Viktor Tsoi

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was born in Leningrad on 21 June 1962. He was the only child of Valentina Vasilyevna Tsoi (born Guseva) (1939–2009), a Russian schoolteacher, and Robert Maximovich Tsoi (1938–), a Soviet-Korean engineer.[3] Viktor's father was born in the Kazakh SSR to parents living in exile due to Stalin's deportation of Koreans in 1937.[4] The family's Korean ancestry can be traced back to Songjin, Hamgyong, Korea (today's Kimchaek, North Korea), where Viktor's great-grandfather Choi Yong-nam was born in 1893.[5]

Tsoi grew up in the vicinity of the Moskovsky Victory Park. He was born in a maternity hospital on Kuznetsovskaya Street (located inside the park). The family lived in the notable "general's house" at the corner of Moskovsky Avenue and Basseynaya Street (the building is now an architectural monument).[6] For some time Tsoi studied at a nearby school in Frunze Street, where his mother worked.[7]

From 1974 until 1977, Tsoi attended a secondary art school, where he was a member of the band Palata № 6 (Russian: Палата № 6, Chamber № 6).[8] From 1977, he attended the Serov Art School, until he was expelled in 1979 for poor performance. Afterwards, he attended SGPTU-61, where he was studying to become a wood carver. [9] In his youth, he was a fan of Mikhail Boyarsky and Vladimir Vysotsky, and later Bruce Lee, after whom he started modelling his image.[10][11] He was fond of martial arts and often sparred "in Chinese" with bandmate Yuri Kasparyan.

Tsoi began writing songs at the age of 17. In the 1970s and the 1980s, rock music was an underground movement limited mostly to Leningrad; Moscow pop stars, endorsed by the Soviet state, ruled the charts and received the most exposure from the media. However, rock music was not popular with the government, and rock bands received little to no funding and were given little exposure by the media. The Leningrad Rock Club was one of the few public places where rock bands were allowed to perform.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tsoi was a close friend of Alexei Rybin. Rybin, a member of the hard rock band Piligrimy (Russian: Пилигримы, lit. 'Pilgrims'), and Tsoi, who played bass guitar in the group Palata № 6 (Russian: Палата № 6, lit. 'Chamber № 6'), met at the house of Andrei "Svin" Panov, in whose apartment people and musicians often gathered, and also where his own punk band Avtomaticheskie udovletvoriteli rehearsed. By this time, Tsoi had begun to perform the songs he wrote at parties.

Tsoi and Rybin, as members of Avtomaticheskie udovletvoriteli, went to Moscow and performed punk-rock metal at Artemy Troitsky's underground concerts. During a similar performance in Leningrad on the occasion of Andrei Tropillo's anniversary, Tsoi and Rybin first met Boris Grebenshchikov. Later, after a solo concert by Grebenshchikov, they met up and Tsoi played two of his songs to him.[12] Grebenshchikov, who had already been a relatively established musician in the Leningrad underground scene, was very impressed by Tsoi's talent and helped him start up his own band.

Tsoi's fans mourning in Leningrad

On 15 August 1990 in Latvia, Tsoi was driving on the Sloka – Talsi highway, near Tukums and Riga. At 12:28 p.m., Tsoi died in a car collision. The investigation concluded that Tsoi had fallen asleep while driving, possibly due to fatigue;[16][17] he had not consumed alcohol for at least 48 hours before his death.[18] At the time he fell asleep Tsoi was driving at a speed of at least 130 km/h, causing his dark blue Moskvitch-2141[19] to turn into the oncoming lane and collide with an Ikarus 250 bus.[20] Tsoi was pronounced dead at the scene. The bus driver was not injured. Tsoi's car was completely destroyed to the point that one of its tires was never found.

The death of Viktor Tsoi was a shock to many fans, some even having committed suicide.[21] On 17 August, Komsomolskaya Pravda, one of the main Soviet newspapers, had the following to say about Tsoi and his meaning to the youth of the nation:

Tsoi means more to the young people of our nation than any politician, celebrity or writer. This is because Tsoi never lied and never sold out. He was and remains himself. It's impossible not to believe him... Tsoi is the only rocker who has no difference between his image and his real life, he lived the way he sang... Tsoi is the last hero of rock.

On 19 August, he was buried in a closed casket at the Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in Leningrad. Thousands of people came to the funeral.

Kasparyan left for Leningrad prior to the collision, with a tape containing the only recording of Tsoi's vocals for the band's next album. The remaining members of Kino finished and released the Black Album in December. It later became the band's most popular creation.

Viktor lived with his wife, Marianna Tsoi, and his son Alexander (born 1985). Tsoi lived a poor life, with Marianna saying that they couldn't even afford a proper wedding dress. He worked and lived in the boiler room of the apartment building. The boiler room was nicknamed "Kamchatka", and is now the site of a museum and rock club dedicated to Tsoi.[22] He previously also worked in Kiev, Ukraine, however after the authorities found out he was working illegally, he was sent to Moscow.

