Googoosh

Faegheh Atashin (Persian: فائقه آتشین‎, born 5 May 1950), better known by her stage name Googoosh (Persian: گوگوش‎; also romanized as Gūgūsh; Persian pronunciation: [guːˈguːʃ]), is an Iranian singer and actress, and one of Iran's most popular and enduring entertainers, whose career spans over 60 years.[1][2] Googoosh has enjoyed significant popularity since the beginning of her career, ultimately becoming a cultural icon inside Iran and abroad.[3][4][5]

Googoosh
Googoosh at the Hollywood Bowl in 2018
Born
Faegheh Atashin

(1950-05-05) 5 May 1950
Khorramdarreh, Zanjan, Iran
Occupation
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active1953–1979, 2000–present
Spouse(s)
Mahmoud Ghorbani
​
(
m. 1967; div. 1972)

​
(
m. 1975; div. 1976)

Homayoun Mesdaghi
​
(
m. 1979; div. 1985)

​
(
m. 1991; div. 2005)
Children1
Parent(s)Saber Atashin
Nasrin Atashin
Musical career
LabelsAvang, Caltex, MZM, Pars Video, Taraneh, RCA Italiana, RCA Victor, Barclay
WebsiteOfficial website

She is mainly known for her contributions to Iranian pop music, but she has also starred in a variety of Persian movies from the 1950s to the 1970s.[6][7] She achieved the pinnacle of her fame and success towards the end of the 1970s. In the 1970s, Googoosh was widely emulated by Iranian women, as they copied her clothing (miniskirts) and her short haircut (known as the "Googooshy").[1] Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, she remained in Tehran until 2000 and did not perform again due to the ban on female singers. Younger generations of Iranians have rediscovered her music via bootleg recordings.[8] After leaving Iran in 2000, she performed a total of 27 concerts in European and North American countries in that year.[9] Recent projects include a new collaboration with Iranian singer-songwriter Hassan Shamaizadeh from her 2012 album Ejaz, as well as serving as head judge and head of academy for the popular reality show Googoosh Music Academy broadcast on London-based satellite channel Manoto 1.[10]

Since her return to the stage in the summer of 2000, she has performed in concerts and venues all around the world, including the Madison Square Garden in New York, the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and The Royal Albert Hall in London.[11] She has recorded songs in many languages including Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Armenian and French.[12] She has a significant following outside of Iran and has even received the attention of European and African media and press.[13] Her overall impact and contributions to Iranian pop music made her the most iconic female pop singer in the Persian speaking world.[14]

Biography

Early life
Googoosh began singing and acting at a young age with her father, Saber
4-year-old Googoosh with her mother Nasrin Atashin

Googoosh was born Faegheh Atashin on 5 May 1950[15] in Ghubba Street, Khorramdarreh, to parents Nasrin and Saber Atashin, Saber being an Iranian Azerbaijani and Nasrin being an Azerbaijani immigrant from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.[16]

Even though her birth certificate has recorded her date of birth as 7 February 1950, Googoosh has said that her mother has told her she was actually born on 5 May.[15]

At the age of three, Googoosh began doing stage performances after her father saw her doing impersonations of singers while they were on the road together. They moved to Tehran, where they discovered her brilliant talents at the age of 6.[6]

Career before the Revolution (1953–1979)
Googoosh performing on stage in Tehran

During the 1970s, Googoosh began a meteoric rise to fame and success as she drove the edge of Iranian pop music further and further. Known for her flamboyant outfits and fashion sense, Googoosh wowed her pop-culture-hungry fans in Iran and abroad with her trademark hairdos and hip-elegant style, inspiring many Iranian women to copy her hairdos. Her music ranged from upbeat 1960s and 1970s pop, given a traditional-tinged edge,[17] to declamatory, emotional ballads dealing with love and loss, comparable to the chanson style of music by artists like Édith Piaf. Her music was popular among non-Persian-speaking audiences as well. The Spanish singer Julio Iglesias covered the song Bavar Kon.[18] She starred in over 25 movies, one of which was to be the most commercially successful Iranian motion picture of all time. Googoosh performed many times for the royal family and was a favorite of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's wife and children. She performed at the party given for the 17th birthday of Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran.[19]

At the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Googoosh was in Los Angeles. However, feeling homesick, she decided to return to Iran. In response to why she remained in Iran after the revolution, she said that it was "out of love of her for her homeland".[20] Despite being a symbol of many things that the revolution tried to overturn, especially related to perceptions of excessive Westernization, Googoosh remained in Iran for years afterward.[21] After the revolution, Googoosh, like other artists, was forbidden from performing and her material was banned. She would not perform again until Mohammad Khatami's presidency, during which she was allowed to tour outside of the country.

