Googoosh

Faegheh Atashin (Persian: فائقه آتشین) (born February 7, 1951), known as Googoosh (Persian: گوگوش), is an Iranian singer. She also acted in several Iranian films of the 60s and 70s; however, her work as an actress has always been eclipsed by her popularity as a singer. Known of her pulchritude and depth of her songs, she attained the status of a celebrity larger than life. She stayed in Iran from 1979 to 2000, enduring the Iranian Revolution, Iran-Iraq War, and isolation. Her silence contributed to her enduring popularity during this time. Beside Iran, she still has a wide following in several other middle eastern countries. She now lives in California, USA and continues her career, albeit in a limited manner. In a contrast to her earlier music, her recent albums deal with more mature subjects.

Biography

Background

She was born in April 1950 in Sarab in Ardabil province to an Azerbaijani immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union (Azerbaijan SSR) [1]. She began acting and singing early in her childhood alongside her father/acrobat, Saber Atashin. The name Googoosh is an Armenian boy's name and was given to her at birth. However since it was a boy's name, there was a problem registering the name on her birth certificate so she was registered under the name of Faegheh. She said in an interview that:"I wasn't born in Azerbaijan, I didn't grow up in Azerbaijan, I have never been to Azerbaijan and I do not carry an Azeri Passport so that does not make me Azeri". Though she is fluent in the Azeri language.

When she was an infant, Googoosh's father divorced from her mother and due to patriarchal custody laws in Iran, she moved with her father to Tehran. When she was only three years old, she sang with a microphone. Soon the young girl's talent would achieve nation-wide fame and success. She began acting for the royal court of the Shah at the age of four and was warmly welcomed by the former empress, Soraya. Googoosh's career started as a child star, acting and singing in many Iranian movies. She captured the hearts of audiences and became one of Iran's most recognized and beloved child movie stars in the late 1950s and 1960s.

File:Googooshx3.jpg

1960s & 1970s

At the age of 20, Googoosh took part in various international music festivals and won the first prize and golden record for her French numbers, "Retour de la vie" and "J'entends crier Je t'aime", at the Cannes Festival in 1971. Her recording of twelve songs in Italian and Spanish for the Sanremo Music Festival in 1973 became an overnight success. She also won first prize at the Carthage Music Festival in 1972 and was honored with the first medal of arts of Tunisia in the same year. Her Spanish song titled "Desde Hacies Tiempo" was an immediate hit in South America in 1973.

File:Googooshx2.jpg

Already by the late 1960s, Googoosh's natural singing ability was inspiring modern Iranian music composers as a new style of Pop music emerged. The result of this collaboration was a unique blend of contemporary Persian poems and melodies with Western Jazz, Blues, Rock, Disco, Latin, and other Pop beats. With the help of legendary composers Varoojan, Shamaizadeh, and Farid Zoland, Googoosh's songs became instant hits and she became one of the biggest 1970s Iranian pop culture icons, touching young and old alike. She set the fashion trends, sporting a mini-jupe and short hair as obvious signs of western sophistication, leaving behind a trail of fads. Tabloid gossip and rumors came with the fame, as well. But it all came to an abrupt end with the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Revolution

After the Revolution in Iran, Googoosh, like most female singers, was banned from public performance. This decades-long professional silence only added to her fame across many Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries, especially in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq and Azerbaijan. She sings in twelve different languages, although she can speak only Persian, English, Azeri, and a little Armenian. She is one of the most famous Iranian female pop singers, often called the "Queen of Persian Pop", "Persian Diva", "Mermaid of Iran", and "Iran's Daughter".

New Millennium

File:Qqbang.jpg

QQ bang bang.

In 2000, a feature-length documentary called "Googoosh: Iran's Daughter" was released in the United States (and all over the world) which chronicled the singer's life and her icon-status while detailing the socio-political turmoil that led to the 1979 Revolution in Iran. Made by Iranian-American filmmaker Farhad Zamani, the documentary began production in 1998 and was made at a time when Googoosh was still forbidden to perform or grant interviews.

In 2000 , as this film was being released, Googoosh made a major comeback. After 21 years of silence, her fans, some of whom were not even born when the diva was banned, filled sports arenas all around the globe to welcome back their legendary diva. Her first album released after her return was Zartosht; she has had two more record-breaking albums since then, including QQBangBang and Last News, and her new album, recorded with a philharmonic orchestra, titled Manifest, was released in September 2005.

*Googoosh's latest album, Manifest, was released in September 2005.*

She has more than 250 Persian and 55 international songs in her widely popular repertoire. Over the years many artists have covered Googoosh's songs.

In the early 1990s Googoosh met Massoud Kimiaei--now her husband. On their first date he took her to a private recording studio in Tehran, and after years of silence she put on her headphones and started to sing for the first time in years. Finally, in 2000, Googoosh left Iran and started a concert tour that spanned the globe. Amazingly, even after so many years that she had been away from the scene, her concerts were all sold out. It showed her extreme and enduring popularity among Iranians and non-Iranians. Currently (as of 2006), Googoosh resides in California and frequently travels to Toronto, Canada, where she has a home.

Filmography

This is an incomplete list:

File:Googooshx1.jpg

Hamsafar (همسفر)
Maah Asal (ماه عسل)
Nazanin (نازنین)
Chahar Khahar or Gedayan-i-Tehran (چهار خواهر)
Ehsas-e Dagh (احساس داغ)
Dar Emtedad-e Shab (در امتداد شب)
Mammal Emrikaayi (ممل امریکایی)
Bita (بیتا)
Tolou (طلوع)
Shab-e Ghariban(شب غریبان)
Nazanin (نازنین)
Panjereh (پنجره)
Sheytoon-Balaa (شیطون بلا)
Partgah-e Makhouf (پرتگاه مخوف)
Fereshte-ye Faraari (فرشتۀ فراری)
Beem-o-Omid (بیم و امید)
Seh Divaneh (سه‌دیوانه)
Ayriliq (in Azeri)
Sakina dayiqizi (in Azeri)

Her songs are often very romantic and sometimes feature elements of traditional Persian music. Her vocal command of every style and the power of her delivery of every nuance of feeling and meaning in a song are incomparable.