Russia's leading dramatic institute, the school-studio MAAT. In 2005 he returned to the theatre scene.

In May 2004 Smash!! in cooperation with the Italian band Earphones recorded the song "Obsession". On 1 December 2004 Smash!! released the second album, 2Nite. The band split up only one week after the release, with both Lazarev and Topalov deciding to pursue solo careers.^[10]

Together with British producer Brian Rawling, Lazarev recorded most of the songs for his solo debut Don't Be Fake that was released in November 2005 and sold more than 300,000 copies in Russia alone.

Don't be Fake's first two singles, "Eye of the Storm" and "Lost Without Your Love", were soon released. The video clips of these singles were shot in Miami and South Africa, respectively. The third single "Daje Esli Ty Uydiosh (Даже Если Ты Уйдёшь)" ("Just Because You Walk Away" in English) became the biggest single from the album, peaking at #1 for many weeks, remaining on the charts for over six months, coming back to the charts twice more, and eventually reaching #2 in the annual airplay chart of most played songs in 2006. Due to the massive popularity of the song, the album was re-issued with bonus tracks including 3 versions of the song—the English version (which can be found on the first issue), the Russian version, and a dance remix also sung in Russian. Lazarev also performed the song at the MTV Russia Awards. The single was written by American songwriter Gordon Pogoda and Australian writer/artist John Stephan. The fourth single, "Fake", was plugged and the video clip was shot in London. Meanwhile, the Fake Remixes EP was published. This was also promoted to some clubs in the United Kingdom.

After the success of his first album, Lazarev went to the studio and recorded a new album TV Show The video for the lead single, "Vspominay (Вспоминай)" was shot in Moscow. The English version of the song, "Everytime", was soon released along with the video clip, this one being similar to the Russian version. Lazarev recorded a cover of "Shattered Dreams", originally sung by Johnny Hates Jazz. This was the second single of the album and the first international single for Lazarev. The video was said to be shot in Canada.

In 2008, he was a candidate to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "the Flyer". He finished fourth in Russia's national final, which was won by Dima Bilan. As his international fame rose, he performed to full-capacity crowds at The Opera House in Bournemouth, England on 23 March 2008^[11] as a supporting act to British dance group Booty Luv. Also in 2008, Lazarev won MTV's Artist of the Year Award. Consequently, releasing the video of the Russian version of the song "Almost Sorry", ("Зачем придумали любовь") this one being the fifth and last single of the album.

On 31 March 2010 Electric Touch was released in Russian music stores. The video for "Alarm" was released on 10 May and on 26 June it was confirmed the song "Feeling High" was the new single from Electric Touch.^[12]

In 2012, Lazarev released another English-language song, "Take It Off".

On 10 December 2015, it was announced that Lazarev would represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm.^[13] In the final, he reached third place with his song "You Are the Only One", Lazarev won the televote with 361 points, and came fifth with the national jury scoring 130 points.^[14]

On February 7, Lazarev announced that he would represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song "Scream". He again finished third in the final.

In 2021 he placed first in the competition show Tantsy so zvyozdami (Tанцы со звёздами), the Russian version of Dancing with the Stars.

In 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and during his stay in Ukraine, Lazarev stated to Ukrainian television, "Maybe my own Russian fans will throw tomatoes at me, but this is the way it is for me. When I travel to Yalta, for me it's Ukraine." However, in his later comments on Ukrainian television the singer said that his words had been taken out of context.^[15] Lazarev explained that in fact he meant that the territorial change was so instant that he could not get used to the idea that Crimea was part of Russia again and "need[ed] time to realize it"; the singer compared it to the feeling of those who remember the transfer of Crimea from Russia to Ukraine in 1954: "I perfectly understand those who, in 1954, suddenly woke up in Ukraine, and who wanted Crimea to return to Russia. I know, many are happy with that. But I need time to realize that". Lazarev claimed the recording of his speech was shortened and edited by the Ukrainian TV crew for use in an "anti-Russian" an information war.^[16]

In February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, Lazarev spoke out against the invasion and war. “Please everyone, stop! Together, say STOP! Have a seat at the table of negotiations! Let the people live!!! No one supports the war! I want my children to live in peace! I WANT to live and create IN A PEACEFUL TIME!"^[17][18]

In January 2023, Ukraine included Lazarev on a decision "to impose personal economic sanctions against some Russian cultural and sports figures" due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[19][20]

In December 2016, he announced that he has a two-year-old son, Nikita, after pictures of both attending church were captured by paparazzi.^[21] Nikita was later featured in Lazarev's music video for "Так красиво" in 2017.^[22] In September 2019, during an interview with Lera Kudryavtseva, Sergey disclosed having a one-year-old daughter, Anya, with the same biological mother as Nikita but born from a different surrogate mother. This was also the first confirmation of Nikita having been born via surrogate.^[23]

• Don't Be Fake Tour (2006–07)
• TV Show Tour (2007–08)
• Lazerboy Live (2009–10)^[31]
• Heartbeat Tour (2011)^[32]
• Lazarev Live (2013–14)^[33]
• The Best Tour (2015–17)^[34]
• N Tour (2018–21)^[35]
• Я не боюсь! Live (2022)^[36]