Comeback (2000–present)
See also: Googoosh Comeback Tour
Googoosh in at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto

Googoosh left Iran for Canada in 2000, after 21 years being in Iran, after the Iranian revolution.[9] BMusic's Taghinia, says "Googoosh is the siren of that era [Pre-revolution] and important in that she's really a direct link to Iran's past."[22] Chicago Tribune considers the return of Googoosh to be "more than just a pop milestone" but instead "a cultural marker, a measure of the way change occurs in a society that for more than two decades has tried to resist the tide of globalization by living in self-imposed isolation."[4]

In 2000, Googoosh sang in public, away from her homeland, for the first time after 21 years of silence to the acclaim of many long-time fans.[23][24] The Googoosh Comeback Tour was a series of concerts starting in July 2000. She began with a sold-out concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on 29 July 2000 (with an audience of more than 12,000),[20] and eventually brought the tour to a conclusion in Dubai on 21 and 24 March 2001 on the occasion of the Iranian New Year, Nowruz. Her concert in Dubai was considered a homecoming for her, and out of the more than 20,000 members of the audience, seventy percent of them were Iranians who had crossed the Persian Gulf to hear her.[25][26] The two Dubai concerts held special importance: it was the tour finale, and Googoosh was rumored to be planning to return to Iran. Therefore, many people believed it might be their last chance to see her. She later claimed that she felt like singing at home.

In 2000, a feature-length documentary called Googoosh: Iran's Daughter was released 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 give interviews.[27]

In January 2009, she ended her work and career with Mehrdad Asemani, citing "creative differences," and in March 2009 began a new work relationship with her current management team. On 21 and 24 March of that year, during Nowruz, Googoosh performed in Dubai.

Googoosh and other speakers participated in a 22 July 2009 protest at the United Nations which attracted exiles from Iran. They stood in front of a banner with names of Iranian protestors whom they believed were still incarcerated and of other protestors, written in red, who had been killed. During this protest, Googoosh made a speech stating that she entered politics because of the outcome of the 2009 Iranian presidential election. She said, "I have come here to be the voice for the sad mothers who lost their loved ones in peaceful demonstrations. I have come here to be the just voice of the grass-roots and spontaneous movement among my compatriots and to show my solidarity."[28]

Googoosh in one of her concerts, 2006

Beginning in 2011, she served as head-of-academy and head-judge alongside Hooman Khalatbari and Babak Saeedi for the widely popular talent show/singing competition Googoosh Music Academy, which was broadcast on the London-based Iranian satellite channel Manoto 1 and was their most watched program.[29] Googoosh Music Academy lasted three seasons. In December 2010, Googoosh held a very notable concert in the Kurdish region of Iraq, to which tens of thousands of Iranians came from Tehran and beyond.

In March 2011, Googoosh released a snippet of a new song she was working on, titled Bedrood, via YouTube. In April 2011, she debuted her latest project. The singer launched her own cosmetic collection sold online, titled Googoosh Cosmetics. In April 2011, she held a concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, as well as a record breaking performance at the same venue on 27 October 2012, as a part of her worldwide Ejaz Tour.[30] Also on 26 March 2013 she performed at London's Royal Albert Hall for the first time,[31] where other notable Persian vocalists such as Elaheh, Ebi and Marzieh have performed memorable concerts in the past.

In 2012, Googoosh released her 6th studio album since her comeback, titled Ejaz. The album consisted of 10 tracks, featuring collaborations with Hassan Shamaizadeh (Hayahoo) and three songs wherein she collaborated with her fellow Googoosh Music Academy judge Babak Saeedi and with Raha Etemadi (Nagoo Bedrood and Noghteye Payan and Hese Mobham). She also collaborated with Alireza Afkari and Roozbeh Bemani on three songs (E'jaz and Baraye Man and Behesht). Another single Bi Manoto was a musical rendition of a poem by the Persian poet Rumi. The poem came to Googoosh's attention while she was banned from singing at the time of the Iran–Iraq War. She stated that she felt inspired by the lyrics and therefore created her own melody and was finally presented with the opportunity to record it as she had long hoped to do.[32]

In February 2014, she released a music video of the song Behesht, in support of the gay and lesbian community in Iran, which faces significant challenges in its struggle for equal rights, including the ongoing threat of the death penalty for convictions related to sexual orientation.[33] This made her the first prominent Iranian with a huge following to speak out against homophobia in Iran.

On 21 March 2015, Googoosh released her 7th album titled Akse Khosoosi (Private Portrait) including 11 tracks from different songwriters and composers such as Babak Sahraee, Nickan Ebrahimi, Babak Amini (Googoosh band leader). The first song of this album is Che Ziba Bood, which is also the last song that was composed by Varujan.

