Letov Igor Fedorovich - a well-known Russian poet, sound producer, great musician, and this is only a small part of his achievements. Throughout his life, he managed to attract the attention of a huge multitude of people. His ideas and the most powerful talent always surprised and fascinated fans.
Legendary musician
On September 10, 1964, in the city of Omsk, a Russian rock music performer, poet and leader of the beloved Civil Defense group, Igor Fedorovich Letov, was born. In the process of creative life, he took a stage name for himself, so modern rock lovers know him under the name Yegor Letov.
The musicianās creative success was not prevented by constant problems with his studies. The expulsion from the Omsk vocational school led him to some difficulties and forced him to perform hard work in order to have money. But he could not give up, so the next step in Igorās life was the beginning of his creative career and the appearance of Yegor Letov.
And even in our time, when a random passerby is asked to name the greatest Russian poet and musician, he will no doubt answer that it is Letov Yegor. A group called "Civil Defense", the founder and leader of which he was, gave listeners positive emotions at concerts, each time showing something new and unusual.
Collectives
Over the years of creative activity (1982-2008), the musician worked in various genres, among which there are punk, garage rock, psychedelic rock and many others. In addition, Yegor was part of the teams that raised a huge audience. The modern young generation is happy to listen to the creations of Soviet collectives: "Civil Defense", "Yegor and Tanned", "Adolf Hitler", "Anarchy" and others.
A style such as pop mechanics was also on the list of directions for his music groups. Therefore, listening to the songs of the above groups, you can find such music.
The harsh 1980s
Musical activity started in the early 1980s. In his hometown, Yegor Letov, together with his permanent ally, created a rock band, taking the name from the popular magazine - "Sowing" (1982). Two years later, Civil Defense appeared (group). She became more famous and brought good money to her members. The abbreviations āGrobā (the author also called his own home studio) and āGOā were often used for designation.
Letovās work was successful, but achieving this was not so simple. At the very dawn of his activity, he encountered problems related to politics and the desire to be independent, which is why he had to record songs in not very comfortable apartment conditions. But soon this practice has already become established, and each of the albums of GO was recorded in a home studio (Grob Studio).
After a while, the group achieved success already outside of Siberia. In the winter of 1985, various political repressions fell on the Civil Defense, after which the creator of the group was sent to compulsory treatment in a mental hospital. During the time spent there, in order not to really go crazy, Letov began to create, and after discharge, for 2 years, the groupās popular albums were recorded.
By the end of the 80s, musicians from the "Grob Studio" gained popularity among listeners of the entire Soviet Union. Mostly their fans were young rockers, although the slightly older generation also liked to penetrate their creations.
Difficulties and success in the 90s
After a good success, Civil Defense (group) ceased concert activity. The announcement of the dissolution of the team was followed by news of the creation of a new psychedelic project called "Yegor and the Twinkers." At the same time, the now popular albums were recorded - "Jump-Skok" (in 1990) and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (in 1992).
A year later, the musician decided to reunite the GO band in order to revive the concert and studio activities. Very soon, the national-communist rock movement appeared, the leader of which became Letov Igor Fedorovich. At the same time, he manages to engage in rock movement and active touring activities.
By the end of the 1990s, the leader of the group supported the National Bolshevik party, in which he had an important party ticket at number 4. And already in 1999 he went on a huge tour to support Viktor Anpilov, the candidate for the State Duma elections.
Everyone knows that it was the 90s that were not easy for ordinary people. But this did not become an obstacle to the release of new successful albums:
- The Solstice.
- "The Unbearable Lightness of Being".
Project "Yegor and the Twinkers"
As already mentioned above, in the spring of 1990, GO disbanded Letov Yegor. The group did not split up at all because there were contradictions between its members, or because of failure, as is the case in contemporary groups. In fact, Yegor did not want to engage in pop music anymore, so he left his last concert in Tallinn and returned home. After some time, active creative work began, as a result of which new material was presented to fans, called "Yegor and the Twinkers."
During the creation of the first album, the musician traveled through the Urals, collecting and processing more and more information for new creations. But there everything went smoothly. On one of the trips, Yegor, along with positive emotions, received a bite of an encephalitis tick. About a month he literally stood between life and death, balancing on the very brink. For all this time, he had to endure a lack of sleep and a constant temperature of 40 degrees. But in the end, the disease nevertheless left him, and the usual regime of active creative activity was re-launched.
The beginning of the 21st century
In 2002, an album was released called "Starfall", which included the most famous songs of "GO". And "Yegor and the Twinkers" presented the album "Psychedelia Tomorrow". After a couple of years Letov unsubscribed from all political forces, where he had previously played a large role.
