Bolalar

Bolalar is an Uzbek pop-rock band formed in Tashkent in 1989. Tohir Sodiqov founded it with schoolmates from Tashkent School No. 41 — Bahodir Po’latov, Javohir Zokirov and Ruslan Sharipov; Sharipov was the first artistic director and composer. In Uzbek the name means “children” or “boys”, and in slang “guys”.

The band became famous in 1989 with a song of the same name. Its debut album, “Esingdami seni?” (“Do You Remember?”), was recorded in December 1989 and released in January 1990, and on 23 February 1990 the group first played on a big stage, at the Alpomish sports palace in Tashkent. The original line-up had eight members: Tohir Sodiqov, his elder brother Husan Sodiqov (who wrote many of the songs), Bahodir Po’latov, Javohir Zokirov, Nargiza Zokirova, Ruslan Sharipov, Tofik Morduxayev and Toir Odilov. Over the years many members left and the line-up changed several times.

The band’s style is usually described as pop rock, though it has tried others. Its members were influenced by the Uzbek rock-and-roll singer Davron Gaipov and by the then-popular Russian group Laskovy May, and Bolalar and Laskovy May are often called “the legends of the 1990s”. At the Tarona awards the band was named best group in 2001 and 2002, and its song “Kerak emas” best song of 2001.

The constant figure is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Tohir Sodiqov (born in Tashkent in 1973), a Meritorious Artist of Uzbekistan, who received the Order of Mehnat Shuhrati in 2026 and also has a solo career. According to published sources, the present line-up alongside him is Timur Gaynutdinov (guitar), Baxtiyor Nurmatov (bass), Tofik Morduxayev (drums) and Vagif Zokirov (keyboards, composing, arrangements).

Bolalar has released about 280 songs, 28 albums and around ten music videos, and is counted among the few Central Asian bands to have given concerts in the United States and released an album on iTunes. At the band’s 20th-anniversary concert in Tashkent in 2009, Sodiqov sang a duet with Laskovy May’s lead singer Yuri Shatunov, and in 2019 the anniversary concert “Bolalar Show” marked 30 years. The band is still active.