Mikhail Vladimirovich Krug (real name - Vorob'ev; April 7, 1962, Kalinin, USSR - July 1, 2002, Tver, Russia) - Soviet and Russian singer, bard, chansonnier and poet. He was an author and performer of songs in the genre of Russian chanson and one of the most popular representatives of the genre. His fans called him the "king of Russian chanson". The author and performer of the lyrical song Vladimirskiy Central, which became one of the most famous samples of Russian chanson. Mikhail Vorobyov was born in Kalinin (now Tver). His father Vladimir Mikhailovich Vorobyov (26.03.1936 - 19.11.1995) worked as a civil engineer (Head of the Communications Department of the Moscow-Riga freeway in Tver). Mother - Zoya Petrovna Vorobieva (18.06.1936[4] - 09.01.2018) worked as an accountant, on January 7, 2018 she had a heart attack and died in hospital 2 days later. He was the second child in the family (the first was his sister Olga).
He spent his childhood and youth in the old Proletarian district, about which he later wrote the song "Morozovsky Town". He studied at music school in the class of accordion, but then left it. He was engaged in hockey, goalkeeper. In secondary school he studied poorly, according to recollections of relatives and friends he constantly ran away from lessons.
Vladimir Vysotsky was his idol since he was six years old. Vorobyov learned to play the guitar at the age of 11. He wrote his first poems at age 15, dedicating them to a classmate. In 1986 Vorobyov met his first wife Svetlana, who was also a musician and former solo guitarist of the VIA of the Institute of Light Industry. Svetlana became Krug's first producer, convincing him to make his art available to everyone. Before that, Krug wrote his poems and songs "in the desk". Svetlana also found musical contests, insisted on recording the songs on audiocassettes, sewed concert costumes with her own hands while working at the House of Models. A wedding took place in 1987, and in 1988 her son Dmitry was born. Not withstanding her husband's numerous affairs, Svetlana divorced in 1989. Mikhail sued Svetlana for custody of the child. The son was raised by Krug's mother and graduated with honors from the University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg. He serves in the police force and lives in Tver.
In 2000 Krug married a native of Chelyabinsk Irina, who after his death began to speak under the pseudonym Irina Krug, she has a daughter. On May 26, 2002, her son Alexander was born.
Mikhail Krug adhered to near-monarchist political convictions, conservatism and traditionalism (in particular, he stated about "aggressive, militant homosexuality" on the Russian stage, which, in his opinion, was the reason for the absence of Krug's songs on radio and TV; he spoke negatively about feminism). Krug was a member of the LDPR and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's culture aide - he had been working in the State Duma since October 26, 2000. A prominent feature of Krug's personality, which he repeatedly emphasized in interviews, was his hatred of people with leftist political beliefs, particularly communists. On the night of June 30 to July 1, 2002 Mikhail Krug was attacked by intruders in his own home. Unknown criminals broke into the house and made two shots at Krug, after which he temporarily lost consciousness. After the attack the singer was taken to Tver City Hospital № 6, but despite the efforts of doctors, Mikhail Krug died in the morning of July 1.