Viktor Tsoi — musician with roots in the USSR
Viktor Tsoi was a Soviet rock musician and actor born in Leningrad to a Korean father and Russian mother who fronted the band Kino — one of the most important bands in Soviet rock history. He died in a car accident at 28 in 1990, becoming a mythic figure for an entire Soviet generation.
Tracing the roots — Leningrad
Born in Leningrad in 1962 to Robert Tsoi — a Korean Soviet engineer — and Valentina Guseva, a Russian gym teacher, Viktor was a product of Leningrad's underground rock scene. His songs about change, resistance, and individual dignity resonated profoundly with Soviet youth in the glasnost era. The wall in Moscow's Arbat district where fans gather is still called 'Tsoi's Wall.'
Rock legend with Russian ties.[web:61]
Leningrad. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
A career defined by ambition
"We want changes!"