Pop music in Ukraine

Pop music in Ukraine is Western influenced pop music in its various forms that has been growing in popularity in Ukraine since the 1960s.

The 1970s saw the emergence of a number of folk rock groups. One of the most prominent was a group known as Kobza which included 2 electric banduras. Initially it started off as an instrumental group playing folk inspired cool jazz. Other groups gradually appeared on the scene primarily from Western Ukraine such as Medikus, Smerichka. Major contributions were made by song writer Volodymyr Ivasiuk and singer Sofia Rotaru and Nazariy Yaremchuk.

After the tragic death of V. Ivasiuk in 1978, developments in Ukrainian pop music almost ground to a halt. Even established folk -rock groups such as Kobza began to sing in Russian. The songs of Ivasiuk were rarely heard on the radio and many of the established singers such as Sofia Rotaru began to sing in Russian exclusively.

Many Ukrainian musicians moved to Moscow, and various Moscow based Pop groups had a pop songs in the Ukrainian language such as the group Samotvety - Verba.

The 1990s saw an explosion in the Ukrainian Pop music world. This was brought on by the Chervona Ruta Festival which was held in Chernivtsi in 1989 and sponsored by the Kobza corporation and Pisennyi Vernisazh - New Ukrainian Wave 92 (Kyiv) sponsored / producing by the Rostyslav - Show Agency. At the end of the 80's it was considered that Ukrainian language based rock would not be effective. The sponsoring of a Ukrainian only festival did much to change this perception. Music groups (hoort) that came to prominence were:

In the 1900s Ukrainian music in itself was not as popular as it is in this day. Green Grey was by far the most popular trip hop group in the country. Green Grey was the first Ukrainian band that was endorsed by Pepsi. The band did many concerts internationally. At the end of the 90 most popular pop singer among teenagers was Yurko Yurchenko. At his concerts was something unimaginable. Many compared the level of fanaticism with the band "The Beatles".

In recent times folkloric elements have made a resurgence in modern Ukrainian pop music. Hutsul folk melodies, rhythms and dance moves were used by the Ruslana, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

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Wikipedia