The "Soviet Sinatra" Bows Out
Legendary Russian crooner Iosif Kobzon died at the age of 80 on August 30, 2018. Hugely popular during the Soviet era, he was a strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin and was a lawmaker from 1997 until his death.
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Iosif Kobzon at one of his last performances, on Red Square in Moscow, May 24, 2017.
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A performance in the "Orbita" shop in Moscow, 1978. Kobzon's first album was released in 1962, and by the Brezhnev era he was a household name.
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Kobzon with Soviet cosmonaut German Titov (right), during shooting of a New Year TV show in Moscow on October 18, 1983.
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Kobzon gives autographs to Chernobyl disaster cleanup workers in 1986.
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Kobzon performs wartime songs at a memorial day in Moscow, June 22, 1996.
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Azerbaijani Culture Minister Polad Bulbuloglu (center) presents Kobzon with a handmade carpet for his 60th birthday, September 11, 1997.
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Kobzon (left) accompanies a woman and three children, hostages released by Chechen gunmen during the Dubrovka Theater siege in Moscow, October 24, 2002.
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A statue of Kobzon is installed in Donetsk, Ukraine, August 30, 2003.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin presents a medal to Kobzon during an award ceremony in the Kremlin on August 29, 2012.
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Performing at a Victory Day concert in Chisinau, Moldova, May 9, 2013.
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Kobzon and Aleksandr Zakharchenko, a Russia-backed separatist leader, sing a Soviet song together during a concert in Donetsk, Ukraine, April 2014.
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Kobzon shows off a "passport" he was issued by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, an entity created by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
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Kobzon performing a song against Western sanctions on Russia, January 1, 2015.
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Putin presents Kobzon with the "Hero of Labor" medal during a ceremony at the Kremlin, April 30, 2016.
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Kobzon at yet another Kremlin award ceremony, pictured with his wife Nelli, June 27, 2018.