SINGERS from Iran

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Iranian Singers of all time. This list of famous Iranian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Iranian Singers.

1. Googoosh (1950 - )

With an HPI of 55.14, Googoosh is the most famous Iranian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

Faegheh Atashin (Persian: فائقه آتشین; born 5 May 1950), known professionally as Googoosh (Persian: گوگوش, Persian: [guːˈguːʃ] ), is an Iranian singer and former actress. One of the most popular and prolific entertainers in Iran, her career has spanned over six decades. Googoosh has enjoyed significant popularity since the beginning of her career, ultimately becoming a cultural icon inside Iran and abroad. She is mainly known for her contributions to Iranian pop music, but she 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 the 1970s, Googoosh was widely emulated by Iranian women, as they copied her clothing (miniskirts) and her short haircut (known as the "Googooshi"). Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, she remained in Tehran until 2000 and did not perform again during that period due to the ban on female singers. Younger generations of Iranians 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 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. 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, the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Honda Center in Anaheim, Royal Albert Hall in London and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles She has recorded songs in many languages including Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Armenian and French. She has a significant following outside of Iran and has even received the attention of European and African media and press.

2. Mohammad-Reza Shajarian (1940 - 2020)

With an HPI of 52.80, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian is the 2nd most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Mohammad-Reza Shajarian (Persian: محمدرضا شجريان; Persian pronunciation: [mohæmːæd ɾeˈzɒː ʃædʒæɾiˈɒːn], 23 September 1940 – 8 October 2020) was an Iranian singer and master (Ostad) of Persian traditional music. He was also known for his skills in Persian calligraphy and humanitarian activities. Shajarian started his singing career in 1959 at Radio Khorasan, rising to prominence in the 1960s with his distinct singing style. His main teachers were Ahmad Ebadi, Esmaeil Mehrtash, Abdollah Davami, and Nour-Ali Boroumand. He also learned the vocal styles of singers from previous generations, including Reza Gholi Mirza Zelli, Fariborz Manouchehri, Ghamar Molouk Vaziri, Eghbal Azar and Taj Isfahani. He has cited legendary Persian tar soloist Jalil Shahnaz as highly influential to his development, indicating that he has often tried to mimic Shahnaz's playing style in his singin Shajarian had collaborated with musicians such as Parviz Meshkatian, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Hossein Alizadeh, Faramarz Payvar, Dariush Pirniakan, and Sohrab Pournazeri. He was recognized as a skilled singer in the challenging traditional Dastgah style. In 1999, UNESCO in France presented him with the Picasso Award and in 2006 with the UNESCO Mozart Medal. In 2017, Los Angeles Times cited him as the "Greatest living maestro of Persian classical music". His works also cover some songs of Iranian ethnic music, including Mazandarani music, Azeri music, Kurdish music and Lur music. After coming out in support of the Iranian Green Movement and criticizing the Iranian government, he was banned from holding concerts and releasing music.

3. Hayedeh (1942 - 1990)

With an HPI of 52.48, Hayedeh is the 3rd most famous Iranian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ma'soumeh Dadehbala (Persian: معصومه دده‌بالا, romanized: Masume Dadebâlâ; April 10, 1942 – January 20, 1990), known professionally as Hayedeh (Persian: هایده, romanized: Hâyde), was an Iranian singer with a contralto vocal range. Known for her wide range of voice, her career spanned over two decades, and she has been widely described as one of the most popular and influential musicians of Iran.

4. Arash (1977 - )

With an HPI of 51.78, Arash is the 4th most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Arash Labbaf (Persian: آرش لباف, pronounced [ɒːˈɾæʃ ɛ læˈbbɒːf]; born 23 April 1977) is an Iranian-Swedish singer, entertainer, and producer. He represented Azerbaijan along with Aysel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, finishing third with the song "Always". He is also one of the judges of Persia's Got Talent, a Persian franchise of the British talent show Got Talent.

5. Sami Yusuf (1980 - )

With an HPI of 48.86, Sami Yusuf is the 5th most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Sami Yusuf (born 21 July 1980) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He gained international attention with the release of his debut album, Al-Muʽallim, in 2003. As of 2020, he has released eight studio albums, five live albums and one compilation album. His studio albums were mostly released by Andante Records, with the first two being released by Awakening Records. He has sold over 34 million albums as of 2016. Besides English, Yusuf has performed in Arabic, Kurdish, Azerbaijani, Persian, Turkish, Punjabi, as well as, Urdu, sometimes in the same work, as was the case with his hit, Hasbi Rabbi. His work is marked by blending different musical styles and genres, including elements from Sufi, folk, and Rock music. He used his multilingual and multi-instrumentalist style to address social, spiritual, and humanitarian issues. In recognition of his philanthropy, in 2014, Yusuf was appointed United Nations Global Ambassador for the World Food Programme.

6. Rita (1962 - )

With an HPI of 45.21, Rita is the 6th most famous Iranian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Rita Yahan-Farouz (Hebrew: ריטה יהאן-פָרוּז), known mononymously as Rita, is an Israeli singer and actress. In 2011, she became famous in Iran after the release of various pop records in which she sings in her native Persian language. In 2012, Israeli producer Amer Payami managed her album All My Joys, also sung in Persian; it was popular in Israel and Iran, going gold in Israel after three weeks. She has since been commonly referred to as a cultural ambassador between Israelis and Iranians, and has personally stated that she hopes to "puncture the wall of tension" between the two countries.

7. Dariush (1951 - )

With an HPI of 44.78, Dariush is the 7th most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Dariush Eghbali (Persian: داریوش اقبالی), known mononymously as Dariush (داریوش), is an Iranian singer.

8. Andy (1958 - )

With an HPI of 43.96, Andy is the 8th most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Andranik Madadian (Persian: آندرانیک مددیان, Armenian: Անդրանիկ Մադադեան; born April 22, 1958), better known by his stage name Andy, is an Iranian-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor. He immigrated to United States and currently lives in Los Angeles. He sings in several languages including Persian, Armenian and English.

9. Shahram Nazeri (1950 - )

With an HPI of 43.96, Shahram Nazeri is the 9th most famous Iranian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Shahram Nazeri (Kurdish: شەهرام نازری, romanized: Şehram Nazirî, Persian: شهرام ناظری; born 18 February 1950) is a contemporary Iranian tenor of Kurdish origin from Kermanshah, Iran, who sings Sufi music, classical and traditional Kurdish and Persian music. He has been accompanied by some of the masters of Iranian traditional music such as Jalil Shahnaz, Hossein Alizadeh, Jalal Zolfonoun, Parviz Meshkatian and Faramarz Payvar. He has also worked with his son Hafez, a composer. Nazeri was the first musician to include Rumi's poetry within Persian music, thus establishing a tradition of Sufi music within both Persian classical music and Kurdish music.

10. Shohreh (1959 - )

With an HPI of 40.46, Shohreh is the 10th most famous Iranian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Fatemeh Solati Nayebi (Persian: فاطمه صولتی نایبی), born on January 4, 1959 ,better known by her stage name Shohreh (Persian: شهره), is an Iranian singer. Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, she has continued her music career in exile.