Ilyas Ayubov

Ilyas Ayubov (Ильяс Аюбов) (born 1986 in Grozny, Chechnya) is a Chechen pop singer.

Biography
Ilyas was born in 1986 in Grozny.

In 2001, Ilyas's father returned to their home in Grozny from Sernovodsk, while Ilyas stayed behind due to studies at his high school. Ilyas returned to Grozny with the rest of his family in December of that year to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, although the city was under curfew by the Russian military, which had been prolonged further due to the holiday.

Ilyas recorded his first song, "Mother's Son", in memory of his father. However, his popularity would not take off until he introduced his second song, "Do You Believe", at two concerts - the song gained instant popularity on Chechen radio stations, and was continually aired every hour. Ilyas said that he found this sudden new fame had made him nostalgic for his old life, as he missed being able to spend as much time with friends and having an active social life. He also said that he found stardom to be a "disease of complacency and arrogance", and he felt that many professional singers had devalued themselves through arrogance, once they had realized fame. Ilyas himself generates no income from his music, which is widely pirated throughout marketplaces in Chechnya; however, he says, "But I think that if someone, sells my voice, to make a piece of bread to feed his family, I am glad so that I can help in any scheme."