Iran’s famed singer Googoosh recalls family, exile and life in the spotlight

Balancing on the edge of fame and exile, Googoosh shares her remarkable journey in a new memoir that chronicles her evolution from child performer to Iran’s most celebrated singer. Now 75, she reflects on a life shaped by political upheaval and personal struggles as she embarks on what she describes as her farewell tour.

Born Faegheh Atashin, Googoosh began her career performing alongside her acrobat father, Saber Atashin, to whom she dedicates her new book, “Googoosh: A Sinful Voice,” co-authored with Tara Dehlavi.

“I did not realize that all these challenges and struggles were considered a balancing act,” Googoosh told The Associated Press. “If that is what it means, then yes, I have spent my entire life trying to create and maintain a balance between my personal life and my artistic life.”

Her earliest memories include the heart-stopping performances with her father, who would balance her on a chair atop another chair, supported only by his chin. In one particularly vivid recollection, she describes the audience’s tension: “They held their breath and waited in complete silence. Every muscle in my body tensed. Seconds felt like an eternity.”

Rising to stardom in pre-revolutionary Iran, Googoosh became not just a singer but a cultural phenomenon. Her hairstyles and fashion choices were widely copied by Iranian women who aspired to look “Googooshi” – a Farsi adjective created just for her. She performed before Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s royal court and became a fixture in Iranian tabloids, partly due to her personal life, which included four marriages.

The 1979 Islamic Revolution dramatically altered Googoosh’s trajectory. Under the new theocracy, her voice was silenced – women’s public singing was forbidden. Despite international fame, she chose to remain in her homeland, facing harassment, financial restrictions, and even imprisonment.

“After the revolution, the pressure on me grew,” Googoosh explained. “Since Farsi is my mother tongue and I grew up in Iran, I could not adjust to living outside my country. I did not want that life. I hoped I could somehow continue performing for my own people, inside my own country.”

In her memoir, Googoosh candidly discusses her battles with substance abuse during this difficult period, including freebasing cocaine and smoking opium. She even contemplated suicide while in New York before deciding to return to Iran under its newly formed theocratic government.

The singer’s fortunes changed in 2000 during reformist President Mohammad Khatami’s administration. She was finally able to secure a passport and leave Iran to perform abroad. For the past 25 years, she has been entertaining Iranian diaspora communities worldwide, becoming a voice for those who, like her, feel homesick for their country.

Her departure from Iran proved permanent. In 2014, she released a music video about homosexual love – a subject punishable by death in Iran – further cementing her status as a persona non grata among the country’s hardline Islamic rulers.

Googoosh’s farewell tour and memoir release coincide with a period of significant social upheaval in Iran. Following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, nationwide protests erupted, with women increasingly defying the mandatory hijab laws. This growing resistance marks one of the most significant challenges to the theocracy since the 1979 revolution.

“We are seeing our youth, especially women, fighting for their most basic rights, including choosing what to wear, expressing their art freely if they have artistic talent, and living a normal life like people in other parts of the world,” Googoosh observed.

Meanwhile, Iran’s economy continues to strain under international sanctions related to its nuclear program, and the government has intensified crackdowns on intellectuals and dissidents.

“Our young people grew old without ever enjoying their youth,” Googoosh lamented. “Our people must end this painful cycle and gain the freedoms every human being deserves.”

When asked about her plans after the farewell tour, the iconic singer left the door open for yet another reinvention. “Throughout my life I have almost never been able to plan my future. Everything has simply happened to me,” she said, adding pointedly: “Still, I prefer to leave my artistic work for a day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country.”

For generations of Iranians, Googoosh represents more than just music – she embodies a cultural continuity that bridges pre-revolutionary Iran with the present day, a living connection to a heritage that the current regime has tried but failed to erase.