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Vol. I · 2026
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Tier B
Cinema & TV · UK · USSR

Boris Grebenshchikov

Борис Гребенщиков

Leningrad-born singer-songwriter, founder of Aquarium (1972)

🇬🇧 Fame: UK🇷🇺 Origin: USSR🔗 Connection: Lived under Russian or Soviet rule🗓 He has lived in London since 2022.🗣 Russian: Fluent
BG
Profile #198
ProfessionRock Legend (Aquarium)
Russian originLeningrad (Russia)USSR
ConnectionLived under Russian or Soviet rule
RussianFluent
CategoryCinema & TVTier B
Biography

Boris Grebenshchikov — rock legend (aquarium) with roots in the USSR

Boris Grebenshchikov is a Russian singer-songwriter who founded the rock band Aquarium in Leningrad in 1972. His album Radio Silence (1989), produced by Dave Stewart, was released on Columbia (CBS), the first contract of a Soviet rock musician with a Western label.

"He has lived in London since 2022."

Migration story
Russian Connection

Tracing the roots — Leningrad (Russia)

Born in Leningrad, RSFSR, on 27 November 1953 to an engineer father and a lawyer mother. He has lived in London since 2022 and has been declared a 'foreign agent' in Russia.

Family Tree
Subject
Boris Grebenshchikov🇬🇧 UK
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Origin
Leningrad (Russia)🇷🇺 USSR
Historical context
Soviet Union (USSR) · 1922–1991
Map of the Soviet Union (USSR)

Leningrad (Russia). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.

Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Key Achievements

A career defined by ambition

01
Founded Aquarium (1972)
02
Radio Silence (1989) on Columbia (CBS) — first contract of a Soviet rock musician with a Western label
03
Order 'For Merit to the Fatherland', IV class (2003)
04
Radio Silence produced by Dave Stewart, with Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde and Billy Mackenzie

""I was born in a country that no longer exists, which gives me a certain freedom.""

Boris Grebenshchikov
Russian diasporaborn in Russia/USSRSoviet-bornRussian speaker
Sources