{{Short description|Russian musician (born 1985)}} {{Expand Russian|topic=bio|date=December 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Alexander Tsoi | image = | alt = | caption = | native_name = Александр Цой | native_name_lang = ru | pronunciation = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|07|26}} | birth_place = Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = {{flatlist| * Musician * singer * songwriter * designer * producer }} | years_active = 2008–present | spouse = | children = | father = Viktor Tsoi | awards = | website = {{URL|sashatsoi.band}} | module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes | background = person | alias = Alexander Molchanov, Sasha Tsoi | origin = Saint Petersburg, Russia | genre = {{hlist|Rock|gothic rock|post-punk}} | instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar}} | years_active = 2008–present | label = {{hlist|Maschina|Shadowplay}} | past_member_of = {{hlist|para bellvm|Ronin}} }} }} '''Alexander Viktorovich Tsoi'''{{Family name footnote|Viktorovich|Tsoi|lang=Eastern Slavic}} ({{langx|ru|Александр Викторович Цой}}), also known under the pseudonym '''Alexander Molchanov''' ({{langx|ru|Александр Молчанов}}; born 26 July 1985) is a Russian performer, composer, designer, former guitarist of the band "Para bellvm" and author of the video effects of the project "Symphonic Kino", and leader of the musical project Ronin.
He is the only son of Viktor Tsoi, late lead vocalist of the band Kino, and his wife Marianna Tsoi.
==Biography== Born on 26 July 1985 in Leningrad to rock musician Viktor Tsoi and his wife Marianna Tsoi. After Viktor Tsoi left his wife for Natalia Razlogova, Alexander stayed to live with his mother. According to director Rashid Nugmanov, who knew Victor Tsoi closely, his son "has a lot of his father's looks, <...> he has Vitya's plasticity".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-07-04 |title=Рашид Нугманов: "Цой не знал системы Станиславского" - Кино - Новости Санкт-Петербурга - Фонтанка.Ру |url=https://www.fontanka.ru/2010/08/16/011/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704225250/https://www.fontanka.ru/2010/08/16/011/ |archive-date=2019-07-04 }}</ref>
At the age of 16, Alexander left for Moscow, where he lived and practiced web design, as well as studying English.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-09 |title=Александр Цой (I) (Александр Цой) - Биография и интересные факты - КиноКопилка |url=https://www.kinokopilka.pro/people/97800-aleksandr-tsoy |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809023554/https://www.kinokopilka.pro/people/97800-aleksandr-tsoy |archive-date=2017-08-09 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Отец Виктора Цоя: "Витькина слава обернулась для нашего внука проклятием" |url=https://7days.ru/caravan-collection/2015/2/otets-viktor-tsoya-vitkina-slava-obernulas-dlya-nashego-vnuka-proklyatiem.htm |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=7Дней.ру |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-26 |title=Сын Виктора Цоя: Я не смог пойти по стопам своего отца… {{!}} Собеседник.ру |url=http://sobesednik.ru/showbiz/tz-2-10-zoy |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026214037/http://sobesednik.ru/showbiz/tz-2-10-zoy |archive-date=2016-10-26 }}</ref>
After Viktor's death, Marianna Tsoi sued the musicians of the band Kino for the copyright to the band's songs and registered them to her son Alexander and the company Moroz Records.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-12-21 |title="Виктор Цой подсознательно знал, что ему реально стать звездой" // TV.KP.RU Комсомольская правда в Москве |url=http://tv.kp.ru/daily/24342/533451/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221145425/http://tv.kp.ru/daily/24342/533451/ |archive-date=2014-12-21 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-06 |title=Кому принадлежат песни Виктора Цоя {{!}} Музыка {{!}} Культура {{!}} Мужской журнал GQ |url=http://www.gq.ru/culture/music/74713_komu_prinadlezhat_pesni_viktora_tsoya.php |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906122455/http://www.gq.ru/culture/music/74713_komu_prinadlezhat_pesni_viktora_tsoya.php |archive-date=2016-09-06 }}</ref>
In 2005, Marianna Tsoi died of a brain tumor and Alexander began living with his maternal grandmother.
