Alexander Valeryevich Fadeev (better known by his pseudonym Danko, born March 20, 1969) is a Russian singer, composer, songwriter, actor, businessman, and former ballet dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre. Danko is the singer's pseudonym coined by producer Leonid Gutkin. His mother is Elena Ilyinskaya, a vocal teacher, and his father is Valery Fadeev, a physics scientist.
At the age of five he soloed in the choir named after Loktev of the Palace of Pioneers. At the age of ten he entered the Choreographic School at the Bolshoi Theater. In 1995 in the Serge Lifar Competition in San Francisco (USA) he won the Silver Prize for a number choreographed by choreographer Sergei Bobrov. After graduating from the school, in 1988, he was invited to join the Bolshoi Theater Company, where he attended master classes with such teachers as Asaf Messerer, Galina Ulanova, Marina Semyonova and Boris Akimov.
In 1990-2000 he participated in the main repertory productions of the Bolshoi Theater: "Spartacus", "Swan Lake", "The Nutcracker", "The Legend of Love", "The Stone Flower", "La Bayadere", "Giselle", "The Golden Age", "Prince Igor", and many others.
From January 2000 to December 2005 - part-time study at the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (GITIS (RATI)) at the Production Faculty. Upon graduation he received a specialty: manager-producer of theatrical and concert business. Repeatedly participated as a model in the shows of collections of companies with a worldwide reputation, such as Naf Naf, Diesel, Hugo Boss and others.
In 2013 he was a regular expert in the cooking show "Time to Dine!" on Channel 1. And in November of the same year he took part in the show as a participant.
In 2015, with partners, he organized a company producing sausages and meat delicacies under the brand "Danko Biff".
In 2018, he was elected as a municipal deputy of the Council of Deputies of the Desenovskoye settlement of Moscow. Alexander Fadeev made the first steps in his singing career, while still being a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. In the same period he began to try himself as a composer, composing songs on the poems of poets of the Silver Age. A huge influence on the artist was his stepfather, a mathematical scientist and famous bard Alexander Sukhanov, author of the lullaby "Green Carriage". Fadeev repeatedly performed at Sukhanov's concerts.
In the late 1990s, at one of these author's evenings, Alexander Fadeev's unusual voice and bright stage image attracted the attention of producer and musician Leonid Gutkin. It was he who came up with Danko's stage name and offered him to record at his studio "KREM Records".
The success of the first few songs exceeded all expectations, and it was decided to work on an album with the prospect of not only Russian but also international release. Joakim Bjerklund from TOEC production team was invited to work on the project and became Leonid Gutkin's co-producer. The band "Prime Minister", Masha Katz, Igor Butman, Pashtet (vocalist of IFK band) were involved in the work in Moscow. In the process of work the idea to record a single with the lead singer of the band "Army of Lovers", known under the name of La Camille. The hit "Russians are Coming" was rotated on European radio stations. As a result of their joint work, Danko's 2000 album was released, which later became platinum according to sales results.
The main promotion of the artist was conducted in Russia. The first two singles "Moscow Night" and "Do One, Do Two" brought Danko into the first league of fashionable pop singers, and the song "Baby", repeatedly played on the radio, positively influenced his popularity. The song became one of the hits of the airwaves. Then a joint track was recorded with the group Premier Minister. As a pop singer, Danko was repeatedly awarded the highest Russian music prizes.
In 2002, at the end of his contract, Danko parted ways with producer Leonid Gutkin, followed by a long pause. It was not until late 2003 that the music video for the song "Let" was released.
In 2004 Danko released the album "When a Man is in Love", where he acted as the author of lyrics and music of most songs. The main hit of the album was the song "She" (music by A. Fadeev, lyrics by A. Vulykh).
At the end of 2010, the singer released Album No. 5. The disk was criticized on the site newsmusic.ru. But it was noted that the soundtrack from the musical "Mata Hari", which was written by Alexei Kiselev and the song "Forgot" (written by Andrey Kovalyov) were successful.
In 2013, the album "Point of No Return" was released, which, according to the singer, is much more experimental than the previous ones. The hit of the album was the song "Paradise Coast", for which 2 music videos (original and remix) were released.