Nilufar Usmonova is a popular contemporary Uzbek pop singer. She is perhaps best known as the daughter of legendary Uzbek singer Yulduz Usmonova; another of her major achievements (if it can be called that) is that she has never fallen out of favor with the Uzbek authorities, as is common for Uzbek pop singers. Usmonova […]

Sogdiana (real name Oksana Nechitaylo, Оксана Нечитайло) is a Russian-Uzbek pop singer. She sings in Uzbek, Russian, and Chechen, though most often in Uzbek. Sogdiana’s family is Chechen, but she grew up in Uzbekistan—she was born in 1984 in Tashkent. She studied the piano in school and studied at a conservatory at the same time, […]

Jasur Gaipov is a young Uzbek pop singer. He sings mainly in Uzbek, but he knows several other languages—Russian, English, Turkish, and Azerbaijani, and Tadjik. In addition to singing, he writes poetry, dances, and acts in films, and has trained as a lawyer and worked as an entrepreneur. He has said that his biggest musical influence […]

Yulduz Usmonova is an Uzbek singer who has been beloved in Uzbekistan and surrounding countries for several decades. She sings mainly in Uzbek, but her repertoire includes songs in Russian, English, Uighur, Turkish, Kazakh, and Tatar. Her genre is considered pop, but her songs also include traditional Uzbek instruments and are not typical pop tunes. […]

Tamila (real name Esmeralda Rahmatova) is an Uzbek pop singer who has most recently been best known for a series of scandals that resulted in her losing her performance license in Uzbekistan. Tamila was born in 1988 in Qarshi, in the southwest of Uzbekistan. She began performing in 2011 and had a good few years […]

Rayhon G’aniyeva is an Uzbek pop singer who usually goes by her first name alone. She sings mainly in Uzbek, though occasionally also in Russian. She is considered one of the most influential contemporary Uzbek pop artists. Rayhon was born in 1978 in Tashkent to an artistic family: both her parents, Tamara Shokirova and Otabek […]

Lola Yo’ldosheva (or Лола Юлдашева; and she often uses the Roman transliteration of this name, Lola Yuldasheva, rather than the Uzbek spelling) is an Uzbek pop singer, actress, and songwriter. She usually goes by her stage name, simply Lola. She sings most often in Uzbek, but sometimes in Russian as well. Lola was born in […]

Urmat Usenov (Урмат Усенов) is a Kyrgyz pop singer. These days he sings mainly in Kyrgyz, though he has recorded several songs in Russian and even occasionally sings in Turkish. Usenov grew up in Talas, a Kyrgyz village, but his parents sent him to Bishkek when he was 11 because they believed he had a […]