Despite the political and personal hardships she has endured, Googoosh has continued to be a beloved figure over the last half century.[34]

Personal life
Googoosh playing tennis in 1970s

Googoosh has three half-brothers on her father's side and a brother and sister on her mother's side. One of her brothers has died in his youth.[16]

Googoosh's first husband was Mahmoud Ghorbani, a music promoter who had helped Googoosh make a name for herself throughout the 1960s. Googoosh and Ghorbani married in February 1967.[35] They had a son, Kambiz.[36] After about six years of marriage, Ghorbani and Googoosh divorced in late 1972. In 1975, Googoosh married Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi; they divorced fourteen months later in 1976. During their brief marriage they were considered to be the country's biggest celebrity power couple. In 1980, Googoosh was imprisoned for nearly one month after the Iranian Revolution. During the late 1970s, Googoosh became involved with Homayoun Mesdaghi, and married him in 1979. Six years later, in 1985, she divorced Mesdaghi. She then married director Masoud Kimiai in 1991. They divorced in 2005.

In 2018, in reply to a question by interviewer about how she stays young, she said, "Love, music and lots of fruit!".[7]

Discography
Main article: Googoosh discography
An album cover which contains the Bigharar song

Studio albums

  • 1970: Do panjereh (Two Windows)
  • 1970: Fasle Tazeh
  • 1971: Mordâb (The Swamp)
  • 1971: Nimeye gomshodeye man (My Lost Half)
  • 1972: Kuh (The Mountain)
  • 1974: Do mâhi (Two Fish)
  • 1974: Hamsafar (Co-Traveler)
  • 1975: Pol (The Bridge)
  • 1975: Mosabbeb (with Dariush)
  • 1977: Dar emtedâde shab (Along the Night)
  • 1978: Ageh bemuni (If You Stay)

Albums (since her return to music in 2000)

  • 2000: Zartosht (Zoroaster)
  • 2004: Akharin Khabar (Latest News)
  • 2005: Mânifest (Manifest)
  • 2008: Shab-e Sepid (White Night)
  • 2010: Hajm-e Sabz (Green Volume)
  • 2012: E'jaz (Miracle)
  • 2015: Akse Khosoosi (Private Portrait)

Singles

  • 2004: QQ Bang Bang (on YouTube)
  • 2011: Ye Harfaei (live performance on Manoto 1)
  • 2014: Nostalgia (ft. Ebi)
  • 2014: Do Panjereh (ft. Ebi)
  • 2014: Ki Ashkato Pak Mikoneh (ft. Ebi)
  • 2015: Hamzad (New Arrangement)
  • 2016: Hastamo Nistam
  • 2017: Do Panjereh (music video)
  • 2017: Sogand (Oath)
  • 2018: Mosalase Khatereha (The Memory Makers) (ft. Hassan Shamaizadeh)
  • 2018: Ajab Jaei
  • 2018: Shahed (Witness)
  • 2018: 40 Sal (40 years) (ft. Siavash Ghomayshi)
  • 2019: Eshghe Kamyab (Rare Love)

Filmography
Poster for Googoosh's 1972 award-winning film Bita
Googoosh acting as a child
YearPersian Title[37] English Title
1960 فرشتۀ فراری Runaway Angel
بیم و امید Fear and Hope
1963 پرتگاه مخوف The Cliff of Fear
1965 شیطون بلا The Naughty One
1966 گدایان تهران The Beggars of Tehran
فیل و فنجان Big and Small
حسین کُرد Hoseyn-e Kord
1967 چهار خواهر Four Sisters (with Leila Forouhar)
دروازه تقدیر The Gate of Fate
گنج و رنج Treasure and Toil
در جستجوی تبهکاران In the Search of Criminals
1968 سه ‌دیوانه The Three Morons
شب فرشتگان The Night of Angels
ستاره هفت آسـمان The Star of Seven Skies
1969 گناه زیبایی The Sin of Beauty
1970 طلوع Sunrise
جنجال عروسی The Wedding Brawl
پنجره The Window
1971 احساس داغ Hot Feeling
آسـمون بی‌ستاره Starless Sky
قصاص Retaliation
1972 بی‌تا Bitā
1973 خیالاتی Imaginings
1975 هـمسفر Travelling Mate
نازنین Nazanin
مـَمَل آمریکایی American Mamal
شب غریبان Nostalgic Night
1976 ماه عسل Honeymoon
1977 در امتداد شب Along the Night
1979 امشب اشکی می‌ریزد Tonight Someone Cries

Googoosh also acted in two other movies: Mard-e keraye-i (مرد کرایه‌ای) and Hagi Firuz (حاجی فیروز), but the production of each of these films was suspended during the final stages for unknown reasons. Googoosh has also acted in many television shows and commercials in Iran.

