Even if the name Peter Hammill does not immediately ring a bell, the chances are that some of his ideas, harmonies and sounds will.
His work sounds familiar because he had a profound influence on contemporary recording artists David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, John Lyddon, Marc Almond, The Fall's Mark E Smith and Nick Cave, who all mention Hammill's contribution to their music careers.
And he is coming to Russia to give five concerts in four cities: Barnaul, Novosibirsk, Moscow and of course, St Petersburg where he plays at the Baltiysky Dom Theater on Tuesday, May 16.
Born in 1948 in London, Hammill started his music career in 1967 while at Manchester University. At that time he formed a band called Van der Graaf Generator -- named after a high-voltage electrostatic energy generator built by Dr Robert Jamison van der Graaf in 1931.
Like many other bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Van der Graaf worked in the field of so-called "progressive" or "art" rock. Although some of its contemporaries enjoyed more success, Van der Graaf, for which Hammill was songwriter and singer, was less formal or shallow and touched darker subjects. Some of their recorded work doesn't appear dated even today.
Van der Graaf's erratic career of break-ups and reformations finally came to a halt in 1978. Up until that time the group had released nine albums, while Hammill himself had seven solo releases.
In some ways Hammill changed or foresaw the development of rock music. One of the most striking examples was his anarchic, "proto-punk" album "Nadir's Big Chance," released in 1975. Hammill said that the record was made on behalf of his "alter ego" -- 16-year old fictitious character and angry teenager Rikki Nadir -- keen on "smashing the system with the song!" The work was gratefully embraced by would-be punks, among them the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten.
Hammill has refused to be labelled "just" an entertainer. His later work touches on social and political issues while he has also undertaken such ambitious projects as his opera "The Fall of the House of Usher," released in 1991 and based on the tale by Edgar Allen Poe.
His interests range from translating German poetry to writing music for ballet and television. Once he acted as the narrator for an HP Lovecraft story, put to music by the Kronos Quartet in a London concert. He has had two books of lyrics and short stories published: "Killers, Angels, Refugees" (1966-73) and "Mirrors, Dreams & Miracles" (1974-80).
Hammill still sees his work as art for art's sake and runs from compromise. Despite his absence from the pop charts, an ever-loyal cult following keeps up with his exploits, which are chronicled in several fanzines and he commands respect from prominent musicians.
Hammill's first Russian tour, sponsored by the British Council, promises to be a true cultural event, having nothing in common with the recent lame visits of retired pop stars, dragged here for a fast buck.
In his two-hour concert in St Petersburg Peter Hammill, who sings and plays guitar and keyboards, will be supported by ex-Tears for Fears' Manny Elias on drums, Van der Graaf's David Jackson on sax and flute, and Stuart Gordon on violin.