14 Facts About Willi Tokarev

Willi Ivanovich Tokarev was a Russian-American singer-songwriter.

Vilen Ivanovich Tokarev was born in the small Cossack village of Chernyshev in Adyghe Autonomous Oblast, North Caucasus Krai, Soviet Union, on 11 November 1934.

Willi Tokarev's parents named him in honor of Vladimir Lenin, as the Soviet name "Vilen" is an acronym for "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin".

In Murmansk Willi Tokarev worked as a singer at the restaurant White Nights where he led the music band Nord-West.

In 1974, Willi Tokarev emigrated from the USSR to the United States, to New York City.

The restaurant where Willi Tokarev worked as a singer started to pay him well and soon he was able to buy a flat on the seashore and a car.

Willi Tokarev worked as a singer in three big Russian-speaking restaurants on Brighton Beach: Sadko, Primorsky, and Odessa.

Willi Tokarev lived in the famous Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building and was named a Honorary Resident of Moscow's Tagansky Raion.

Willi Tokarev was still active at the age of 80, touring and recording new songs.

Willi Tokarev had cameo appearances in several movies, including Day Watch.

At the age of 62, Willi Tokarev married for the fourth time.

Willi Tokarev died in Moscow on 4 August 2019, reportedly from cancer.

Willi Tokarev was 84 years old at the time of his death.

Willi Tokarev was a multiple winner of Radio Chanson's Chanson of the Year Award, the final time being in 2014.