24/10/2025
“Rock concert”
painting by Viktor Tsoi, USSR, 80s.
Tsoi was a Soviet-Korean rock musician, songwriter, and frontman of the band Kino, one of the most influential rock groups in the late Soviet Union.
Born in 1962 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to a Russian mother and a Korean father, Tsoi rose to prominence in the 1980s as the voice of a generation longing for change during the final years of the USSR.
His songs often carried themes of personal freedom, youth, rebellion, and social struggle, expressed in a simple yet powerful style that resonated widely.
Tragically, Tsoi passed away in a car accident in 1990 at the age of 28, at the peak of his influence.