Rock music in Russia

Rock and roll is a style of African American music which has long been popular in Russia. The first native bands appeared around 1966, and they grew popular in spite of governmental restrictions. This continued into the 1980s, when amateur bands gained some success, but were still hampered by state regulators, who did not allow them to officially recorded. There were also restrictions on lyrical content. Underground bands evolved during this time, including Pojuschie Gitary (the singing guitars). This was the band that started the VIA movement, and were followed by Tcvety, Golubiye Gitary and Sinyaya Ptica.

In the early 1970s, artists like Jury Morozov invented a kind of Russian psychedelic rock, using elements of progressive rock as well.

In the 1980s an underground scene of rock artists emerged. Such bands as Kino, Mashina Vremeni, Akvarium and DDT were influential in the development of the genre, with the consequent artists copying their style. Many of the 80s bands are still active and popular among Russian youth. Often "Russian rock" refers to the particular sound of these bands.

In the late 1990s a new wave of pop rock artists (Mumii Troll, Zemfira, Zveri) appeared. A radiostation Nashe Radio has been created to promote Russian rock artists, broadcasting in all major Russian cities.

The alternative rock scene is quite small in comparison, although some heavy metal (Arija), punk rock (Korol i Shut, Naiv) and ska (Leningrad) bands have gained mainstream popularity.