Leonid & Friends is one of the most popular tribute acts of the band Chicago. This 11-piece group comprises frontman Leonid Vorobyev along with Vasilii Akimov, Igor Javad-Zade, Sergey Kashirin, Serge Tiagniryadno, Vlad Senchillo, Ksenia Buzina, Maxim Likhachev, Andrey Zyl, Oleg Kudryavstev and Vladimir Popov. Formed in Moscow in 2014 by Vorobyev, the biggest challenge for the band was to find brass players who could play rock songs like "Make Me Smile" with aplomb. With no existing transcriptions for Chicago's works, Vorobyev and his team had to work on arrangements by ear. A video of the band's rendition of the hit "Brand New Love Affair," uploaded on YouTube, went viral and catapulted Leonid's & Friends into the spotlight. After posting videos of a string of covers of songs like "25 or 6 to 4," "I'm a Man," "You Are on My Mind" and more, the band released its debut album Chicagovich in 2017. It was followed by Chicagovich II in 2018. Despite not gaining traction in its home country, Leonid & Friends has built a solid fan-following in the West and sold-out multiple tours in the USA.