Awards and achievements
Googoosh on the cover of Javanan e Emrooz Magazine, 1974
  • 1971: first prize and golden record at the Midem trade fair in Cannes for her 7" record (as "Gougoush") performing two songs in French produced by Barclay Records: "Retour de la Ville" (A-side) and "J'entends Crier Je T'aime" (B-side).[38][39][40]
  • 1972: Performed at Cantagiro Music Festival.
  • 1972: Performed at the Carthage Music Festival
  • 1972: First medal of arts of Tunisia[39]
  • 1973: The best actress for Bita in Iranian Sepas film festival.[39][40]
  • 1973: Recorded soundtrack (produced by RCA Records) of San Remo Music Festival.[41]
  • 2001: Performed at the Carthage Music Festival.
  • 2014: Best Iranian Female Singer (World Music Awards)[42][40]
  • 2017: Best Music Video For Do Panjereh (Directed by Yasmin Asha)(Festigious Film Awards March 2017)[43]
  • Two awards from Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles for record breaking performances[40]
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See also

References
  1. "Googoosh". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. Desk, TV News. "Googoosh Brings THE MEMORY MAKERS Tour to Hollywood Bowl This May". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  3. "Iranian diva Googosh on her silence, return 40 years after the revolution". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  4. Correspondent, Tom Hundley, Tribune Foreign. "POP DIVA'S RETURN STRIKES A POPULAR CHORD IN IRAN". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  5. Minazad, Orly. "Iranian Icon Googoosh Makes History at the Hollywood Bowl". BLARB. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  6. "About Googoosh". Googoosh.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007.
  7. Times, Hanan Daqqa/Fairfax County. "Googoosh: Iran's daughter speaks her mind". Fairfax County Times. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  8. Suh, Joanne (9 October 2000). "Iran's pop diva Googoosh returns to the world stage after two decades". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  9. "BBC Persian". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  10. "Manoto TV, au service des nostalgiques de la monarchie iranienne" (in French). 8 February 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  11. "Googoosh". Hollywood Bowl. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  12. Arellano, Gustavo (21 May 2003). "Catharsis Queen". OC Weekly. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  13. Saba, Sadeq (19 June 2000). "Iran's pop diva to sing again". BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
  14. "Googoosh Net Worth 2018: Wiki-Bio, Married, Dating, Family, Height, Age, Ethnicity". Net Worth Post. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  15. "Googoosh in Media - Life After the Revolution Singer Googoosh". Googoosh.tv. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007.
  16. "Googoosh, The most celebrated Iranian pop artist of all times". Iran Chamber Society. Googoosh was born Faegheh Atashin in 1951 on Ghubba Street, in an old part of Khorramdarreh, to Azerbaijani immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union.
  17. "صفحه‌های گرامافون گوگوش". ShahreFarang (in Persian). 11 January 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  18. "Bavar Kon – Julio Iglesias". Last.fm. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  19. "When Giants Meet: The Queen of Persian Pop greets the Shahbanou of Iran in NY Live Concert". Payvand.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  20. Cohen, Tom. "Googoosh Returns to Public Arena". AP NEWS. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  21. Ferguson, Jason. "Iranian pop queen Googoosh playing at the Bob Carr is a pretty big deal". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  22. "They rocked in Iran before the revolution". Los Angeles Times. 21 August 2011. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  23. "Iranian music superstar makes comeback in Toronto". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  24. "Let Googoosh sing". Salon. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  25. Moaveni, Azade (23 March 2001). "Don't Cry for Me, Iran". Time. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
  26. "Googoosh Makes Mideast Concert Comeback after Two-Decade Silence". www.albawaba.com. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  27. "New Film About Iranian Star Googoosh - World Music Central.org". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  28. MacFarquhar, Neil. "Iranian Exiles Rally at U.N. for Release of Prisoners" (or "Ganji and Googoosh Lead Iranian Exiles in Rally at U.N."). The New York Times. 22 July 2009. Retrieved on 4 April 2014.
  29. "Googoosh Music Academy". Manoto 1. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013.
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. Video on YouTube
  33. "Googoosh sings out in support of Iran's gays and lesbians". Euronews.com. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  34. "Iranian Artist Spotlight". Orley Shabahang. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  35. "Biography Personal". Googoosh.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  36. "The new form of Kambiz Ghorbani, Googoosh's son". Kodoom. Kodoom LLC. 26 November 2010.
  37. ".: Iranian Movie DataBase گوگوش :". Sourehcinema.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  38. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  39. "Googoosh.TV – Googoosh Awards". Archived from the original on 12 July 2007.
  40. "Biography". Googoosh Concerts. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  41. Bahmani, Behrouz (11 February 2003). "A Treasure Hunter's Effort Pay Off!". Iranian.com. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  42. World Music Awards [@WORLDMUSICAWARD] (28 October 2014). "Congrats Googoosh, Best Iranian Female Artist voted online" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  43. "festigious - MARCH 2017". Festigious. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
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