Alexei Sultanov was born in Tashkent in the family of musicians Fayzulkhak Abdulkhakovich Sultanov and Natalia Mikhailovna Pogorelova. Grandson of the famous Uzbek actress Zamira Khidoyatova. Has a younger brother Sergei. From the age of four, Sultanov studied at the Republican Music School with teacher Tamara Popovich. He first appeared on stage at the age of seven, performing Mozart's Rondo in D major (K. 382) with the orchestra, and from the age of eight he performed regularly in concerts. At the age of fifteen, he became a laureate of the Komsomol Prize of Uzbekistan. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Lev Naumov. In 1986, at the VIII International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 16-year-old Alexei Sultanov was the favorite of the competition. An hour before the draw during the draw, Alexei dropped the lid of the piano on his hand - the doctor stated that his finger was broken. Sultanov decided to play, behind the scenes the doctor did anesthesia. The audience, having learned about what had happened, applauded for a long time after his performances for all two rounds. Despite this, Sultanov was not among the finalists. In 1989, Sultanov became the winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, performing Rachmaninov's Second Concerto in the final. The audience gave the pianist a standing ovation, calling for bows more than five times. The Grand Prix of the competition was presented to him by Van Cliburn himself, who presided over the jury. After winning the Competition Cliburn Alexei Sultanov gained worldwide fame. In 1990 he left the third year of the Moscow Conservatory and in 1991 moved to the USA. In the future, Sultanov twice participated in major international competitions, and both times this participation was accompanied by loud scandals. In 1995, despite the admiration of the public and the enthusiasm of the press, the jury of the Chopin Piano Competition decided to award Sultanov only the second prize, and not to award the first prize to anyone. The insulted Sultanov refused to receive a diploma of the second degree, after which the 26-year-old pianist had a stroke. In 1998, the jury of the International Tchaikovsky Competition considered Sultanov's performance of the Seventh Sonata by S. S. Prokofiev to be too temperamental, and did not allow him to the final, which caused a huge scandal and a sharp reaction from the press and the public. The first prize of the competition was awarded to Denis Matsuev. The chairman of the jury, composer Andrei Eshpay, announcing the results of the second round, said that "he is ashamed that Alexei Sultanov did not make it to the final." In 2001, Sultanov suffered a series of repeated strokes, which led to paralysis of the left side of the body and blindness of the left eye. He tried to continue to perform charity concerts, in which he was assisted by his wife, the cellist Dace Abele, who performed the parts of the left hand. On June 30, 2005, the musician died at the age of 35.