Joanna Stingray

Joanna Stingray (Russian: Джоанна Стингрей Dzhoanna Stingrey, [dʐɐˈanə sʲtʲɪnˈɡrɛj], born Joanna Fields,[1] 1960, USA) is an American singer, actress, music producer and socialite. She was a key figure in popularising Soviet and Russian rock music and culture in the West in the 1980s.

Joanna Stingray
Joanna Stingray in Don't Come Down On Me music video (2016)
Born
Joanna Fields

(1960-07-03) July 3, 1960
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesJoanna Fields
Occupationmusician, producer
Known forPopularising post-Soviet rock music in the US

Biography

Joanna Stingray is a native of Los Angeles, California. As a young musician, Stingray was a pop vocalist who released her U.S. 12-inch, 4-track debut, "Beverly Hills Brat"[2] in 1983.

In 1984, aged 23, Stingray travelled to Leningrad as a tourist with her sister, who was studying in London had an opportunity to take a trip to visit the Soviet Union for one week.[3] There she was introduced to Boris Grebenshchikov of the rock group Akvarium.[4] Impressed by Grebenshchikov, and other artists' music, Stingray began smuggling the music of underground Soviet rock bands beyond the confines of the Soviet Union.

On July 27, 1986, Australian record company Big Time Records, released Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the Soviet Union, a double album consisting of songs collected and produced by Stingray. Each record side includes songs by one artist and the bands included are Akvarium, Kino, Alisa and Strannye Igry (Strange Games). It was the first release of Russian rock music in the United States. The record caught the attention of popular western artists, among them David Bowie and Andy Warhol. The Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachov also got to know about it; surprised that this music was published by a foreign company, he instructed the minister of culture to ease the publication of music of young Soviet musicians inside the country.[5]

Stingray spent most of the decade living in Russia, where she worked variously as a musician, actress and television presenter before returning to the United States in 1995.[4]

Film, stage and television appearances

In 1993 Joanna was cast in the film "Freak", directed by Roman Kachanov. In 1996 she collaborated with Alexandr Lipnitskii to produce "Sunny Days", a documentary film about the life of Viktor Tsoi.

On 20 June 1992, Stingray took part in the memorial concert to Viktor Tsoi held at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium. She performed alongside Viktor Sologub (bass guitar, Strange Games), Valery Vinogradov (guitar, Center) and Aleksandr Vasilyev (percussion, Center).

Personal life

Stingray married and divorced the guitarist from the band Kino, Yuri Kasparyan.[1] Her 2nd marriage was with another Russian musician Alexandr Vasilyev in 1991.[6] And the last, current Stingray's husband is architect Richard Best from California.

As of 2004, Stingray was the executive director of the Beverly Hills High School Alumni Association and working part-time as a real estate agent.[4]

Discography

References
  1. Гусева, М.; Трушкин, А. (January 16, 1991). История Джоанны Стингрэй, которая любила русский рок и вышла замуж. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  2. "Livejournal". Archived from the original on 2013-04-10.
  3. Boyarinov, Denis (2016-03-14). "Joanna Stingray, a California Girl in the U.S.S.R." The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  4. Chernov, Sergey (December 17, 2004). "The Return of Stingray". The St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. Kushnir, Alexander; RBTH, special to (2013-07-28). "Red Wave: How Soviet rock made it to the US". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  6. "Джоанна Стингрей". 24SMI (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-11-19.
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