DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – For Googoosh, The most famous singer of IranLife has always been a balance of one kind or another.
It all started as a child, when she performed with her acrobat father, who balanced her on a chair standing on another chair, resting only on his chin. Later, as she became an icon of stage and screen in the final years of the Shah's reign, her appearance and hairstyles were copied by Iranian women who wanted to look more “googooshi”, her own adjective in Farsi.
Then came decades of silence after Islamic Revolution in Iran 1979.who was banned from performing, but returned to the foreign stage in 2000. And now, as she embarks on her farewell tour, she's adding the author as her latest reinvention as her homeland is once again undergoing social change.
“I didn’t realize that all these problems and struggles were seen as a balancing act,” the 75-year-old singer told The Associated Press. “If that's what it means, then yes, I've spent my entire life trying to create and maintain a balance between my personal life and my creative life.”
The new book of the singer, born Fage Atashin, is called “Googoosh: a sinful voice.” In it, Googoosh, with the help of co-writer Tara Dehlavi, chronicles a life shaped both by the political forces that have reshaped Iran in the modern era and her tumultuous personal life.
But it all started with a performance at an early age with her father Saber Atashin, to whom the book is dedicated along with the people of Iran. Googoosh remembers that she fell only once on the show: her father caught her. But from his first appearance in the chair, Googoosh seemed to be the center of attention.
“They held their breath and waited in complete silence,” she said. “Every muscle in my body tensed. The seconds felt like an eternity. Finally, Dad slowly began to gently lower me to the ground. When my feet touched the floor, the audience breathed a sigh of relief before breaking into thunderous applause. I survived. And we were a hit!”
Googoosh started singing and acting in films at a young age. This included before royal court of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlaviwho later became deathly ill and fled Iran shortly before the 1979 revolution.
Googoosh was tabloid fodder in Iran before the revolution. She was married four times during her life, and her personal life was fascinating for a long time. In her book, she talks about her experience of having abortions and struggling with substance abuse during and after the revolution, including the distribution of cocaine and opium smoking. At one point in New York, she contemplated suicide before deciding to return to Iran under the newly formed theocracy.
“There have been times when I've asked you this question and said, 'Are you sure you want to share this?' — said Dehlavi, her co-author. “And you always said, ‘I either tell my story or I don’t. I have to tell it all.”
Returning to Iran, Googoosh was persecuted by the newly empowered theocracy, which seized her home and prevented her from obtaining a passport. According to her, the authorities banned her from performing and singing, and at one point imprisoned her.
But she says that, whether trying to hide her identity publicly or privately, people always pushed her to sing again, to find her voice despite restrictions and threats.
“After the revolution, the pressure on me increased,” Googoosh said. “Since Farsi is my native language and I grew up in Iran, I could not adapt to life outside my country. I didn't want this kind of life. “I hoped that I could somehow continue to perform for my people within my own country.”
However, ultimately in 2000, under the reformist government President Mohammad KhatamiGoogoosh was able to get a contract to perform abroad, raise money to pay off her bail bonds, get a passport and leave Iran. She never returned, but she has spent the last 25 years performing abroad for Iranians who also miss their country.
Islamic hardliners in Iran still condemn her, especially after a 2014 music video about homosexual love, which is punishable by death in the country.
Googoosh's new book and farewell tour comes at a time of change in Iran. More and more Iranian women prefer to abandon the country's mandatory hijabor hijab. Death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. and the nationwide protests that followed angry women of all ages and backgrounds, unlike few other issues. since the revolution.
But meanwhile, Iran's economy continues to struggle under international sanctions over its nuclear program. Its theocracy continues to execute people after its 12-day war with Israel, and increasingly arrests intellectuals and others.
“We see our youth, especially women, fighting for their most basic rights, including choosing what to wear, freely expressing their art if they have artistic talent, and living a normal life like people in other parts of the world,” Googoosh said.
“People in my country are struggling to provide a normal life for their families. They fight for clean water, clean air and land where they can live. Our young people are growing old without enjoying their youth. Our people must end this painful cycle and achieve the freedoms that every person deserves.”
But when asked what her plans were after the tour ended, Googoosh left open the possibility of returning to the stage again.
“In my entire life, I've almost never been able to plan for my future. Things just happened to me,” she said. “We had no control over our lives for 47 years. Whatever we planned never happened, and whatever happened we never planned. I am no exception and I hope to continue to live this way.”
She added: “However, I prefer to leave my creative work for the day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country.”
