Yuri Shatunov, one of the biggest pop stars of the USSR, dies

Yuri Shatunov, former frontman of Laskoviy May (Affectionate May) pop band died in Moscow, the director of the performer, Arkady Kudryashov, said.

The singer died as a result of a massive heart attack. He died at night in an ambulance. Shatunov was 48 years old.

Yuri Shatunov was born in the Bashkir ASSR in 1973. His parents divorced when he was three years old. His mother died when he was eleven years old. The boy spent his teenage years in an orphanage, where he met Sergei Kuznetsov, the head of a study group. This is how the story of Laskoviy May band began.

The band and its frontman Shatunov became hugely popular in the Soviet Union. Its biggest hit was a song called "White Roses" (Belye Rozy). The band ceased to exist in 1992.