With his grandfather Robert Maksimovich Tsoi Alexander practically does not maintain relations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-12 |title=Отец Цоя страдает от рака. Богатый внук не спешит ему помочь - Город 812 |url=http://www.online812.ru/2015/05/27/015/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512090515/http://www.online812.ru/2015/05/27/015/ |archive-date=2016-05-12 }}</ref>
Later, to get rid of the attention of journalists and fans of his father, he took the pseudonym Molchanov and began playing guitar in the band "Para bellvm", where he participated in the recording of the album "The Book of Kingdoms". He was involved in the design of musical album covers. He founded the music club "da: da:".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-08-14 |title=Дети рока. Александр Цой |url=https://www.sobaka.ru/oldmagazine/glavnoe/17831 |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=Собака.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
In December 2010, he married Elena Osokina. At the same time, after the death of his wife, his grandfather, Robert Maximovich Tsoi, married again.
In 2010, as part of the concert "20 Years Without Kino", symphonic instrumental versions of the band's songs were performed for the first time, orchestrations were made by Igor Vdovin. Then two years of work on a full concert program continued, at this stage Kino guitarist Yuri Kasparyan joined the project, Alexander Tsoi acted as producer, and Oleg Shuntsov, who joined Kino as a session musician in 2020, was the drummer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-13 |title=Александр Цой: "Не хочу, чтобы имя отца служило раздору и разжиганию". Цой-младший — о предстоящих концертах "Кино", дефиците идеализма и ЦРУ |url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/01/13/83436-voyny-pamyati-i-pervoe-litso |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=Новая газета |language=ru}}</ref> The Symphonic Kino project was unveiled on June 21, 2012, on the 50th anniversary of Viktor Tsoi's birth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-07-24 |title=Симфоническое Кино - песни Виктора Цоя с оркестром |url=https://reproduktor.net/kino/simfonicheskoe-kino/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |language=ru-RU}}</ref> In 2017, the project's debut live album "SymphoniK" was released, which is a recording of a 2015 performance at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-28 |title=Проект Симфоническое Кино издан на CD лимитированным тиражом |url=https://reproduktor.net/2018/05/proekt-simfonicheskoe-kino-izdan-na-cd-limitirovannym-tirazhom/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |language=ru-RU}}</ref> The album cover design was created by Kino's session guitarist of the second half of the 1980s Andrei Krisanov, who died in 2018 from cancer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-11 |title=Причины смерти Андрея Крисанова: Художник и экс-участник группы Кино умер из-за онкологии - KP.RU |url=https://www.spb.kp.ru/daily/26864/3907943/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511125908/https://www.spb.kp.ru/daily/26864/3907943/ |archive-date=2023-05-11 }}</ref>
In 2011, according to media reports, Alexander sold the rights to the song "We'll Act Next"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-07 |title=Банк приобрел права на песню группы "Кино" {{!}} Новости Тинькофф Банка |url=https://www.tinkoff.ru/about/news/tcs_music_kino/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807191954/https://www.tinkoff.ru/about/news/tcs_music_kino/ |archive-date=2017-08-07 }}</ref> to Oleg Tinkov for his bank Tinkoff. In his interview, however, Alexander revealed that the rights to the song were sold without his consent by the company Musical Right, with whom he is trying to dissolve all relations in court. He has a negative attitude towards Oleg Tinkov himself.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Я так и не смог отрастить толстую кожу" Интервью Александра Цоя — об отце, детстве и музыке "Кино" |url=https://meduza.io/feature/2017/06/22/ya-tak-i-ne-smog-otrastit-tolstuyu-kozhu |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=Meduza |language=ru}}</ref>
In 2012, he gave the first detailed and open interview about his life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-23 |title=Виктор Цой и группа Кино: Александр Цой (Молчанов) - сын Виктора Цоя |url=http://www.kinomannia.ru/2013/10/alexander.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623070227/http://www.kinomannia.ru/2013/10/alexander.html |archive-date=2016-06-23 }}</ref> In that same year, he filed a lawsuit against State Duma deputy Yevgeny Fedorov, who allegedly slandered his father.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-01 |title=Сын Виктора Цоя отстаивает репутацию отца: "Депутата Федорова нужно наказать уголовно" - Общество - МК |url=http://www.mk.ru/social/article/2014/04/24/1019926-syin-viktora-tsoya-otstaivaet-reputatsiyu-ottsa-deputata-fedorova-nuzhno-nakazat-ugolovno.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101002350/http://www.mk.ru/social/article/2014/04/24/1019926-syin-viktora-tsoya-otstaivaet-reputatsiyu-ottsa-deputata-fedorova-nuzhno-nakazat-ugolovno.html |archive-date=2016-11-01 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-07 |title=Сын Виктора Цоя рассказал "Газете.Ru", почему он решил требовать извинений от депутата Госдумы - Газета.Ru |url=http://www.gazeta.ru/social/2014/04/25/6005865.shtml |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407231328/http://www.gazeta.ru/social/2014/04/25/6005865.shtml |archive-date=2016-04-07 }}</ref> However, the court found no violations in Yevgeny Fedorov's words. Fedorov quoted the opinion of the Soviet KGB officers about Tsoi's work, rather than voicing his own judgment. Later, Rashid Nugmanov announced his plans to start filming the movie "Citadel of Death" based on his joint script with William Gibson (which was originally written for Victor Tsoi) and to take on the lead role of Alexander Tsoi, who, in turn, supported the idea.
