t.A.T.u. (“Тату” in Russian) were a Russian music duo that consisted of Julia Volkova and Lena Katina. Russian television producer Ivan Shapovalov created the group back in 1999, and they reached worldwide success in the 2001-2 biennial with debut album 200 Po Vstrechnoy and its English version, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane.

Their impact owes equally to the catchy synth pop rock, and their sexualized image, most blatant regarding lesbianism (the band name is even derived from the Russian phrase “Эта девочка любит ту девочку” – Eta devochka lyubit tu devochku – meaning “This girl loves that girl”).

The duo’s contract with Shapovalov was even broken in 2004 as he “spen[t] his time thinking up scandals instead of planning our artistic work” according to Volkova and “made us out to BE lesbians when we were just singing FOR lesbians” as put by Katina. Second album Dangerous and Moving (2005) had some success, but third effort Waste Management (2009) went barely unnoticed. t.A.T.u. have since split. But even though they have not performed together since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Lena Katina has continued to have a flourishing career, especially in her home country in Russia, where she is slated to release her second full album in 2019. Julia, by contrast, has only released a few singles.