Despite his talent for singing, Kobzon went on to technical school to study geology and mining in Dnipropetrovsk,[2] as this was considered a lucrative vocation in the Soviet Union following the Second World War.

[2] In the next few years he made valuable contacts in Moscow's entertainment world, and was eventually given a chance by composer Arkady Ostrovsky to perform some of his music.

Initially, he performed in a duet with the tenor Viktor Kokhno, but was eventually offered a solo repertoire by many of the outstanding composers of the time such as Mark Fradkin, Alexander Dolukhanian [ru] and Yan Frenkel.

[4] In 1983, Kobzon was expelled from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and reprimanded for "political short sightedness," after he performed Jewish songs during an international friendship concert, which resulted in the Arab delegations leaving in protest.

He was also bestowed the rare honour of performing international concerts tours as a representative of USSR in United States, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Argentina, Israel, Republic of the Congo, Zaire, Angola, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, (Germany), Greece, and Finland.

Since May 1995, Kobzon and his entire family was banned from entering the United States due to his allegedly close associations with drug trafficking, illicit arms trading, and Russian mafia in Moscow especially Viktor Nikiforov (Kalina) (Russian: Виктор Никифоров), Otari Kvantrishvili (Otarik, Krivonos), Alexander Zakharov (Zakhar), Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov (Taiwanchik) and Vyacheslav Ivankov (Yaponchik).

[6][7][8][9][10] Although he officially ended his international touring career in 1997, he continued to appear in regular concerts before audiences around the world and was frequently seen on Russian television.

[citation needed] In 2007, his name was entered into the Guinness Book of Records (Russian Edition) as the most decorated artist in the country's history.

[21] The parallels between the two became the focus of media articles, books and novels claiming to have detailed knowledge of Russia's gangster world based on inside information obtained from the CIA.

[3] In response, Kobzon successfully sued numerous publications for propagating unsubstantiated rumours,[23] asserting his impeccable reputation and great honour among millions of Russian-speakers worldwide.

[28] As a result of the visit, Alexander Zakharchenko (then Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic) bestowed on Kobzon the title of Russia's "honorary consul" to DPR.

[29] However, the title had questionable meaning[30] as there are no reports of Russia formally sending Kobzon as an honorary consul to DPR nor ratifying this appointment.

"[32] He stated that he welcomed any decision by Ukraine's authorities to strip him of honours, as he didn't want to be "an honorary citizen of a country that is run by a fascist regime.

[citation needed] The agreement was reached between EU representatives (Germany and France), Ukraine and Russia, and was aimed at resolving the war in Donbas.

This was his second humanitarian mission to the region delivering medications to hospitals in Luhansk, and giving another free concert "to support local residents".

[41][better source needed] The "Kobzon Concert" meme arose after the assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko, the former leader of the self-proclaimed DPR, which took place on August 31, 2018.