Prophet Sunboy - the story of the difficult life of a “sunny boy”
Passionate, creative people make our lives more interesting. Unfortunately, they are often misunderstood and even persecuted. Russian singer, poet, blogger and traveler Prophet Sunboy is one of those who for many years has delighted fans with his creativity and funny ideas. He remained misunderstood, but, fortunately, did not lose his vital enthusiasm.
The real name of Prophet Sanboy is Gennady Gerasimovich Chernetsov. He was born on February 4, 1969 in the city of Yartsevo, in the Smolensk region. As a child, Gennady suffered from excess weight, which is why he was teased by his peers. But he had undoubted musical talent and first performed on the stage of the local Palace of Culture at the age of 4.
At the age of 6, the grandmother gave the boy a guitar and he quickly mastered it. To solve the problem of excess weight, Sunboy's parents bought him a bicycle. A guitar and a two-wheeled vehicle became the passion of Gennady’s life. At first the boy just went for a drive around the area. Then he started taking his guitar with him and driving to one of the local lakes. There, in silence and solitude, he wrote music and lyrics for his songs.
In 1986, Sunboy founded the Podval group. She received this name due to the fact that she performed in basements. It was then that he came up with his “sunny” pseudonym. But the team did not last long and soon disbanded. Gennady began a solo career. He led a wandering lifestyle, earning a living by performing solo concerts in kitchens in different cities of the country.
In 1991, fate brought Sanboy to Belarus. There his bicycle was stolen, but fate brought the musician together with his first wife, school teacher Svetlana Strashnova. True, the marriage lasted only one year. In the same 1991, on August 19, he entered the Guinness Book of Records. Gennady rode a bicycle without arms from Moscow to Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad). Throughout the 80 km journey, he played the guitar and performed his own songs.
A year later, Sunboy went on another journey, which in many ways became fateful for him. He decided to ride a bicycle from his native Yartsevo to the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. In September 1992, a musician arrived at the site on a bicycle with a trailer. The Czechs warmly welcomed the traveler. Newspapers wrote about him and talked about on television news.
Gennady settled in a student dormitory and, just like in his homeland, began giving small concerts. At one of these evenings, Sunboy met the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel. The leader of the country was a passionate fan of modern music and he liked the songs of the guy from Russia. As a farewell gift, the politician gave his new acquaintance a bus of the German brand Robur.
The musician never had a driver's license, but his friends helped him deliver the gift to Yartsevo. Vandals damaged the equipment at the border, but it still made it to Russia. On February 22, 1993, a faulty bus took its place in the courtyard of the high-rise building where Sanboy’s family lived.
Returning home, Sunboy radically changed his image. He dyed his blond hair dark and hid his eyes behind sunglasses. His songs, life-affirming and bright, became similar to post-punk. Of course, the homeland met its prophet unfriendly. Neighbors constantly complained about the emergency bus, which the local authorities also had their eye on.
As a result, the equipment was towed to the impound area. When the bus was being taken away, the musician’s mother, Nina Ivanovna, tried to prevent this. She ran across the yard and had a heart attack. The woman died on the spot. The Czech President's gift at the penalty area was finally dismantled. Gennady made a lot of efforts, but was never able to take it.
In the 2000s, Prophet Sunboy married a woman named Valentina for the second time. She died in 2020. A series of life shocks brought down the musician. He became depressed, which led him to a psychiatric clinic. For 10 long years, Sunboy disappeared from the sight of fans.
In 2009, Gennady began performing concerts again and even started his own YouTube channel. Its content is very diverse, from songs and poems to philosophical reflections and culinary experiments. Now Prophet Sunboy continues to write songs and sometimes gives concerts. He even tried to make it to Eurovision, but failed. He also planned to become a Duma deputy from the Smolensk region, but did not get the required number of votes.
Despite the misfortunes that befell Gennady, he remains a kind and sincere person. Sunboy continues to live in his native Yartsevo, where everyone knows him. In 2011, director Dmitry Moskvichev made a documentary film “Prophet Sunboy” about the musician.