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'''Faegheh Atashin''' ([[Persian language|Persian]]: فائقه آتشین) (born February 7, 1951), nicknamed '''Googoosh''' ([[Persian language|Persian]]: گوگوش), is a popular [[Iran]]ian [[pop singer]] and [[actress]] of [[Azeri]] background. 

==Biography==
[[Image:Manifest.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|''Googoosh's latest album, Manifest, was released in September 2005.'']]
She was born in [[April]] [[1950]] in Sarab in Ardabil province to an [[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijani]] immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union ([[Azerbaijan SSR]]) [http://www.googoosh.com/aboutgoogoosh.htm ]. She began acting and singing early in her childhood alongside her father/acrobat, Saber Atashin. The name Googoosh is an [[Armenia|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. 

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 [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]] at the age of four and was warmly welcomed by the former empress, [[Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari|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.

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.

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 language|Persian]] poems and melodies with [[Western Jazz]], [[Blues]], [[Rock (music)|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 [[Iranian Revolution|1979 Islamic Revolution]].

After the [[Iranian Revolution|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]], [[Turkey]], [[Iraq]] and [[Azerbaijan]]. She sings in twelve different languages, although she can speak only [[Persian language|Persian]], [[English language|English]], [[Azerbaijani|Azeri]], and a little [[Armenian language|Armenian]]. She is one of the most famous Iranian female [[pop music|pop]] singers, often called the "Queen of Persian Pop", "Persian Diva", "Mermaid of Iran", and "Iran's Daughter".

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.   

[[Image:Qqbang.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|QQ bang bang.]]
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.

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:

* ''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.

==External links==
* [http://www.googoosh.com/aboutgoogoosh.htm Googoosh parents from Azerbaijan Republic]
* [http://www.googoosh.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/story/2003/09/030925_shr-googoosh.shtml BBC Interview (in Persian)]
* [http://www.iranchamber.com/music/googoosh/googoosh.php Iran Chamber]
* [http://www.googoosh.tv/ Googoosh Fan Site]
* [http://googoosh.cjb.net/ GOOGOOSH: Persian Diva]
* [http://www.googooshlove.com/ Googooshlove Fan Group]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0329598/ Googoosh] at [[The Internet Movie Database]]

== See also ==
* [[List of Azerbaijanis]]
* [[List of famous Persian women|List of famous Iranian women]]

[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Iranian singers]]
[[Category:Female singers]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani people]]

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[[tr:Googoosh]]
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