Ленинград

Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград), also known as Gruppirovka Leningrad (Russian: Группировка "Ленинград") and Bandformirovanie Leningrad (Russian: Бандформирование "Ленинград"), is a popular Russian rock band from Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), led by Sergey "Shnur" Shnurov. Composed of 14 members, the band was founded in the late 1990s. Leningrad worked in Gypsy punk style and soon became notorious for vulgar lyrics (including much Russian mat) and celebration of drinking. As a result, most radio stations initially avoided the band, which did not stop Leningrad's growing popularity, partly for purely aesthetic reasons, such as the rich brass sound. The band eventually made its way to radio and TV (with profanity bleeped out). Shnurov even presented several New Year's Eve TV shows. In 2007, the group began experimenting with female backup vocals, finally choosing jazz singer Yuliya Kogan as a permanent band member. Leningrad disbanded in 2008, and then reunited in 2010. Several new songs and videos have been released since, most of them featuring lead vocals by Kogan rather than Shnurov. Their music video Kolshchik, directed by Ilya Naishuller, won the Berlin Music Video Awards in 2017, taking the 1st place for the "Best Concept" Category. In 2018, Leningrad's music video Is not Paris, directed by Pavel Sidorov, was the winner of the Berlin Music Video Awards, winning also the "Best Narrative" category. In March 2019, Shnurov announced, through his daily Instagram poem, that Leningrad would disband by the end of the year, after a farewell tour.