Biography

Kris Kelmi (born Anatoli Arievich Kelmi, Russian: Анатолий Арьевич Кельми; 21 April 1955 – 1 January 2019) was a Soviet and Russian rock and pop musician and composer. He was a member of the bands Leap Summer, Autograph, and Rock Atelier. Some of his most well-known songs are Night Rendezvous, Closing the Ring, and Tired Taxi. Most online sources indicated that Kelmi was a pseudonym, and the musician's surname was Kalinkin. Kelmi denied this version. Kelmi believed that he most likely was Lithuanian on his father's side, explaining that there is a town in Lithuania called Kelmė, which is consonant with his last name. Kris took the nickname in 1972, after Dr. Kris Kelvin, the hero of Stanisław Lem's novel, Solaris.