Vladimir Georgievich Migulya was a Soviet and Russian singer and composer, born in Stalingrad on August 18, 1945. He studied at music schools in Orsk and Volgograd, then attended the Volgograd College of Arts, where he studied music theory from 1965 to 1968. He also studied at the Volgograd Medical Institute, graduating from both institutions in 1968.
In 1968, Migulya entered the Leningrad State Conservatory, where he studied composition with Sergei Slonimsky. After graduating in 1974, he moved to Moscow. That year, his song “Talk to Me, Mom” received an award at the Song of the Year festival. From 1977 onward, his songs featured at every edition of the festival, and he became a 14-time laureate.
Migulya wrote many popular songs from the 1970s through the 1990s, including “The Grass by the Home,” performed by the band Zemlyane, and “Sokolniki,” which became the anthem of Moscow’s Sokolniki Park. His songs were performed by artists including Valentina Tolkunova, Sofia Rotaru, Mikhail Boyarsky, and the groups Zemlyane and Samotsvety. He also composed music for the films It Is Easy to Be Kind (1976) and Kitten from Lizyukov Street (1988), and had a small acting role in the 1976 film.
In 1988, Migulya was named an Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. After he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, he continued composing while bedridden, writing about twenty more songs. His only lifetime author concert took place in Moscow on January 17, 1996, though he could not attend because of his health. He died in Moscow on February 16, 1996, aged 50.