Famous Russian Musicians

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the first Russian composer to place Russian music on the international stage. Often described as a musician who transcended the stereotypes of classical Russian music, Tchaikovsky is credited with making the Western world take note of Russian music. Although he was criticized by the critics, his popularity among the public never faded.

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, conductor, and virtuoso pianist of the late Romantic period. Credited with exploring the expressive possibilities of the piano, Rachmaninoff's music continues to be featured in films. His four-year struggle with depression, which was followed by the critical failure of his Symphony No. 1, was depicted in the 2015 musical Preludes.

Four-time Grammy-winning Russian composer and pianist Igor Stravinsky is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. He is remembered for his ballets The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. He broke the traditional flow of music and incorporated his own style.

Dmitry Shostakovich was a Soviet and Russian pianist and composer. Widely regarded as one of the 20th century's major composers, Shostakovich's music is characterized by ambivalent tonality, elements of the grotesque, and sharp contrasts. He composed 15 symphonies during his lifetime and most of his work came under Joseph Stalin.

Zedd is a Russian-German songwriter, record producer, and DJ. He is best known for his 2012 single, Clarity, which earned him a Grammy Award in 2014 after peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although he mainly performs and produces electro house music, Zedd also draws inspiration from dubstep, progressive house, and classical music.

Vitas is a Ukrainian-Russian actor, singer, and songwriter. Renowned for his eclectic musical style and unique falsetto, Vitas has performed with well-known labels like Universal Music Group. He often incorporates elements of folk, classical, jazz, techno, dance, and operatic pop into his music.

Russian composer and pianist Aleksandr Scriabin is considered one of the most innovative and controversial of early modern composers. Interested in music from an early age, he built pianos as a young man and didn’t take long to establish himself as a brilliant composer. Unfortunately, he died at the height of his career, at the age of just 43. 

While he grew up listening to Russian folk songs and church music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov later joined the navy with his brother. One of the legendary Russian composers known as The Mighty Handful, he is remembered for his pieces such as Flight of the Bumblebee from the opera Tsar Saltan.

Viktor Tsoi, the lead singer of the legendary Russian rock band Kino, broke the hearts of his fans across the world when he died in a tragic car crash at age 28. A symbol of rebellion, Tsoi transformed rock music from an underground movement to a mainstream phenomenon in Russia.

Evgeny Kissin is a Russian-born composer and concert pianist. He is renowned for his renditions of the works of great musicians like Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Over the course of his illustrious career, Evgeny Kissin has won many prestigious musical awards, such as the Grammy Awards, Triumph Award, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Award.

Modest Mussorgsky was a Russian composer best remembered for being part of a renowned 19th-century Russian composers group known as The Five. An innovator of Russian music, Mussorgsky worked towards achieving a Russian musical identity that challenged the already established Western music, which was generally considered conventional at that time.

Nina Kraviz is a Russian DJ, singer, and music producer. She studied dentistry and even practiced for some time while performing gigs as a side hustle. She then proceeded to study at the Red Bull Music Academy. She released her self-titled debut album in 2012 and then went on to launch her own record label. 

A Soviet cultural icon, singer Vladimir Vysotsky was known for his social commentary in his songs. In his early years, he quit engineering to study acting. He later ruled the stage as an actor, before stepping into music. He even distributed his recordings after being banned in the country.

Aleksandr Borodin was a Russian musical composer. He was one of the popular 19th-century group of musicians known as The Five, who worked together to create a national style of classical music. A chemist and doctor by profession, Borodin also made important contributions to organic chemistry. His best known work as a chemist is his work pertaining to organic synthesis.

Soviet pianist Emil Gilels is remembered as one of the greatest in his field. He was 6 when he began studying piano and later toured the world, playing in New York City and London. He died before he could complete a recording cycle of Beethoven's sonatas for Deutsche Grammophon.

Mikhail Glinka was a Russian composer who is considered the fountainhead of classical music in Russia. Glinka was the first Russian musician to achieve widespread acclaim within his own country. His compositions went on to influence subsequent generations of Russian composers, such as the members of The Five.

Born to German parents in Russia, composer Alfred Schnittke is remembered for his signature style of music, known as polystylism, which was characterized by its dark themes. A versatile musician, who also composed film scores, he was once banned from leaving the country by the Soviet authorities.

Sergey Lazarev is a Russian singer, actor, and dancer. He is best known for his contribution to the success of the pop duo, Smash. Lazarev has represented Russia twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third on both occasions. As an actor, Sergey Lazarev is involved in the Russian theatre scene.

Alexey Vorobyov is a Russian actor and singer best known for his performances in the English and Russian languages. Alexey Vorobyov is also known for his appearance on the Russian version of the popular music competition show, The X Factor.

Bulgarian-Russian singer Kristian Kostov was 6 when he began training in music and was already performing solo by 11. He soared to fame with the Russian version of The Voice Kids and then became the runner-up on X Factor Bulgaria. At 18, he was the youngest contestant on the Chinese reality show Singer.

Russian rock-musician Zemfira has made her mark as a singer in Russia and other former Soviet republics with studio-albums like Zemfira and Forgive Me My Love, and hit singles like You Want? Forgive Me My Love became the best-selling album of Zemfira with over 1,500,000 copies sold, while overall till date Zemfira has sold over 3 million records.