Some of the earliest Tatar

Tatars

Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

 rock

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

bands were Soviet bands Saq-Soq and Bolgar, as well as Başqarma from Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, bands active in the late 1980s. Today the most popular Tatar rock bands are Alqanat (since 2005) from Aqtanış and Xat

Xat

Xat is a Tatar rock band based in Naberezhnye Chelny. It started its career in 2001 in Sarman District of Tatarstan.The band currently has two albums, Yoldız and Tön bezne kötä ....

 (since 2001) from Sarman. Some other popular bands are: KGB, Yar band, İlsöyä Bädretdineva, İsmail

Ismail

Ismail may refer to:*Ismail , people with the name*Ishmael, the English name of Ismail*Ismael Village, in Sangcharak District at Sar-e Pol Province of Afghanistan...

, rhymes and 116.

Traditionally, Tatar rock music has been a Tatar language

Tatar language

The Tatar language , or more specifically Kazan Tatar, is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars of historical Kazan Khanate, including modern Tatarstan and Bashkiria...

 version of Russian rock

Russian rock

Russian rock refers to rock music made in Russia or in the Russian language. Rock and roll became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s , when the Soviet underground rock bands...

. The lyrics and vocals have more importance than instrumental sounds.

Other pop-rock groups include Malaylar, Yarda

Yarda

Yarda is a village situated in Tanout Department, Zinder Region, Niger. Its geographical coordinates are 14° 46' 0" North, 8° 32' 0" East.YARDA also is the name of fashion brand. YARDA is abbreviation of "Yaser Dadkhah".www.yarda.com...

 and Ataqlı Radio Şäxeslär. Pop singer Alsou

Alsou

- Early life :Alsou was born in Bugulma, Tatarstan. Her father, Ralif Rafilovich Safin is a Russian oligarch, a former LUKoil executive and a current member of the Federal Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. He is also the owner of the FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi football team and was...

has sung, at times, in her native Tatar.