Кино

Viktor Viktorovich Tsoï was the frontman, guitarist and lyricist of the Russian rock group Kino. After forming the band in 1981 with guitarist Aleksey Rybin and drummer Oleg Valinski, the trio released their debut album 45 in 1982. Kino’s breakthrough came with the 1984 album Начальник Камчатки, which introduced a more electric sound and established Tsoï’s poetic style. The 1986 releases Это не любовь and Ночь expanded the band’s reach, with the single "Mama Anarkhiya" gaining underground popularity. In 1988, Группа крови became a commercial success, selling over two million copies and cementing Kino’s status in the Soviet music scene. The 1989 album Звезда по имени Солнце produced the enduring hit "Пачка сигарет". The band toured extensively, including a 1990 performance at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium before disbanding following Tsoï’s fatal car accident on 15 August 1990. Posthumously, the unreleased Чёрный альбом was issued in 1991, and subsequent compilations such as Легенда (2018) and Лето (Песня для Цоя) (2018) kept the group’s legacy alive. In 2019, a reformed Kino performed using archived vocals, continuing Tsoï’s influence into the 2020s.