Aygun Kazimova
Aygun Alasgar gizi Kazimova (Azeri: Aygün Kazımova) (born 26 January, 1971, Baku) is an Azerbaijani singer, songwriter, pop musician and actress. She is considered Azerbaijan's leading pop star, and is seen as a cultural icon for the South Caucasian nation in fast transition from post-Soviet state to a boom country. She has spoken passionately on many causes, such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in which she claims to have once taken up arms against separatist Armenian forces.[1]
Career
Aygun Kazimova is one of the most prominent artists in the history of Azerbaijani popular music. She is considered the most successful female singer in Azerbaijani music industry and has released the largest number of best-selling singles in the history of Azerbaijan. She is well-known for her innovative music videos and carefully prepared mounted stage performances.
Her career began in the 1980s. She made her debut in 1988, after winning the first prize at the Baki payizi-88 (Baku Autumn-88) musical contest. Until today she has released four albums.
Some of her most prestigious awards include numerous Grand-Prix, Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan and many other music awards. Along with singing, she is also deeply involved in charity work, giving free and benefit concerts for orphan children every year.
In 2005, she played the title role in the musical Khari Bulbullar directed by Arif Gaziyev.
She has given concerts outside Azerbaijan, the most successful and recent of them held in Kremlin Palace, Moscow on January 26, 2006.
Aygun Kazimova hosted several TV shows of her own, however they were not very successful.
She is the current president of the Best Model of Azerbaijan annual contest.
Private life
Details of Kazimova's private life prior to her career rise in 1997 life remain mostly unrevealed. Her first marriage to Rza Guliyev (nephew of Azerbaijan's ex-prime minister and current opposition member Rasul Guliyev) ended in divorce. From that marriage, Kazimova has a daughter, Ilgara (born 1991). The Azerbaijani mass media numerously reported Aygun Kazimova's plans to get remarried (pop-singer Faig Agayev and Turkish model Mert Kilic among others were named her potential spouses). These plans later either turned out to be rumours, or were cancelled by one of the parties. For the past two years, she has appeared to have a love affair with a meykhana-singer Namig Garachukhurlu.
Albums
External links
Aygun Kazimova mp3s at Mp3-az.com