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Tokarev said that he "probably became a singer by chance. Nikolay Nikitsky, a film actor and singer very popular at the time, invited me to accompany him at his concerts. Once during a concert he offered me to sing one of my songs myself. When I finished, the audience gave me an ovation. Nikitsky, seeing such a success, told me, 'Willi, you have to sing!'" And Tokarev, in addition to playing [[double bass]] and writing songs, started singing.<ref name="vechernysaransk20141107" />
From 1970 to 1974 he lived and performed as a singer in the town of [[Murmansk]].<ref name=KP>{{cite news|url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/26157.5/3045142/|title=Мурманский календарь: 11 ноября. Признание Мурманчан было Токареву особенно приятно|trans-title=Murmansk calendar: 11 November. Tokarev enjoyed the acclaim by Murmansk residents|publisher=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]|language=Russian|date=2013-11-11|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref> According to Tokarev, he moved from Leningrad because at the time in Moscow and Leningrad, jazz fell out of favor with the authorities, while in Murmansk he could be himself.<ref name=KP/> In Murmansk Tokarev worked as a singer at the restaurant
In 1973, Tokarev's song "Murmanchanochka" ("Murmansk Girl") became a huge local hit.<ref name="officialwebsite-biography" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mvestnik.ru/shwpgn.asp?pid=201110114038|title=Здесь люди умеют дружить|date=2011-10-11|publisher=Murmansky Vestnik}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://murmansk.kp.ru/daily/26157.5/3045142/|title=Мурманский календарь: 11 ноября. Признание Мурманчан было Токареву особенно приятно|date=2013-11-11|newspaper=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.online812.ru/2009/09/21/009/|title=Тайсон тоже человек. К нему можно подойти, поговорить|date=2009-09-29|publisher=Gorod 812}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://adigeatoday.ru/?article_id=12140|title=Самый известный певец-уроженец Адыгеи отмечает 80-летие|publisher=Agygea Segodnya|date=2014-11-17}}</ref>
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In the 1980s his songs were widely known among Russian emigrants in the United States. Tokarev worked as a singer in three big Russian-speaking restaurants on [[Brighton Beach]]: Sadko, Primorsky, and Odessa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seteola.nostalgiatv.ru/videos/805|title="Рожденные в СССР" с Владимиром Глазуновым. Вилли Токарев (2013, Биография)|publisher=Seteola|year=2013}}</ref>
Back in the Soviet Union, his songs about the United States written from the perspective of a Russian émigré also became very popular.<ref name="golosameriki20131010">{{cite news|url=http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/content/willie-tokarev-in-new-york/1765828.html|script-title=ru:Вилли Токарев в Нью-Йорке: и не страшно, и не грустно...|publisher=[[Voice of America]]|date=2013-10-10|accessdate=2014-10-10|language=Russian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/10/nyregion/from-russia-with-love-for-us-goods.html|title=From Russia, With Love for U.S. Goods|first=Celestine|last=Bohlen|date=10 January 1989|accessdate=29 November 2014|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.whatson-kiev.com/?go=News&in=view&id=9497|title=The Last of the Defectors|publisher=What's On,
In the late 1980s, Tokarev began traveling back to the USSR.<ref name="golosameriki20131010" /> As he recalls, when in 1988 he went on a "test trip" to the Soviet Union with Impresario [[Leonard Lev]], he was greeted in the [[Sheremetyevo International Airport|Sheremetyevo Airport]] by a crowd of people asking him for autographs and to take a photo with them, and was very surprised that the people knew him somehow.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://russian-bazaar.com/ru/content/721.htm|title=Тот самый Вилли|newspaper=Russian Bazaar|issue=#17 (313)}}</ref> His first tour across the Soviet Union, organized by Gosconcert (the Soviet Union State Concert Organization), took place in 1989 and consisted of 70 concerts.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kp.ru/radio/stenography/55289/|title=Вилли Токарев: "Россия – страна высочайших талантов. Но на сцену пускают только тех, кто платит"|date=2012-12-11|newspaper=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]}}</ref>
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Tokarev permanently returned to Russia in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myn-taganka.ru/index.php/pochetnye-zhiteli/27-jiteli/79-tokarev-villi-ivanovich|title=Токарев Вилли Иванович|publisher=Внутригородское муниципальное образование Таганское в городе Москве (официальный сайт)}}</ref> Since 2005, he has been a resident of Moscow. He lived in the famous [[Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://themoscownews.com/realestate/20110228/188452922.html|title=Inside Moscow's titans|first=Lidia|last=Okorokova|date=28 February 2011|publisher=The Moscow News (online newspaper)|accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref> and was named a Honorary Resident of Moscow's [[Tagansky Raion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myn-taganka.ru/index.php/pochetnye-zhiteli|title=Honorary citizens|publisher=Внутригородское муниципальное образование Таганское в городе Москве (официальный сайт)}}</ref>
Tokarev was still active at the age of 80, touring and recording new songs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.blatata.com/glavnews/145726-villi-tokarev-80-let-ne-srok.html|title=Вилли Токарев – 80 лет не срок|publisher=Blatata.com|year=2014}}</ref> As of March 2013, his discography included 48 studio and
In early 2017, Tokarev performed a new song, "Trumplissimo America!", at a function in Moscow in support of [[Donald Trump]]'s inauguration as the 45th President of the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/donald-trump-russia-anonymous-masks-supporters-celebrations-a7538541.html|title=Donald Trump supporters in Russia wear 'Anonymous' masks during inauguration party in Moscow|author=May Bulman|publisher=''The Independent''|date=2017-01-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-celebrates-eve-donald-trumps-inauguration/story?id=44911375|title=Russia Celebrates on the Eve of Donald Trump's Inauguration|author=Dragana Jovanovic|publisher=ABC News|date=2017-01-20}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
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