Belarusian rock band Bi-2, declared foreign agents in Russia, to perform in Tallinn

TALLINN - The famed rock band Bi-2, whose members have been declared "foreign agents" in Russia, will perform at Unibet Arena in Tallinn with their popular orchestral concept in a show titled "All The Best" on Dec. 18.

Bi-2 is a Belarusian rock band formed at the end of the 1980s. The band spent most of the 1990s in Israel and Australia, and moved to Moscow in 1999. The songs of Bi-2 triumphed at Moscow's local radio stations, which made the band instantly famous.

Bi-2 started the project with symphonic orchestras in 2003, transforming their songs in accordance with the grand concept. Bi-2 gave two highly successful orchestral shows for the first time in Estonia in 2008 and 2009. The two sold-out concerts at Tallinn's Linnahall were praised by critics. Bi-2 has collaborated with several international symphonic orchestras, which has resulted in four studio albums.

Bi-2 has released 11 studio albums to date. They have collaborated with artists like Oxxxymiron, Braintsorm, John Grant during their career spanning over 30 years.

At the end of January last year, Postimees reported that the Kremlin had demanded the extradition of the members of Bi-2, who had been detained in Thailand. The band's singer had been declared a so-called "foreign agent" in Russia. At the time, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch urged the Thai government not to extradite the members of Bi-2 to Russia, stating that the band's seven members would be at risk of persecution if sent to Russia.