Jerry Heil

Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva (Ukrainian: Я́на Олекса́ндрівна Шема́єва; born 21 October 1995), known professionally as Jerry Heil (Ukrainian: Дже́ррі Гейл), is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, and YouTuber. Heil began her career after launching her YouTube channel in 2012, publishing vlogs and musical covers.

In this Eastern Slavic name, the patronymic is Oleksandrivna and the family name is Shemaieva.
Jerry Heil
Heil in 2019
Born
Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva

(1995-10-21) 21 October 1995
Vasylkiv, Ukraine
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • YouTuber
Years active2017–present
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
Labels
  • Vidlik Records
  • Best Music
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Subscribers222 thousand+
Total views34.9 million+
100,000 subscribers 2019
Updated: 21 January 2020

Heil began her professional music career in 2017, releasing her debut extended play De miy dim with Vidlik Records. She later released the single "Okhrana, otmyena" in 2019, which became a top five hit in Ukraine. Her debut studio album Ya, Yana was later released in October 2019. Since beginning her YouTube channel, she has accumulated more than 34.9 million views, and 193 thousand subscribers.

Early life

Heil was born as Yana Shemaieva in Vasylkiv, a city just outside of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.[1] Her parents both work as private traders. Heil attended music schools in Kyiv, attending the R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music and Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine.[2][3]

Career

Early career

Heil began using her alias at the age of 15. After registering for the Russian social networking website VKontakte, she used the name Jerry Mouse, referencing the cartoon character of the same name. She then changed Mouse to Heil, citing her desire to use whatever American surname she saw on the Internet first. She has expressed her embarrassment for the backstory behind her stage name, calling it "moronic".[4]

In 2012, Heil launched her YouTube channel, where she posted vlogs and covers of songs made popular by Ukrainian and international musicians, such as Twenty One Pilots, Okean Elzy, The Hardkiss, and Kodaline. Okean Elzy frontman Svyatoslav Vakarchuk frequently republished Heil's covers of songs by the band and cited his approval of her versions.[5][2][4][6][7]

2017–2018: Professional breakthrough and De miy dim

In 2017, Heil signed a recording contract with Ukrainian record label Vidlik Records, known for its association with Ukrainian musical group Onuka. She was introduced to the label and its founders Yengen Filatov and Nata Zhizhchenko – the leader singer of Onuka – after Heil began looking for producers to assist with her song "De miy dim". Heil then began working closely with the label, and recorded her debut extended play De miy dim with them, which was later released in October 2017.[8][9]

In 2018, Heil auditioned for season nine of X-Factor Ukraine. She advanced from the initial audition in front of the judges to the bootcamp phase of the competition, where she was eliminated.[10][11] After her elimination, Heil returned to music and released the singles "Kava" and "Postil"; the latter of the two releases featured her debut music video.[12]

2019–present: "Okhrana, otmyena" and Ya, Yana

In March 2019, Heil published a portion of her upcoming single "Okhrana, otmyena" on Instagram, which she had recorded with Ukrainian producer Morphom.[13] The track quickly gained momentum, when Ukrainian singers such as NK and Vera Brezhneva complimented and further distributed the song's snippet.[14] Heil later released a full version of the song through YouTube the following month, where its music video has received more than 14.8 million views; "Okhrana, otmyena" additionally became a top five hit in Ukraine.[15][16] Following the success of the song, Heil began pursuing songwriting, where she wrote songs for musicians including Brezhneva and the Kyiv-based band Cloudless, with Ukrainian songwriter and producer Konstantin Meladze.[17][18]

In September 2019, Heil released her debut studio album Ya, Yana onto YouTube. The album included eight songs, and was commercially released the following month.[19][20] In January 2020, Heil was announced to be competing in Vidbir 2020, the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.[21]

Personal life

Heil is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. Most of her songs are recorded in Ukrainian or Surzhyk.[22]

In August 2018, publishing company Komp Music Publishing – the licensee of Universal Music Group in Ukraine – threatened a lawsuit against Heil for her unauthorized usage of the song "Believer" by Imagine Dragons in one of her videos. The company then insisted that all Universal Music Group songs included on Heil's channel must be removed and demanded a fine of several thousand Ukrainian hryvnias for violating copyright laws. The company launched two lawsuits against Heil, which resulted Heil's channel being removed from YouTube.[23]

