Russian rock (Russian: Pусский рок) 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 (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground rock bands could release their records officially. The great majority of the bands perform in the Russian language.

Prior to the late sixties, music in the Soviet Union was divided into two groups: music published by state record company Melodiya, and everything else. Under this second group were the bards, underground folk singer–songwriters.

Bards such as Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava were among the many artists who created the style which is referred to as "author's song" (авторская песня), mostly played on unaccompanied acoustic guitar and characterized by a strong accent on lyrics that sometimes carried a subversive meaning. Their music was often suppressed by the government, and yet enjoyed massive popularity, with Vysotsky becoming a highly popular cinema and theatre actor and an iconic figure of the times.