Igor Letov

The future "patriarch of Siberian rock" Igor Letov (Egor is a pseudonym) was born on September 10, 1964 in Omsk, in an ordinary Soviet family. Yegor's father was a military man, then he served as secretary of the city district committee of the Communist Party, his mother worked as a doctor. According to rumors, as a child, Letov suffered clinical death 14 times.

From childhood, the boy had a living example of an inexhaustible love of music before his eyes: Yegor's elder brother Sergey is a famous saxophonist, a musician working in different styles. Yegor studied at secondary school №45 in the city of Omsk, which he successfully graduated in 1982. After graduating from school, Letov went to his brother in the Moscow region. There Egor entered a construction vocational school, but a year later he was expelled for academic failure.

Returning to Omsk, Letov continued to work on a project called "Seeding", which he founded in 1982. Since that time, the biography and life of the pioneer of "Russian punk rock" has been inextricably linked with music and creativity.

In those years, Yegor Letov worked at the tire and motorcycle factories of Omsk. As an artist, the musician painted portraits of Ilyich and propaganda posters for communist rallies and meetings, and later worked as a janitor and plasterer.

The Posev group recorded their songs on magnetic albums. This process took place in ordinary apartments on primitive equipment, due to which the sound was dull, rattling and indistinct. Subsequently, even having gained access to normal recording technology, Letov did not abandon the "apartment" method, making the "garage sound" his signature style.

The uniqueness of the artisanal sound, characteristic of the late Civil Defense, was largely due to the musical preferences of the leader of both groups. In an interview, Letov repeatedly mentioned that his songs were influenced by American garage rock of the 1960s and the work of performers working in the spirit of experimental, punk, psychedelic rock.

The Posev group ended its existence in 1984. Around the same time, the legendary "Civil Defense", also known as "G.O." or "GrOb". Letov continued to work in his favorite "garage" style, at the same time opening an independent recording studio "GrOb-Records".

The studio was located in the apartment of an ordinary Omsk Khrushchev. With the money raised from the concerts, Yegor published the albums "G.O." and other groups related to Siberian punk rock.

The released albums, clandestine concerts, handwritten recordings and a completely unique style of performance along with obscene lyrics filled with deep meaning brought Grazhdanskaya Oborona a deafening popularity among Soviet youth. Letov's songs are distinguished by unprecedented energy, recognizable rhythm and original sound.

According to his colleagues in the workshop, Yegor was able to prove that you can play rock without even knowing how to masterfully take complex chords or brilliantly use a drum kit. Surprisingly, Letov himself never considered himself to be a punk movement, he was simply always “against”. Against the system, the system, the established stereotypes, against himself. And this nihilism, along with the criticality of the lyrics, was taken as a model by subsequent Soviet and Russian punk bands.

At the dawn of his musical career, the leader of "G.O." was a staunch opponent of communism and the established system, although he never opposed the Soviet regime itself. However, the political and philosophical context of his songs was so clearly visible through the feigned punk indifference that the relevant authorities could not help but become interested in the group and its creator.

Egor was repeatedly made suggestions by the KGB officers. They demanded that the group be terminated. Since Letov refused, in 1985 he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Violent methods of treatment were applied to the musician, pumping up the strongest antipsychotics. Such drugs were used to completely change the psyche of the "patient", and Letov himself compared their action with lobotomy.

Fortunately, the imprisonment lasted only 4 months. Egor was helped out of the mental hospital by his brother Sergei, who threatened to publish in the Western media a story about how undesirable musicians are being fought in the USSR.

In the period from 1987 to 1988, Yegor returned to the project "Civil Defense" and recorded several albums, including "Mousetrap", "Everything is going according to plan" and others. He himself performs songs, plays instruments, acts as a sound engineer and sound producer. In 1988, the bootleg "Russian Field of Experiment" was recorded at Firsov's studio.

In 1989, the albums of Yegor's new project "Communism" were recorded, a little earlier he met and began working with Yanka Diaghileva, an outstanding rock singer, songwriter, whose life tragically ended in 1991. After the death of Yankee, Yegor completed and released her last album "Shame and Shame".

In 1990 Letov disbanded Civil Defense, having played a concert in Tallinn. Having decided that his project was turning into pop music, the musician became interested in psychedelic rock. The result of this hobby was the next project "Egor and O ... depressed", within the framework of which two albums were released. In 1993, Letov revived Civil Defense, continuing to work in both musical groups.

In subsequent years, the musician released several albums, some of which were composed of re-recorded old songs. The last concert of "GO" took place in Yekaterinburg on February 9, 2008.

At the turn of the century Letov became interested in politics, was a member of the NBP, made friends with Limonov, Anpilov, Dugin. In 2004, Yegor Letov officially renounced politics.

The personal life of such an extraordinary person as Letov was rather stormy. Friends described him as a very versatile person. Egor was able to repeatedly change his views. His opinion could be easily influenced by a film, a book, while he was a born leader, next to whom everyone else dimmed.

In rare photos, the musician is depicted during concerts, with friends or with associates in rock bands, and at home - exclusively with cats, but this does not mean that there were no women in his life. Letov was officially married once, unofficially - twice, the musician had no children.

In the late 1980s, the common-law wife of the leader of Civil Defense was Yanka Diaghileva, the beloved, muse and colleague of Letov. Together they recorded several albums and played many home concerts.

After the tragic and mysterious death of Yanka, the musician's wife became Diaghileva's friend Anna Volkova, who also took part in the recording of some of the GO albums. In 1997, Letov married Natalya Chumakova, part-time bass-guitarist of the group.

Yegor had a lot of creative ideas, including a film project based on Cortazar's novel "The Game of Classics" and alternative musical projects. However, these plans were not destined to come true.

On February 19, 2008, the musician and singer passed away. The cause of Letov's death was officially called cardiac arrest, but an alternative version was subsequently made public: acute respiratory failure as a result of ethanol poisoning.

The funeral, which was attended by many people, including from both capitals, was accompanied by a civil funeral service. Yegor Letov was buried in Omsk next to his mother's grave.

Solo albums:

"Russian Field of Experiment", 1988; "Concert in the Hero City of Leningrad", 1994; "Egor Letov, concert in the rock-club" Polygon "", 1997; Letov Brothers (with Sergei Letov), ​​2002; "Egor Letov, GO, Best" (collection of St. Petersburg concerts), 2003; Tops and Roots, 2005; "Everything is like people", 2005; "Orange. Acoustics ", 2011.

Other projects:

Songs Into Emptiness (acoustics with E. Filatov), ​​1986; "Music of Spring" (pirate collection), 1990-1993; "Frontier Civil Defense Detachment", 1988.

The best songs:

"Russian field of experiments"; "Eternal Spring"; "About the fool"; "Everything goes according to plan"; "I will always be against"; "Zoo"; "My Defense" and others.

Igor Letov 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is Igor Letov in 2020?

Igor Letov Net Worth 2021

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.2M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $983.6K - $1.4M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2020

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.6M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $936.6K - $1.7M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2019

Igor Letov 's revenue is $2M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $627.6K - $1.2M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2018

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.3M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $711.7K - $1.4M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2017

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.9M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $934.8K - $1M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2016

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.7M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $786.9K - $1M.

Igor Letov Net Worth 2015

Igor Letov 's revenue is $1.7M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Igor Letov and could vary in the range between $671.5K - $1.2M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Igor Letov. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does Igor Letov makes a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from Igor Letov's projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.