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. Googoosh was not only a popular singer since the beginning of her career, but by time she became a cultural icon, inside Iran and abroad. Today, Googoosh continues to appeal to a new generation of fans.She is known for her contributions to Iranian pop music, but also starred in a variety of Persian movies from the 1950s to the 1970s. She achieved the pinnacle of her fame and success towards the end of the 1970s. In 1970s, Googoosh was widely emulated by Iranian women, as they copied her clothing (miniskirts) and her short haircut (known as the “Googooshy”). Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, she is famously known for remaining in Tehran until 2000 and not performing again due to the ban on female singers. Still, her following grew. Younger Iranian people have rediscovered her music via bootleg recordings. After leaving Iran in 2000, she performed a total of 27 concerts in European and North American countries in that year. Recent projects include a new collaboration with 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 which is broadcast on London based satellite channel Manoto 1.Since her return to the stage in the summer of 2000, she has performed concerts all around the world, including some of the biggest and most prestigious venues in the world like Madison Square Garden in New York, Air Canada Centre in Toronto, The Royal Albert Hall in London. She has recorded songs in multiple languages such as Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Armenian and French. Outside of Iran, she has a significant following in many other Middle Eastern nations, Afghanistan as well as other Central Asian countries, and has even caught the attention of European and African media and press. Her overall impact and contributions to Iranian pop music, made her the most iconic female pop singer in the Persian speaking world.