Ruja was one of the foremost

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

s of the 1970s and 1980s. The name of the band comes from a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

"ruja", for

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, though there are people who believe that "ruja" is actually made up of the first letters of the band's important members (R –

Rein Rannap Rein Rannap (born 6 October 1953 in Tallinn) is an Estonian composer and pianist. Since 1968, Rannap has given numerous public piano performances. Rannap has been active in management and composition for Ruja, Noor-Eesti and Hõim. Pianist ...

, U –

Urmas Alender Urmas Alender (22 November 1953 – 28 September 1994) was an Estonian singer and musician, the vocalist of popular Estonian bands Ruja and Propeller. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, Alender began his musical career in the rock band Shades in 19 ...

, J –

Jaanus Nõgisto Jaanus Nõgisto (born 21 January 1956 in Tallinn) is an Estonian director, producer, composer and guitarist. Since 1982, he worked at Eesti Televisioon as the director of music and entertainment programs. In 2000, he created his own production com ...

and A – Andrus Vaht). The band released their first and self-titled album in 1979. Many of the original melodies of Ruja were composed by

. The band was created by Rein Rannap in 1971 while in the 11th grade. Ruja's 3 first members were Rein Rannap, Urmas Alender and Andrus Vaht. On September 28, 1994, the band's lead singer,

, died in the sinking of passenger ferry

M/S Estonia MS ''Estonia'' was a car-passenger ferry built in 1980 for the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally by Meyer Werft, in Papenburg, West Germany. She was deployed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies (first Viking ...

. After Alender's funeral concert a couple of days later, the remaining members of the band decided never to perform under the name of "Ruja" again.

Members

1971–1975

(

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

) *

(

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

) *

Tiit Haagma Tiit Haagma (5 April 1954 – 27 May 2021) was an Estonian sailor and musician. He was born in Tallinn. He started his sailing exercising in 1961, coached by Enn Metsar, and Peeter Leola. In 1984 he won World Championships in Ice Sailing (DN-cla ...

(

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) *

( keyboards) * Andrus Vaht (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) * Toomas Veenre (guitar) * Andres Põldroo (guitar)

1975–1978

* Urmas Alender (vocals) * Jaanus Nõgisto (guitar) * Tiit Haagma (bass) * Priit Kuulberg (bass 1978–1980) * Margus Kappel (keyboards, 12-string guitar) * Andrus Vaht (drums) * Ivo Varts (drums 1978–1980)

1980–1983

* Urmas Alender (vocals) * Jaanus Nõgisto (guitar) * Tiit Haagma (bass) * Rein Rannap (keyboards) * Jaan Karp (drums)

1985–1988

* Urmas Alender (vocals) * Indrek Patte (vocals 1987) * Jaanus Nõgisto (guitar) *

(bass 1985–1986) * Igor Garšnek (keyboards) * Toomas Rull (drums, vocals 1985–1986) * Rein Joasoo (drums, 1986–1986) * Arvo Urb (drums 1987–1988) * S.P. Gulliver (bass 1987–1988) * Nevil Blumberg (guitar 1988) * Raul Jaanson (guitar 1988)

Discography

*''

Ruja Ruja was one of the foremost Estonian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s. The name of the band comes from a neologism "ruja", for science fiction, though there are people who believe that "ruja" is actually made up of the first letters of the ba ...

'' (EP) (1979) *''Ruja'' (LP) (1982) *''

Kivi veereb Ruja was one of the foremost Estonian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s. The name of the band comes from a neologism "ruja", for science fiction, though there are people who believe that "ruja" is actually made up of the first letters of the ba ...

'' (1987) *''

Pust budet vsjo ''Pust budet vsjo'' () is the fourth album by Estonian rock band Ruja. The album contains Russian language versions of Ruja's songs. It's controversial for the band, because since there was Soviet occupation and russification in Estonia Esto ...

'' (1989) *''

Must lind ''Must lind'' (''Black bird'') is a compilation album by Estonian rock band Ruja. It was released after the tragedy of M/S Estonia, where the band's lead singer Urmas Alender died and is dedicated to him. Track listing #"Must lind" (''Black ...

'' (1994) *'' Need ei vaata tagasi... Osa 1'' (1999) *'' Need ei vaata tagasi... Osa 2'' (1999)

Videos

*"Rujavisioon" (1999). Video cassette (VHS)

References

External links

* *
Estonian progressive rock website
Estonian rock music groups Estonian folk rock groups Estonian progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups reestablished in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 1971 establishments in Estonia {{Estonia-band-stub