Vyacheslav Butusov

While he was a first-year student at the Sverdlovsk Architectural Institute, he was acquainted with musician Dmitry Umetsky. The two young men were passionate about music and often gathered to play together. This resulted in the recording of Nautilus Pompilius's first album Pereyezd (Relocation) in 1982, which met with little success. In the same year, Butusov met the poet Ilya Kormiltsev. Together, they recorded the band's first mature album, Nevidimka (Invisible) in 1985. Next year their tandem released the record Razluka (Separation), which sparked the band's popularity. The band's last album, Yablokitai, was recorded by Butusov and Kormiltsev in 1996 in England.^[1]

After Nautilus Pompilius disbanded, Butusov launched his solo career. In 1997, he recorded Nezakonnopozhdenniy AlKhimik doktor faust pernatiy zmey with Yuri Kasparyan, and in 1998, his first solo album, Ovaly. During this years he also had a brief cameo in Russian crime film Brother. In the 2020s, Butusov turned to classical music. He is composing the score for the theatrical piece "Two Tsars", based on the play by Boris Akunin,^[2] and is writing a libretto for the symphony project "Lament of Adam".^[3]

In July 2022, he was denied entry from Finland for practically supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine and canceled his live appearances in the country.^[4]

In November 2022, Butusov composed the soundtrack for the Russian documentary Holy Archipelago, about the famous Solovetsky Monastery.

In 2001 Vyacheslav Butusov founded the band U-Piter with former Kino guitarist Yuri Kasparyan. They have recorded seven albums, the last being Gudgora in 2015. U-Piter was disbanded in 2017.

After the dissolution of U-Piter, Butusov founded his project "Orden Slavy" with Vyacheslav Suori (guitar), Ruslan Gadzhiev (bass) and drummer Denis Marinkin, who had formerly played with artists such as Zemfira and Peter Nalitch. They released their first album in November 2019, Alleluia. In recent years, Butusov's Orthodox Christian faith has informed much of his work—in sharp contrast to the rest of his rock-based discography, as acknowledged by critics.^[5] In 2025 they released their latest album, Mertvets.

Butusov is married to Anzhelika Estoyeva (born 1970). He has four children: three daughters – Anna (born 1980; with his first wife Mariana Dobrovolskiy-Butusova), Ksenia (born 1991), Sofya (born 1999) and a son Daniil (born 2005).^[6]

• Ovaly (1998)
• Tikhe igry (2001)
• Model dlya sborki (2008)

• Most (1985) (with Yevgeniy Dimov as part of the project "Step")
• NezakonNoRozhdenniy AlKhimik doktor Faust — Pernatiy Zmey (1997) (with Yuri Kasparyan)
• Elizobarra-Torr (2000) (with Deadушки)
• Zvyodzdniy padl (2001) (with musicians of Kino)^[7]

• Brother (1997)
• Brother 2 (2000)
• War (2002)
• Dead Man's Bluff (2005)
• Igla remix (2010)
• Holy Archipelago (2022)
• At the Edge of the Abyss (2024)

• Virgostan (2007)
• Antidepressant (M., Eksmo, 2007) (Co-authored with Nikolay Yakimchuk)
• Arkhiya (2011)