Nurbek Savitakhunov (Нурбек Савитахунов) is a Kyrgyz contemporary pop/rock singer who sings mainly in Russian. Less boy-band-pop-y than, say, fellow Kyrgyz stars Mirbek Atabekov and Omar, he has a smooth, easy-to-listen-to voice that he combines with somewhat harder rock backup. He’s often grouped with indie-folk bands, but he himself considers himself more of an urban […]

Mumiy Troll   is a rock, alt rock, and Britpop band founded in Vladivostok, Russia in 1983. The band’s name is a play on words, specifically on Moomin Troll , which is a series of Finnish children’s books. The band has a unique sound and style that, it seems, most people either really like or really […]

This Russian pop-rock and soft rock duo, formed in 2003, is actually named after American actress Uma Thurman. They typically write their band name with the (mostly) Latin letters as above, but occasionally one sees their name Russified as “УмаТурман” in Russian. Brothers Sergei and Vladimir Kristovski, who comprise the band, site a long-held adoration […]

5sta Family (it is the same in Russian) is a Russian R&B group. They are known for, and are understandably proud of, operating independently and writing most of their songs themselves. The group was founded in 2005 when Vasiliy Kosinskiy (V-kes; Василий Косинский) and Valeriy Yefremov (CoolB; Валерий Ефремов) met online and decided that they […]

Prime Minister (Премьер Министр) is a Russian pop/rock band founded in 1998 by producer Evgeny Fridlyand (Евгениы Фридлянд) and sound producer Kit Breitburg (Кит Брейтбург). The band is best known for representing Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002. The group originally consisted of Vyacheslav Bodolika (Вячеслав Бодолика), Peter Jason (Питер Джейсон), Zhan Grigoryev-Milimerov […]

Lena Katina (or Yelena; Лена Катина) is a Russian solo pop singer and former member of the legendary Russian duet t.A.T.u. Though she is best known around the world for her participation in t.A.T.u., she is a musician and individual in her own right, beyond the group’s long shadow. Katina grew up in Moscow, where […]

t.A.T.u. (originally Tatu in English and Тату in Russian, and eventually marketed under t.A.T.u in both languages) is perhaps the most famous modern Russian band. Well known not only in Russia but around the world, it was founded in 1999 by producer Ivan Shapovalov and composer Aleksandr Voytinskiy. For the entire life of the band, […]

Serebro (“silver”; the band’s name is Russian but spelled in the Roman alphabet even in Russian contexts) is a girl pop group that was founded by producer Maksim Fadeev in 2006. Fadeev is a producer on the TV show Star Factory (Фабрика звёзд), the show that also led to the creation of Fabrika and Korni, […]

Fabrika (Фабрика; “factory”) is a Russian pop band whose current members are Irina Toneva (Ирина Тонева), Aleksandra Savalyeva (Александра Савальева), and Aleksandra Popova (Александра Попова). The band was started in 2002 through the TV show Star Factory–1 (Фабрика Звёзд–1), produced by Igor Matvienko, and consisted of Toneva, Savalyeva, Sati Kazanova (Сати Казанова), and Maria Alalykina […]