Viktor Tsoi is the major musical influence on my work that the most readers will never have heard of, let alone heard.
“Rock Concert” painting by Viktor Tsoi, Soviet Union, 1980s.
Viktor Tsoi, a Soviet-Korean rock musician, songwriter, and lead singer of Kino, was a defining figure in the late Soviet Union’s rock scene. Born in 1962 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to a Russian mother and Korean father, Tsoi became a cultural icon in the 1980s, capturing the spirit of a generation yearning for change. His music, marked by themes of personal freedom, youth, rebellion, and social struggle, delivered in a raw and poignant style, deeply connected with audiences. Tragically, Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990 at age 28, at the height of his impact.