The band was co-founded and headed by Viktor Tsoi, who wrote the music and lyrics for almost all of the band's songs. Kino released over 90 songs, several studio albums, and a few live albums. Their music was widely recorded illegally. After the Soviet Union became more open, Kino became popular around the world. In 1989, they had a small concert in New York City. They also became very popular in Russia. Their album "Gruppa Krovi" was called one of the best works of Russian music. Viktor Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990. After releasing an album of the songs they were working on before Tsoi's death, Kino broke up. In 2012, on Tsoi's fiftieth birthday, the band reunited to record a song called 'Ataman'. This song would have been in their last album, but the only recording of it that they had was bad.