Yuri Borzov, the original drummer, co founder and writer of the band Time Machine, has died. Reports from a Telegram channel indicated the musician was found lifeless in his Moscow apartment on Tokmakov Lane in the Basmanny district on the morning of February 8. He was 70 years old.
According to the channel, Borzov lay on the floor in a dressing gown with no signs of a violent death. An Izvestia source stated that Borzov had struck his head and later grew ill. Family members noticed his condition worsening and called an ambulance.
Preliminary information points to a heart attack as the cause of death. The exact cause will be confirmed after an official medical examination.
Ria News confirmed Borzov’s passing to the agency. Andrei Makarevich, the Time Machine front man who is officially listed as a foreign agent in Russia, said that Borzov had been battling cancer for nearly six years and that the ailment contributed to his decline.
In a discussion with Shot, Makarevich said he would not travel to say goodbye to his bandmate due to a heavy schedule. He was set to perform in Tel Aviv on February 9, having lived in Israel in recent years.
Makarevich wrote on social media that Yuri Ivanovich Borzov left this world for a better place. He recalled that fifty six years earlier, when he was in the ninth grade, Borzov and he created the Time Machine and Borzov became the first drummer of the group. Makarevich described Borzov as a very kind person in every aspect and noted that whatever he did he did with extraordinary beauty, whether drawing, building, or telling stories.
Yuri Borzov was born on June 15, 1953 in Leningrad. He met Makarevich while studying in Moscow. His early creative career began as the drummer for the group The Kids, the precursor to Time Machine. The line up also included Andrei Makarevich, Igor Mazaev, Alexander Ivanov, Pavel Ruben and Sergei Kawagoe, all of whom studied at Moscow schools No. 19 and 20.
In 1969 Borzov suggested renaming the group Time Machines or Time Machines. The band carried that name until 1973, after which it was shortened to Time Machine. Borzov participated in recording the group is first album, Time Machines. He left the ensemble in 1972 and joined Alexei Romanov is group Guys Who Started Playing When a Striped Hippo Crossed the Zambezi River. The new band dissolved a year later.
Beyond music, Borzov explored graphics and architecture and pursued painting. He received an award at the International Bridge of the Future Image competition held in Japan in 1988. In 2018, he organized a painting exhibition titled Letters from Unknown Ladies. He also engaged in search activities since 1985 and participated in the reburial of World War II soldiers.
Among Time Machine is best known songs are Talking on the Train, Candle, Blue Bird, Puppets, At the Good Hour, Laughing Through Life, You or Me, For Those at Sea, One Day the World Will Collapse Beneath Us, Where There Is Light, Stars Do Not Take the Subway, and Return. The band released thirteen albums, with the last one heard by fans in 2016.