Ilya Lagutenko

Ilya Lagutenko
Ilya Lagutenko, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Ilya Igorevich Lagutenko
Born	(1968-10-16) 16 October 1968 Moscow, Soviet Union
Origin	Vladivostok, Soviet Union
Genres	Pop, Pop rock, Brit pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, Guitarist, Composer
Years active	1983–present
Associated acts	Mumiy Troll

Ilya Igorevich Lagutenko (Russian: Илья́ И́горевич Лагуте́нко; born 16 October 1968) is the founder and lead singer of MTV Award-winning band Mumiy Troll.

He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union. Soon after his birth his father died, and the family moved to Vladivostok. In school he became engrossed in studying Chinese. He sang with a children’s choir that took him to many Russian cities as they traveled through half of the country. Ilya formed his first psychedelic punk band named "Bunny Pee" at the age of 11. In 1992, he graduated from the Far Eastern State University as a specialist in the Mandarin and Chinese Economy. He served in the Russian Air Navy. Ilya worked in China and Great Britain with a commercial consulting firm. In 1983, he founded the rock group Mumiy Troll.

He was chosen a "Man of the Year 2005" for November by Glamour magazine and "Musician of the Year" by GQ many times. Ilya Lagutenko has changed not only the music but also the clothes, hairstyles and behaviour of Russian young people. The fringe à la Lagutenko, soft "meowing" intonations, The Smile people attributed a special meaning to ¬- these features of one man were adopted by an entire generation.

Lagutenko starred as a vampire in the Russian blockbuster The Night Watch (Ночной Дозор). His face is on the cover of the American release.

Lagutenko is a well-known supporter of Siberian tiger conservation. He is a patron of AMUR, a British-Russian partnership to protect tigers and their habitat, and named a Mumiy Troll album Amba, after an indigenous word for tigers in the Russian Far East. Mumiy Troll was the first to support the activities of PSI organization fighting AIDS in Russia.