Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (Влади́мир Семёнович Высо́цкий) (January 25, 1938 – July 25, 1980) was a Russian singer, song-writer, poet, and actor, whose career has had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. The multifaceted talent of Vladimir Vysotsky is often described by the word bard that acquired a special meaning in the Soviet Union, although he himself spoke of this term with irony. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and writer