Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk (Юрий Юлианович Шевчук), born 16 May 1957, is a Russian singer/songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, which he founded with Vladimir Sigachev in 1981. Shevchuk was born in the village of Yagodny in Magadanskaya oblast and raised in Ufa, Russia, though he now resides in St. Petersburg, Russia. Shevchuck was an art teacher before founding DDT. He is best known for his distinctive, somewhat gravely voice. His lyrics detail aspects of Russian life with a wry, humanistic sense of humor. DDT concerts are usually remarkable for the audience singing along to the well-known lyrics. He is also very famous for openly opposing pop music. He is often accredited for being the greatest song-writer in present-Russia.

Shevchuk is highly critical against the undemocratic society that has grown in Putin's Russia. On March 3, 2008 he participated in a Dissenters March in Saint Petersburg against the president elections where no real opposition candidates were allowed to run.

On September 24 and 26, 2008 he organized two peace concerts in Moscow and Saint Petersburg as a protest to the Russian-Georgian war. The name of the concerts "Don't Shoot" was taken from his song "Ne Strelyai" that he had written in 1980 as a response to the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Together with his band DDT he performed with both Ossetian and Georgian musicians as well as the Ukrainian band Bratya Karamazovy that he called peacekeepers. Parts of the profits from the concerts were given to those who suffered from the war, both Ossetians and Georgians.

Notes

External links

• Official website of DDT
• About DDT - Lyrics and English translations