During his teens, he would dress as a stilyaga and often got into fights, one such incident resulting in a scar across his stomach (which can be seen in the film Igla, which he starred in over 20 years later).

During the 1970s, he suffered from depression and worked various jobs, including as a boiler operator and Norwegian translator (he learned the language from his mother).

Mamonov was one of the few rock musicians from former USSR who managed to achieve recognition abroad, through his collaboration with Brian Eno in the late 1980s.

Mamonov explained the name for the album as his own comparison to a popular DJ who calls himself "Black Elvis" and also describes the genre on this record as "lit-hop" (literature hip-hop).

In 2001, he appeared in a short but characteristic role in Serguei Loban's Dust (Russian: Пыль) that was released only 4 years later and became a cult film.

Mamonov plays the title hero, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, a character torn between passionate faith and cruelty.

[3] In 1995, he stated in an interview that he enjoyed listening to alternative rock, heavy metal and grunge, naming Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, the Butthole Surfers, White Zombie and Pantera as examples.