Любэ

Любэ (Lubeh, Lyube, Ljube, Lube) is a band from Russia, whose music harmoniously combines elements of Western rock and roll, traditional Russian folk music and military bard music. The band's name is a derivative of "любовь", the Russian word for "love"; and Lyubertsy, Russia, the band's hometown. The band wrote its first songs "Lyubertsy", "Bat'ka Makhno" on the 14th of January 1989 whilst working on their debut album "Atas". Любэ is said to be the favorite band of the president of Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Their lyrics are mostly patriotic, about solder-girl relationship and battle-themed, but not in any way promoting war or violence. Lubeh's bard music combine traditional Russian folk music and present elements of Western rock and roll, and soviet military music. Starting in 1989, they have released 16 albums. The band has six members, led by the singer Nikolay Rastorguyev, one of the People's Artists of Russia. In the mid-1990s, the band surprisingly released an album of Beatles covers. The album Rasseya, released in 2004, includes a remake of one of their older songs and a rock rendition of the Hymn of the Russian Federation. Lubeh has only produced one song in English, called No More Barricades, which deals with Russian democracy. Lubeh is one of the few rock and roll groups whose audience garners a wide listening audience. Fans and concert-goers are from a wide range of ages, including seniors, teenagers, children and parents. At least one of their concerts has been attended by the Russian president Vladimir Putin who happens to be a big fan. Their name comes from that of the Moscow suburb of Lyubertsy, which during the late 1980s and early 1990s was a center of luber culture, whose values are in part reflected in Lubeh's songs.