AIR Music, a partner of Heil, took up the case. In a meeting between representatives from both companies, they negotiated a deal where Heil's fines were substantially lowered, and an agreement was reached regarding how many copyright infringements Heil had committed. Komp Music Publishing subsequently withdrew their lawsuits, and Heil's channel was restored.[24][23]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details
Ya, Yana

Extended plays
Title Details
De miy dim

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UKR
[25]
"De miy dim" 2017 — De miy dim
"Kava" 2018 — Non-album singles
"Postil" —
"Okhrana, otmyena" 2019 9 Ya Yana
"Natverkay" —
"Vilna kasa" 94
"Vichnist" — Non-album singles
"Vegan" 2020 —

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2019 The Addams Family Bethany[26] Ukrainian dub

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2019 Jager Music Awards Single of the Year "Okhrana, otmyena" Won [27]

References
  1. "ЕЙ, ПРИЙДЕШ ДО МЕНЕ НА ДНЮХУ?" (in Ukrainian). Jerry Heil. 18 October 2019.
  2. "Інтерв'ю з блогеркою Jerry Heil" (in Ukrainian). Телебачення Торонто.
  3. "Історія Jerry Heil: як відеоблогерка з Василькова зачарувала ONUKA та The Maneken" (in Ukrainian). Karabas.
  4. "Новое имя: Jerry Heil" (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  5. Barska, Anastasiya. "Виконавиця гучного каверу на весь альбом Океану Ельзи розповіла про свою мрію". Tochka.net (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  6. "Jerry Heil". YouTube (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  7. "JerrysDreams YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics - Socialblade.com". socialblade.com. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  8. "Jerry Heil – Де мій дім (EP)". notatky.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  9. "Jerry Heil презентовала дебютный EP" (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  10. Х-фактор 9. Випуск 10. Jerry Heil – Попурі. Додатковий кастинг в Києві від 03.11.2018
  11. "ТОП-5 выступлений десятого кастинга "Х —Фактора" — возвращение призрака EL Кравчук и громкий успех видеоблогера Jerry Heil" (in Russian). Besti. 5 November 2018.
  12. "Діма Топоринський знявся в кліпі Jerry Heil". Noviy kanal. 12 November 2018.
  13. Muzyka, Liliya (2019-03-12). ""Охрана отмєна": сеть взорвал смешной хит молодых украинских музыкантов" (in Russian). fakty.ua.
  14. Koval, Oksana (2019-03-18). ""Хорошо хоть тапками не кидают на украинский язык в ленте": Вера Брежнева посоветовала слушать украинскую музыку, опубликовав в сети видео" (in Russian). replyua.net.
  15. "Jerry Heil – Охрана отмєна (Лірик відео)". Нотатки про українську музику (in Ukrainian). notatky.com.ua. 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  16. Panasov, Ihor (2019-04-07). "Jerry Heil випустила пісню #ОХРАНА_ОТМЄНА". karabas.
  17. "Віра Брежнєва - Я не святая: прем'єра нової пісні! Jerry Heil про спільну роботу з зіркою". novy.tv. 2019-04-18.
  18. "Girls power, "Твін Пікс" та Мальдіви. 10 українських треків червня". radiosvoboda.org. 2019-07-03.
  19. ""Моя каса тепер вільна": Jerry Heil випустила ту саму пісню та кліп". slukh.media. 2019-09-24.
  20. "Jerry Heil презентувала дебютний альбом: слухати онлайн". 24tv.ua. 2019-09-28.
  21. "Ukraine announces acts national selection Vidbir 2020". EBU. 20 January 2020.
  22. Jerry Heil. "Jerry Heil". VK. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  23. "Українка, яку хотіли штрафувати за кавер на Imagine Dragons, вийшла сухою з води". slukh.media. 2018-10-30.
  24. "Jerry Heil: как защитить кавер по закону" (in Russian). Ліга. Новости. 7 November 2018.
  25. Top Hit Weekly Ukraine:
  26. "Jerry Heil попала у "Родину Адамсів"!" (in Ukrainian). Telegid. 17 October 2019.
  27. "Хто переміг на премії Jager Music Awards 2019: весь список переможців". slukh.media. 2019-11-15.
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