Rashid Behbudov

Rashid Behbudov was an Azerbaijani singer and actor. He sang in Azeri Turkish, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Georgian, Hindi, Armenian, Urdu, and Bengali among other languages. Rashid Behbudov was born in Tiflis Tbilisi, Georgia in 1915. His father, Majid Behbudoglu, was a singer as well. From 1938 to 1944, Rashid moved to Armenia and worked at Yerevan State Philharmonia and Opera House, and in 1945, upon the invitation of Tofig Guliyev, Rashid Behbudov moved to Baku. In the same year, he was assigned the main role of Asgar in the film "Arshin Mal Alan" The Cloth Peddler, based on a play by Uzeyir Hajibeyov. His role in this film combined with his vocal skills brought him fame throughout Azerbaijan. In a short time, Behbudov became also prominent Azerbaijani pop singer. His combination of vocal masterpieces ranged from classical performances to lyrical songs. Behbudov's rare vocal talent gave him opportunity to travel beyond the "Iron Curtain" of the Soviet Union, and as a singer he toured with concert performances in several countries of the world, including Iran, Turkey, China, India, Japan, Argentina, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.