During the first years of the 21st century, Igor released several albums that instantly gained popularity. The team survived the resistance of the Estonian authorities, which consisted in the refusal to obtain a visa without explanation. And the most recent concert took place on February 9, 2008 - it was held in Yekaterinburg and was filmed by a local television company.
Personal life
In the late 80s, Letov Igor was madly in love with Yanka Diaghilev, but in the very beginning of the 90s he lived with her friend Anna Volkova. In 1997, Yegor met his future wife and part-time bass player of the Civil Defense Natalia Chumakova.
Death
The musician died at the age of 43 in his hometown. On February 19, 2008, fans lost their favorite artist, who remained forever in their hearts.
Igor Fedorovich Letov was buried in the city's Old-Eastern cemetery, where the graves of his mother and grandmother are located next to his grave. The farewell ceremony was attended by thousands of people from different cities of Russia and other countries.
Causes of death
The very first cause of death was cardiac arrest. But after some time, doctors put forward another version - acute respiratory failure. Doctors claim that this happened due to alcohol poisoning. The musicianās wife and the GO group refuted this fact, so heart failure is considered the official reason.
Memory
After death, exhibitions of art collages were held in several cities of the Russian Federation, which were personally performed by Yegor, as well as Oleg Sudakov and Konstantin Ryabinov.
A year later, fans began to publish the three-volume "Autographs. Draft and White Manuscripts." Volumes were produced for a rather long time: the first in 2009, the second in 2011, and the last only in the fall of 2014.
In 2010 (September 10), at the request of Yegorās wife, a monument was erected on the grave in the form of a marble cube depicting the Jerusalem cross (Igor wore it as a pectoral cross during his lifetime). Many people took part in the creation of the tombstone.
Every year on birthdays and deaths, concerts of memory are held in honor of a prominent representative of Russian rock. His rock, pop mechanics and other musical styles will always be in people's memory. The great man was able to convey to the audience his feelings, which are impossible to forget.
Discography
Egor (Igor) Letov could not do without solo albums and bootlegs. The biography of this musician is interesting to almost every young rocker.
Now there really are quite a few people who want to engage in the same activities and get success. Therefore, discography should also be considered.
Solo albums:
- "The Music of Spring" - 2 parts - 1990-93;
- "Russian field of experiment" - 1988;
- āBrothers Letovsā - recorded with the participation of brother Sergey - 2002;
- "Tops and roots" - 2 parts, both in 1989;
- "The holiday is over" - 1990.
Bootlegs:
- "Acoustics in Karaganda" - 1998;
- "Egor and Yanka" - 1989;
- "Songs Into the Void" - 1986;
- "Air Workers Wars" - 1992.
Video and other projects
Letov Igor, or Yegor, as it is customary to call him, took part in the videos that were recorded in the 90s, but are still popular today:
- A concert in the hero city of Leningrad is the first video that was recorded back in 1994.
- The concert at the Krylya Sovetov d / s is the second recording made 3 years after the first. In addition to the concert itself, it also includes an additional interview dated 05.16.97 in Moscow.
Over the course of his career, Yegor Letov presented many projects to his fans. It should be noted that each of them had a different success. Among the best projects of the legendary author include:
- "West".
- "Communism".
- "Border Detachment of Civil Defense" (an album created as part of a semi-mythical group, in which John Double, Kuzya UO, Ryabinov and Yegor Letov himself participated).
- "Enemy of the people".
- "Christ on the porch."
- "Satanism".
- "Cooperative Nishtyak".
- "Army of Vlasov."
- "Anarchy".
- "Adolf Gitler".
- "Black Lukich".
- "Peak and Klaxon."
- "Instructions for survival."
- "Backs of the cop."
- "Russian breakthrough."
Books
In addition to his passion for music, Igor Letov was also engaged in writing. In this, his talent also knew no bounds. During his lifetime, the publishing house issued several collections of poems, which to this day change people's views on life and talk about little-known things:
- "I do not believe in anarchy";
- "Poems";
- Russian Field of Experiments (Yana Diaghileva and Konstantin Ryabinov took part in the creation);
- "Autographs."
Yegor was not very fond of making changes to the created songs or books. But after his death, a book entitled "Poems" was reprinted along with three volumes of "Autographs."
The musicianās books were valued at the same level as songs. Therefore, the number of fans increased not only due to the performances of musical groups under his leadership. Unfortunately, few now have at least one Letovās book, but at the time of their publication, success was top notch.