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 […]

Absolute Rascals (Отпетые Мошенники) is a Russian pop boy band that hails from the suburbs of St. Petersburg. According to the group themselves, they are not sure when they were founded—“we think least of all about dates, numbers and sums. We’re more interested in notes, harmonies, lyrics”—but their first major concert took place in December […]

Korni (Корни; “roots”) is a Russian pop boy band. It was founded in 2002 through the TV show Star Factory (Фабрика звёзд) by producer Igor Matvienko, who is also responsible for the bands Fabrika (“factory”) and Ivanushki International. Star Factory debuted on Russia’s Channel One in 2002 and was a huge success. It featured 16 […]

Tanya Teryoshina (Таня Терёшина) is a Russian pop singer and model. She was born in Budapest—her father was a Soviet military official, so the family moved frequently, and she grew up in Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, and finally Smolensk, Russia. She attended an art institute in Smolensk, where she studied painting, but she also participated in […]

Andrei Shirman (Андрей Ширман), also known as “Smash”, is a successful Russian electronic and house DJ. He performs in Russian and English, generally favoring English and occasionally mixing the languages in one song. Shirman was born May 23, 1982 in Perm, Russia.Both of his parents had a love for music. His father was a jazz […]

Leonid Rudenko (Леонид Анатольевич Руденко) is a Russian DJ, musician, and producer who records electronic music in Russian and English. Rudenko was born in Moscow, Russia and started mixing music at the age of ten. Self-taught, he began his career as a DJ in 1997 by mixing techno, house, trance, and ambient music. His first […]

Gradusy (Градусы; “degrees”) is a Russian pop band from Stavropol, founded in 2008. It consists of Dmitry Bakhtinov (Дмитрий Бахтинов, bass guitar), who organized the group, Roman Pashkov (Роман Пашков, vocals, guitar), Ruslan Tagiev (Руслан Тагиев, vocals, DJ), and Viktor Golovanov (Виктор Голованов, percussion). Their first hit was the 2009 single “Director” (“Режиссёр”), which was […]