Natasha Shneider

Natasha Shneider in 2005 at a Queens of the Stone Age concert

Natasha Shneider ( Russian Наташа Шнайдер ; born May 22, 1956 as Natalia Schneiderman in Riga , † July 2, 2008 in Los Angeles ) was a Latvian rock musician and actress .

Life and musical career

Shneider was born in Riga in the Latvian SSR and emigrated to the USA in 1976 due to the reprisals against Jews, heavily pregnant with her then husband Sergei Kapustin and their families . There they made their way as musicians, and Shneider also worked as a model and counter worker. Two months after arriving in the US, their son Robin Kapustin was born. In 1982 she got divorced.

In 1984 she met her future partner Alain Johannes , with whom they published their first joint work, Walk the Moon , in 1987 . In 1990 Shneider, Johannes and Jack Irons founded the band Eleven , which was to become one of the longest-term projects of Shneider and Johannes.

1999 Shneider worked with John on the album Euphoria Morning by Chris Cornell with and also toured with this.

In 2001 Shneider worked on Queens of the Stone Age's third album, Songs for the Deaf , and was then involved in Josh Homme's side project Desert Sessions . From 2005 to 2006, Shneider was a permanent tour member as a keyboardist and background singer during the tour for the fourth album of the Queens of the Stone Age, Lullabies to Paralyze .

Acting career

Shneider appeared in two feature films in the 1980s. In 1984 she starred in the film 2010: The Year We Contact Russian cosmonaut Irina Yakunina. She also played an exchange student named Wanda Yakubovska in the film Spiker . Shneider also had guest appearances in some series, including Miami Vice and Hill Street Blues .

death

On July 2, 2008, Shneider died of cancer . An obituary was published on the Queens of the Stone Age homepage , which was also an appeal for donations for their treatment costs and announced a benefit concert for Shneider.

"On July 2nd, at 11:11 AM, Natasha Shneider passed away. She ended her time in this life with the style and poetry that she lived all the days previous, crossing over while held in the arms of her closest and dearest. No words can encapsulate the unwaivering strength she provided, adversities she overcome, the talents she possessed & nurtured, the sharpness of her wit nor the beautiful complexity of her intellect. We are so thankful for her influence & the gift of her friendship.
A celebration of Natasha Shneider will be held in Hollywood at the Henry Fonda Theater on Saturday, Aug 16th. Further details will be released shortly. All proceeds of the benefit and donations made will go to the relieve the burden of Natasha's fight against cancer. To donate, go to NatashaShneider.org
Now is all we have. May you all make the most of it. "

- Josh Homme

On August 16, 2008, Queens of the Stone Age played a benefit concert at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles and were supported by many friends. In addition to Shneider's partner Alain Johannes, guests were also Jack Black and Kyle Gass from Tenacious D , Matt Cameron , Brody Dalle , Jesse Hughes , Chris Goss , PJ Harvey and Serrina Sims.

Trivia

In 2010 her partner and bandmate Alain Johannes released a solo album called Spark , which he dedicated to Shneider and recorded entirely by himself.

Web links

• Natasha Shneider at Allmusic (English)
• Natasha Shneider at Discogs (English)
• Natasha Shneider in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Queens Of The Stone Age celebrate the life of Natasha Shneider - Review (English). Retrieved April 24, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Spark Song Samples website Alain Johannes (English). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 24, 2014 ; Retrieved April 21, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.