On 3 August 2017, he unveiled the song "Whisper" of his new solo music project, Ronin, in which he is the author, musician and vocalist. The lyrics of the song "Whisper" were written by him when he was still 18 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-08 |title=Сын Виктора Цоя впервые представил песню, которую написал еще 14 лет назад |url=https://www.spb.kp.ru/daily/26715/3740776/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808234940/https://www.spb.kp.ru/daily/26715/3740776/ |archive-date=2017-08-08 }}</ref> On September 3, the mini-album "Reliance" was released, which contains 5 songs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-04 |title=Сын Виктора Цоя рассказал, почему решил записать песню |url=https://www.5-tv.ru/news/144532/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Пятый канал |language=ru}}</ref> Later, Yuri Kasparyan became one of the band's members.
In 2019, Alexander Tsoi proposed to organize concerts of the band "Kino", which would use Viktor Tsoi's vocals from old songs, but with live music by former band members and a specially designed video sequence. It was assumed that Kino musicians - Tikhomirov, Titov and Kasparyan - would take the stage, Oleg Shuntsov (a member of the Symphonic Cinema project) would play the drum parts, and Dmitry Kezhvatov from the band "Tarakany!" would play acoustic guitar. The concerts were scheduled to take place on October 31 (St. Petersburg), November 7 (Minsk, Belarus), November 11 (Riga, Latvia)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-18 |title=Концерт группы КИНО - Smart Events |url=https://smartevents.lv/event/19 |access-date=2024-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918165838/https://smartevents.lv/event/19 |archive-date=2020-09-18 }}</ref> and November 21 (Moscow) 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-14 |title=Александр Цой: "Не хочу, чтобы имя отца служило раздору и разжиганию". Цой-младший — о предстоящих концертах "Кино", дефиците идеализма и ЦРУ |url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/01/13/83436-voyny-pamyati-i-pervoe-litso |access-date=2024-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114090907/https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/01/13/83436-voyny-pamyati-i-pervoe-litso |archive-date=2020-01-14 }}</ref> Due to coronavirus restrictions, they were postponed to 2021.
He became the prototype for the character of Zhenya, Viktor Tsoi's son in Alexei Uchitel's movie Tsoi (2020). At the same time, Alexander Tsoi himself made a harsh criticism of the film.
A re-recorded version of Kino's 1985 album Eto ne lyubov... was released on 15 March 2024,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kino |first= |date=15 March 2024 |title=Это не любовь (Remake 2024) |url=https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE/%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%BB%D1%8E%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C-remake-2024/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Rateyourmusic}}</ref> with Alexander noting: "The recording quality in the early 1980s did not allow for a full appreciation of these songs: you could hear all the instruments, but there was no coherent picture. After 40 years, this music is getting the sound it deserves".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-21 |title=Музыканты группы КИНО перезаписали альбом «Это не любовь» - 20 декабря 2023 - Фонтанка.Ру |url=https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/12/20/73041797/ |access-date=2024-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221015847/https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/12/20/73041797/ |archive-date=2023-12-21 }}</ref>
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsoi, Alexander}} Category:Russian people of Korean descent Category:Russian musicians Category:Living people Category:1985 births