Victor Tsoi; Lead Singer of Popular Soviet Rock Band

Victor Tsoi, lead singer of the popular Soviet rock group Kino. Kino, a hard-rock quartet whose name means cinema in Russian, became popular in 1987 first as an underground group that was not allowed to record by the authorities. Kino later received permission to record, and Tsoi became an idol for many Soviet youth. He recently participated in a series of successful concerts in Moscow and was planning to release a new album and star in a feature film. In 1987, songs by Kino and three other popular Soviet groups--Aquarium, Alisa and Strange Games--were issued in the United States on a double album titled “Red Wave.” Kino had been scheduled to tour South Korea and Japan this autumn. The Soviet news agency Tass did not report his age or the exact place in Latvia where his car hit a bus in a fatal accident on Thursday.