From punk to an exemplary husband: the story of Mikhail Gorshka, the leader of the KiSh group
On August 7, 1973, Mikhail Gorshenev was born, known to many as Pot. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a military man, but became a bright symbol of punk rock and the leader of the King and the Jester group. Like a real punk, he left too soon, but his voice will forever remain in the hearts of his fans. Look into the history of this talented artist who was destined to leave his mark on the hearts of many.
Mikhail Gorshenev, known by his stage name "Pot", has always been more than just a musician for fans of Russian rock. He became one of the most significant faces of the scene, creating his own, unique style, combining elements of punk, rock and folk theater.
Mikhail Gorshenev was born on August 7, 1973 in the city of Pikalevo, Leningrad Region, into a military family. His father, Yuri Mikhailovich, was a major in the border troops, and his mother, Tatyana Ivanovna, was a housewife. Because of the father's military profession, the family often moved, but most of the time the Gorshenevs lived in the Far East. In 1975, Mikhail's brother Alexei was born, and later the family moved to Leningrad.
Despite the fact that Mikhail was silent and uncommunicative at school, he already began to have a passion for art and music. Already at an early age, Mikhail arranged mini-concerts for his peers. This early passion for music led to the creation of his first band, Kontora, in 1988. But education did not occupy such an important place in his life as music. After entering the Leningrad Restoration School No. 61, Mikhail was expelled for indifference to studies and excessive love for music.
After meeting with Andrei Knyazev, a future colleague in the King and the Jester group, Mikhail began to try himself in new projects. The Hermitage provided a workshop on Millionnaya Street for restorers, which became the first rehearsal base for the Korol i Shut group. This was the period when Mikhail adopted the punk lifestyle, attractive for its rebellious nature. Relations with parents at this time were tense, and Gorshenev preferred to live in the workshop. Pot drank heavily and even used heroin.
Despite his lifestyle and addictions, Gorshenev has always remained a hardworking and creative person. He and Knyazev moonlighted as office renovations to raise money for musical equipment for their band. These early years were a time of trials and hardships, but they laid the foundation for the creative path of Mikhail Gorshenev, who left an indelible mark on the history of Russian rock.
"Korol i Shut" the group began to be called in 1990. Its composition changed periodically, but the frontmen were permanent - Mikhail Gorshenev and Andrey Knyazev. Great popularity came to an unusual team in the late 90s. "The Sorcerer's Doll", "The Forester", "I'll Jump Off the Cliff", "The Cursed Old House" are just some of their cult songs.
The main feature of the group was their lyrics, which combined a dark atmosphere, black humor and horror. The stage images of the musicians were also saturated with gothic style, which made their performances unforgettable. They were inspired by old stories and legends, transforming them into musical compositions.
The band's first album, Stone on the Head, released in 1991, immediately attracted the attention of rock music fans. In the early 1990s, they released their first album, Heresy, which was recorded at home. Soon there were "Hunter", "Memories of a dead woman." Then they were first put on the radio. And then, first of all, all its participants were waiting for the songs of "KiSha" on the air.
By the beginning of the 2000s, the group was already known not only in Russia, but also abroad. Their unique style, combining elements of punk rock, folk and gothic, made them recognizable and popular among a wide audience.
Mikhail Gorshenev was married twice. He married for the first time in 1994. By that time, they had met with his chosen one Anfisa Kryuchkova for about two years. The couple met at the Polygon club at a concert. They complemented each other in their craving for self-destruction: Anfisa, like Mikhail, took illegal substances. They spent all their money on drugs, but for a long time they managed to hide their dependence on relatives. On account of Gorshenev there were eight clinical deaths and several attempts to quit drugs.
The couple divorced only in 2003 and Anfisa's life never returned to normal. She moved to the Urals, where she got a job as a dancer. Anfisa died in 2009. By that time, the girl had not used it for several years, but the body had already been destroyed. As the media wrote, the cause of death of Anfisa Gorsheneva was cirrhosis of the liver and heart problems. She was only 31 years old.
The second wife of our hero was Olga Shabotova. Olga was 20 years old when she met Mikhail and she was the complete opposite of Anfisa: she never took drugs and was indifferent to the work of KiSh. Mikhail adopted Olga's daughter from his first marriage, Anastasia, as his own. He first made an attempt to get rid of addiction, and in 2005 the couple got married. Olga was able to turn a slightly out of touch with reality drug addict Gorshka into an exemplary family man who was ready to lay down the whole world at the feet of his beloved.
When in 2009 the couple had a common daughter, Alexander, it seemed that a classic happy ending had come in Mikhail's life: he got rid of drug addiction, a happy husband and father, a creator, at the peak of his musical career, adored by millions. For several years, Mikhail held on and did not touch substances: he wrote new songs for King and Jester, released a couple of his own solo albums and recorded joint tracks with other rock musicians. But, unfortunately, the end was not happy...
In 2011, the musicians of The King and the Fool began working on the rock opera TODD, the plot of which was based on a fictional story about serial maniac Sweeney Todd. The prince refused to participate in this project. He left the team and created his own - KnyaZz. This project was a difficult test for Mikhail Gorshenev, and he plunged into a severe and prolonged depression. He tried to cope with alcohol, and soon turned back to drugs.
The history of the group "Korol i Shut" practically ended on July 19, 2013. On that day, the body of Mikhail Gorshenev was discovered in his suburban home in St. Petersburg. As the forensic examination showed, the cause of death of the rock idol was "toxic cardiomyopathy with the development of acute heart failure." Alcohol and drugs were to blame.
Before his 40th birthday, he did not live a little more than two weeks. Many years before that, in an interview, he admitted that he was sure that he would not mark this date. But no one expected that these words would be prophetic.
Mikhail Gorshenev is still the idol of thousands of people. You can treat the work of the King and the Jester in any way, but their contribution to the musical rock culture is obvious. And in February 2023, the series “The King and the Jester” was released, which tells about the formation of the group, its path to success and the difficult relationships of the participants from their acquaintance in the late 1980s to the death of Mikhail Gorshenev. At the same time, this is not a biopic, but primarily a work of art based on the history of the group.
The punk fairy tale approach makes it possible to look at the band's history not as a documentary reconstruction, but as a work of art, full of metaphors, symbols and musical interludes. This format gives the series a special atmosphere and makes it interesting not only for fans of The King and the Jester, but also for all connoisseurs of Russian cinema.