' Rasputin ' is a 1978 Euro disco hit single by the Germany-based pop and Euro disco group Boney M., the second from their album Nightflight to Venus. It was written by the group's creator Frank Farian, along with George Reyam and Fred Jay.

Gregory Efimovich Rasputin came from solid peasant stock, but drunkenness, stealing and womanising were activities particularly enjoyed by the dissolute young man.

• Rasputin reveals the true character of the man without minimizing his malign hold on the feckless Romanovs.” ―Ken Kalfus, author of The Commissariat of Enlightenment “It is hard to imagine a historical figure more barnacled with myth than Rasputin. Douglas Smith unravels Rasputin’s complex narrative in unprecedented detail, showing how.
• An undated photograph of Gregory Yefimovich Rasputin, Russian mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son.
• Did Rasputin sleep with Alexandra? Even before Netflix's 'The Last Czars,' people have long wondered if Rasputin had an affair with Czar Nicholas II's wife.

Rasputin became fascinated by a renegade sect within the Russian Orthodox faith, who believed that the only way to reach God was through sinful actions. Soon, he adopted the robes of a monk, and travelled the country, sinning to his heart's content.

In 1903, the infant heir to the Russian throne, Alexis, was diagnosed with haemophilia. Tsarina Alexandra became desperate to help him and lost faith in doctors.

In St. Petersburg, Rasputin moved in the Russian capital's aristocratic circles, achieving recognition and a small following. Under the recommendation of the Grand Duchess, Rasputin was summoned to appear before Alexandra.

Somehow, Rasputin managed to stop Alexis' bleeding, and gained Nicholas and Alexandra's undivided support.

As the monk's fortunes rose in St. Petersburg, so did the number of his enemies. Rumours circulated about Alexandra's supposed sexual involvement with the monk. During his many drunken parties, Rasputin would boast of his exploits with the Tsarina and her daughters, even claiming that the Tsar was his to command.

Alexandra grew increasingly dependent on Rasputin and, after 1911, several roles within high government were filled by his appointees, allowing him great influence over matters of state. This perceived weakness of the Tsar and Tsarina helped to destroy the general respect for them.

In 1916, a group of aristocrats tried to murder Rasputin. He drank poisoned wine, and ate pastries containing cyanide, but he survived. He was then shot, stabbed repeatedly, and finally drowned in the icy Neva river.

Rasputin Grandchildren

However, the regime’s image continued to be tainted by the scandal. Within three months of Rasputin's death, Tsar Nicholas lost his throne, and the imperial family were imprisoned. Revolution had come.