In a serious noughties throwback, t.A.T.u are set to reunite next year, 19 years after they reached number one in the UK.
One half of the Russian duo Lena Katina confirmed that she and Julia Volkova will be going back on stage next spring, in response to a fan who asked about ’t.A.T.u’s comeback’ on Instagram.
Lena, 37, wrote in the caption: ‘The official TATU tribute in the spring of 2022!. Please comment and name the artists/DJ you would like to hear with us on the stage. Your opinion is important to us! ‘
The All The Things She Said stars split up in 2011, and have had an ongoing feud for years, with both Lena and Julia taking swipes at each other via interviews.
However, it seems that the singers are putting their bad blood behind them.
t.A.T.u shot to fame in 2003 with their single All The Things She Said, which reached number one in the UK and Ireland and number 20 in the States.
The song was accompanied by a notorious video, in which the then-17-year-olds kissed in the rain while wearing schoolgirl outfits.
The video caused major controversy and was banned from CD:UK, with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan calling for the single to be banned and accusing it of ‘promoting paedophilia’.
At the time, Madeley said: ‘We are being told that these girls actually have underage lesbian sex in real life and we are being told by their manager that he spotted a gap in the market – a paedophile gap in the market.
‘That’s sick and it’s wrong and personally I think Polydor should not be selling the record in this country. I think they are supporting a straightforward open paedophile message and that’s terrible. I think they should ban it, I think radio stations should take it upon themselves to ban it. This is going way too far. I think people should boycott the song and 90% of our viewers have said they will.’
Finnigan added: ‘It’s not the song, it’s not the girls themselves, it’s the way their manager has admitted that he’s specifically marketed them and groomed them to be what he calls underage entertainment – which basically means paedophilic entertainment.’
Lena and Julia pretended to be in a lesbian relationship throughout their career but later admitted that the shtick was concocted by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov.
Following the success of All The Things She Said, they achieved top 10 hits with Not Gonna Get Us and All About Us, and finished third in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest after representing Russia with the song Ne ver’, ne boysia, or ‘Don’t believe, don’t fear’.
Over the years, t.A.T.u have reunited for special occasions, including performing at the the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
However, despite rising to fame by pretending to be in a same-sex couple, Julia, 36, courted controversy over homophobic comments about gay men in 2014.
When asked on a TV show if she would condemn her son Samir if she came out, Julia – who is bisexual – said: ‘Yes, I would condemn him because I believe that a real man must be a real man…a man has no right to be a f*g.’
She added: ‘Two girls together—not the same thing as two men together. It seems to me that lesbians look aesthetically much nicer.
‘I want to say that I’m not against gays, I just want my son to be a real man, not a f*g. I believe that being gay is all still better than murderers, thieves or drug addicts. If you choose out of all this, being gay is better than the rest.’
Lena publicly disagreed with Julia’s views, writing on Facebook: ‘I am seeing some comments lately regarding my position about LGBT and my religion. I can say one thing: God is teaching us to live in love, to be tolerant and not to judge other people! And I do so! Love is love and it is a wonderful feeling! I think everybody should be free to love who they love and be with who they want to spend their life with!’
Both Lena and Julia have continued performing solo outside of t.A.T.u, and regularly appear on Russian television.
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