"Biography & Photos of Persian Honarmands"

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Googoosh was born Faegheh Atashin in 1951 on Sarcheshmeh Street, in an old and worn down part of Tehran, to Azerbaijani immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union. When she was two, they separated. Because of her father's profession - he was an acrobat and an entertainer - she grew accustomed to the stage early on, and was part of his act until she was three. She began doing impersonations of some of the singers of the time. When her father discovered this talent, he put her on stage. She has been on stage as a paid professional since she was three.

Googoosh had one brother who, at the age of 24, was struck by heart rheumatism and passed away. She has three half-brothers on her father's side and a brother and sister on her mother's side.

Because Googooosh's mother was separated from her father when Googoosh was young, Googoosh never got a chance to live with her. Her mother later remarried and as a result, Googoosh didn't see her again until she was 13. For a while she was even told that her mother had passed away - so that she wouldn't ask for her on the road.

Because Googoosh lived with her stepmother, she didn't have a very good home life. But she was occupied with school and performances, and was kept busy with household chores. She was also in charge of one of her brothers.

The name "Googoosh" is an Armenian name but for a boy and was given to her at birth. But because it was a boy's name there was a problem registering the name on her birth certificate. As a result, her registered name is Faegheh.

During the 1970's 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. Iranian women changed hairdos with Googoosh and she was always one step ahead of them with a new look.

Googoosh's private life was not quite so successful and a series of bad marriages and abusive relationships followed. She has one son Kambiz who is also in the music industry in Los Angeles.

After the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, Googoosh had been forbidden from performing and her material had been banned. She kept herself occupied at home, taking care of her house, reading. Because she had no intentions of leaving Iran, she adapted to her new life. Many people would tell her that other Iranian singers who began their careers much later in life than she did were choosing to leave because they could not endure not being able to perform. They would ask how it was that she, who had always been on stage, managed to adapt.

For a time Googoosh battled depression until the early 1990s when she met Massoud Kimiai (now her husband). He saw her sadness, and later told her that it was as if the flower of her soul had withered. 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. This had an overwhelming effect on her and gradually an energy quickly spread within her. Now drawing from the love she received from people since the end of the Iran-Iraq war, tt was this support which brought her out of her depression.

In 1999 rumors spread to Iran that a following had grown outside of Iran and the many ex-patriate Iranians who had left Iran during the revolution yearned for Googoosh to perform again. It was under this encouragement and the opportunity presented by an Iranian concert promoter that enabled Googoosh to leave Iran in 2000 and start a concert tour that spanned the globe.

Today Googoosh is based in Toronto Canada where she continues to work on her music career as well as independent films. Googoosh still tours regularly and her concerts are sold out events throughout the Iranian and non-Iranian communities wherever she goes.

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GOOGOOSH!

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aghassi ( ROOHESH SHAAD )

[Dariush]

khoda biamorzatesh