Joseph Kobzon

Iosif (Joseph) Davydovich Kobzon (Russian: Ио́сиф Давы́дович Кобзо́н; 11 September 1937 — 30 August 2018) was a Soviet-Russian singer.^[1] He was born in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast. He performed concerts for Joseph Stalin when he was younger.^[2][3] His best-known song is Instants from the Soviet TV series Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973).^[4]

Kobzon in March 2016

He went to Donetsk People's Re­public and said words in support of its separatists.^[5] He got Honorary Consul of ‘Donetsk People's Republic’ in the Russian Federation.^[5] He voted "yes" to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation on March 20, 2014.^[5] He was put in the EU blacklist for that on February 16, 2015.^[5][6]

Kobzon died on 30 August 2018 in Moscow from prostate cancer at the age of 80.^[7]