Zhanna Aguzarova

In the mid-'80s the Russian singer Zhanna Aguzarova put a dent in the flat Soviet backdrop with her powerful voice and unapologetic persona. First as the vocalist of the group Bravo and later as a solo artist, her irreverent style and eccentricity made her a symbol of individuality and dissent. Aguzarova was insolent in the face of the oppressive regime, but her voice, full of longing and romanticism, thrilled millions of fans. But Aguzarova remained a mystery, one day taking off without warning for Los Angeles, the next claiming to communicate with Martians. Fans loved her for her incongruities and took every opportunity to turn her shadowy and improbable biography into legend. Nonetheless, her inability to let anyone really know her makes her a tragic figure. The former manager of Bravo, Maxim Leykin, famously said of Aguzarova, "She is on her own, all alone! She has nothing and no one." In 1982 Aguzarova arrived in Moscow and fell in with the city's bohemian circle. Her pseudonym, Ivana Anders, was adopted because she lacked a passport and thus went by the name on her false documentation, which had belonged to the daughter of a Swedish diplomat. Aguzarova's first musical endeavor was as the lead singer for the group Krimatoriy (Crematorium). In 1983 she was taken in by Evgeniy Havtan as vocalist for the group that would soon be called Bravo. Together with Bravo she recorded a 20-minute-long cassette tape that, circulated among acquaintances, earned them gigs at a Moscow dance club. But on March 18, 1984, Aguzarova's past caught up with her when she was arrested after a concert. She, like many rock musicians of the time, had not escaped official scrutiny and was arrested on the pretext of her phony documentation. By some accounts she was deported from Moscow and sent...