During the filming of Assa, Tsoi met Natalia Razlogova, the director's assistant. Tsoi later fell in love with Razlogova and separated from Marianna. However, they did not divorce, for the sake of their son.[23]

Russian stamp devoted to Viktor Tsoi, 1999

The Tsoi Wall in the Arbat District of Moscow

Portraits of Viktor Tsoi are displayed today in many places around Russia, from graffiti on the fences of Saint Petersburg to an entire wall dedicated to Viktor Tsoi in a bylane of the famous Arbat Street in Moscow, where fans still gather to remember their hero. Other Tsoi Walls can also be found in Minsk, Belarus and in some regions of Kazakhstan. In 2000 some of the nation's top rock bands came together and released their interpretations of Kino's best songs as a tribute to Viktor Tsoi on what would have been his 38th birthday.

The South Korean rock band YB covered the song "Gruppa krovi" (Russian: «Группа крови», lit. 'Blood Type'; Korean: 혈액형) on their 1999 album Korean Rock Remade (Korean: 한국 ROCK 다시 부르기).[24]

On 21 June 2012, Google commemorated Tsoi's 50th birthday with a Google Doodle reminiscent of the Tsoi Wall.[25][26]

Viktor An, a South Korean-born Russian short track speed skater, chose his Russian name "Viktor" in honour of Tsoi.[27]

In 2012, on what would have been Tsoi’s 50th birthday, the remaining members of Kino gathered to record the song "Ataman" (Russian: «Атаман»), with his vocals that were recovered from his car crash but never used because of its poor quality. The drummer Georgiy Guryanov died shortly after, making "Ataman" the last song recorded by Kino and its members.

In 2015, Tsoi's song "Kukushka" (Russian: «Кукушка», lit. 'Cuckoo') was covered by Russian singer Polina Gagarina for the movie Battle for Sevastopol.

In the 2018 film Leto, Tsoi was played by Teo Yoo.[28]

In 2018, a monument to Tsoi was erected in Almaty, Kazakhstan.[29]

In the 2019 videogame, Metro Exodus, multiple songs by Kino such as “We Want Changes”, “Watch Yourself”, “A Song Without Words” and “Shut The Door Behind Me", can be heard on the radio during segments set on a train as it travels across Russia, its crew in search of a hospitable place to live after a nuclear war. “Shut The Door Behind Me” can also be heard in the beginning of the level 'Taiga' as the player and a crew member scout out a valley.

Joanna Stingray commemorated him in her song, "Tsoi Song".[30]

Monument to Tsoi in St. Petersburg

On 15 August 2020, the 30th anniversary of Tsoi's death was marked. In memory of Tsoi, the Palace Bridge in St. Petersburg was lifted to his songs. Fans across the country commemorated his death, especially in his home city of St. Petersburg where a number of events and concerts were organised, as well as at the Tsoi Wall in Moscow. The day before, a 4 meter-tall monument dedicated to Tsoi was erected in St. Petersburg in his memory.[31][32]

External images
Valentina Vasiliyevna — Viktor's mother
Robert Maximovich — Viktor's father
Alexander — Viktor's son

• Maxim Maximovich Tsoi (Korean name: Choi Seung Jun, Hangul: 최승준) — Viktor's grandfather on his father's side; a Korean from Kazakhstan.[33]
• Robert Maximovich Tsoi (born 5 May 1938, Korean name: Choi Dong Yeol, Hangul: 최동열) — Viktor's father; an engineer.
• Valentina Vasiliyevna Tsoi (née Guseva) (8 January 1937 – 28 November 2009) — Viktor's mother; a physical education teacher.
• Marianna Igorevna Tsoi (born Kovalyova, Rodovanskaya after her first marriage) (5 March 1959 – 27 June 2005) — Viktor's wife; Viktor and Marianna met in 1982, married in 1984, and separated in 1987, after which Viktor moved in with his new girlfriend Natalia Razlogova.[23] Marianna became the owner of the rights to Viktor's songs after his death. She survived him by 15 years, dying of cancer in 2005.[34][35]
• Alexander Viktorovich Tsoi (performed as Molchanov) (born 5 August,[36] 1985) — Viktor's son; a graphic designer and musician. In June 2012, on his first ever interview, he said that he owns a club in St. Petersburg, writes and performs music, and works as a graphic designer, creating album covers for other musicians.[37] He was a guitarist in the band Para bellvm.
• Natalia Emilyevna Razlogova (born 20 October 1956) — Viktor's girlfriend; a film critic, translator, and sister of the famous film critic Kirill Razlogov. After Tsoi's death, she married journalist Yevgeny Dodolev and left for the US, where she and Dodolev had two children.

• Zhitinsky, A. N. (2012). Tsoi Forever. St. Petersburg: Amphora. ISBN 978-5-699-37227-0.

• (in Russian) "Виктор Цой, Звезда по Имени Солнце: Стихи, Песни, Воспоминания", Eksmo, 2001.
• Tsoi, Marianna; Aleksandr Zhitinsky (1991). Viktor Tsoi: stikhi, dokumenty, vospominaniya (in Russian). St. Peterburg: Novy Gelikon. ISBN 5-85395-018-5.

• Media related to Viktor Tsoi at Wikimedia Commons
• Viktor Tsoi at IMDb
• Viktor Tsoi's 50th Birthday Google Doodle