Valery Kipelov

Kipelov was among the founding members of Aria, alongside Vladimir Holstinin and Alik Granovsky, although he initially played a less active role in songwriting and the development of the band's style than the other two. For the first four albums, he only composed three songs (two of them slow ballads). Nevertheless, Kipelov's voice was one of the major reasons of band's success. After the breakup in 1987, Kipelov and Holstinin were the only two members who remained with their producer Vekshtein. Sergey Mavrin, Kipelov's friend, was invited into the new lineup to play guitar and Vitaly Dubinin joined on bass.

During the Germany tour 1994, Kipelov's relations with Holstinin and Dubinin became tense. He ceased appearing at Aria's studio and was fired from the band. Then Mavrin refused to play without Kipelov and left the band, too. After participating in a few of Master's concerts, Kipelov tried to form a band of his own, but later returned to Aria following the threat from Moroz Records to sue the band for breach of contract.

Sergey Mavrin offered Kipelov to record together a combined album, which might include their songs, refused by Aria or not fit for its style. In 1997 they released the LP entitled Kipelov and Mavrin - Smutnoye Vremia (Time of Troubles), which included ten tracks. This album helped Mavrin to launch his project 'Mavrik' with vocalist Artur Berkut next year.

In 2002, after the successful release of 'Himera' followed by sold-out tours and headlining the NASHEstvie festival, Kipelov refused to start recording the new album, already written by Dubinin and Holstinin. He stated his wish to start a solo career. He was supported by two of his Aria bandmates Sergey Terentyev and Alexander Maniakin, as well as by the band's manager Rina Lee, opposing the band's leaders Vitaly Dubinin and Vladimir Holstinin, and the producer Yuri Sokolov. This disagreement broke Aria apart after 'Judgement Day', August 31, 2002.

Kipelov performing with Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) in 2011

On September 1, 2002, the day after Kipelov left Aria, Kipelov, Terentyev, Mavrin and Maniakin launched a new band named Kipelov (named at Terentyev's suggestion as the bandmembers couldn't come up with any better name). In 2003, they released the live album Put Naverh (Way to the Top), recorded in Saint Petersburg. It contained Aria's songs by Kipelov, Terentyev and Mavrin. The ballad "Ya Svoboden" (I am Free) became a top hit in the Russian rock charts. The "golden" voice of Kipelov enticed many Aria fans to his new project.

Terentyev, and later Mavrin, left Kipelov in the next two years, explaining that the band was too slow in releasing the new album. From 2002 to 2005, the only new release was the EP Babylon. To record his new album, Kipelov invited Victor Smolski. Kipelov's first LP, 'Reki Vremen' (Rivers of Time), came out in 2005.