Faegheh Atashin (born 5 May 1950), known professionally as Googoosh, is an Iranian singer and former actress. Regarded as a pop icon, she is one of the most popular and prolific entertainers in Iran, and 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 1979 Iranian Revolution, she remained in Tehran until 2000 and did not perform again during that period due to Iran's 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 Madison Square Garden in New York City, 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.
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Early life
Googoosh was born as Faegheh Atashin on 5 May 1950, in Tehran, Iran to Iranian Azerbaijani parents. She was quickly called "Googoosh", an Armenian name normally exclusively used for boys but which became her stage name. In an interview she noted that she was called Googoosh from a very early age; in her birth certificate however her birth name Faegheh is recorded.
Career
Before the Revolution (1953–1979)
Googoosh began her career at a very young age as a singer and dancer working in the stage shows of her father, Saber, a cabaret artist and acrobat. As a child actress, she appeared in several films in the 1960s such as Fear and Hope.
During the 1970s, Googoosh began her recording career and a meteoric rise to fame and success. Known for her flamboyant outfits and fashion sense, Googoosh wowed her pop-culture-hungry fans in Iran and abroad with her trademark hairdos and hip-elegant style, inspiring many Iranian women to copy her hairdos. Her music ranged from upbeat 1960s and 1970s pop, given a traditional-tinged edge, to declamatory, emotional ballads dealing with love and loss, comparable to the chanson style of music by artists like Édith Piaf. Her music was popular among non-Persian-speaking audiences as well. She starred in over 25 movies, one of which was to be the most commercially successful Iranian motion picture of all time. Googoosh performed many times for the royal family and was a favorite of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's wife and children. She performed at the party given for the 17th birthday of Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran.
Revolution and hiatus (1979–2000)
At the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Googoosh was in Los Angeles. However, feeling homesick, she decided to return to Iran. In response to why she remained in Iran after the revolution, she said that it was "out of love for her homeland". Despite being a symbol of many things that the revolution tried to overturn, especially related to perceptions of excessive Westernization, Googoosh remained in Iran for years afterward.
The regime imposed a lien on her residence, prevented her from receiving a passport and imprisoned her at one point. After the revolution, Googoosh, like other artists, was forbidden from performing and her material was banned. She did not perform again until Mohammad Khatami's presidency, during which she was allowed to tour outside of the country after obtaining a contract to perform overseas.
Departure from Iran and comeback (2000–present)
Googoosh left Iran and went to Canada in 2000, after being in Iran for 21 years following the Iranian Revolution. BMusic's Taghinia, says "Googoosh is the siren of that era [Pre-revolution] and important in that she's really a direct link to Iran's past." Chicago Tribune considers the return of Googoosh to be "more than just a pop milestone" but instead "a cultural marker, a measure of the way change occurs in a society that for more than two decades has tried to resist the tide of globalization by living in self-imposed isolation."
She released her first album after her comeback called Zartosht (Zoroaster) in 2000 with lyrics by Masoud Kimiaei (under the pseudonym Nosrat Farzaneh) and composed and arranged by Babak Amini and Babak Bayat.
In 2000, Googoosh sang in public, away from her homeland, for the first time after 21 years of silence to the acclaim of many long-time fans. The Googoosh Comeback Tour was a series of concerts starting in July 2000. She began with a sold-out concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on 29 July 2000 (with an audience of more than 12,000), and eventually brought the tour to a conclusion in Dubai on 21 and 24 March 2001 on the occasion of the Iranian New Year, Nowruz. Her concert in Dubai was considered a homecoming for her, and out of the more than 20,000 members of the audience, seventy percent of them were Iranians who had crossed the Persian Gulf to hear her. The two Dubai concerts held special importance: it was the tour finale, and Googoosh was rumored to be planning to return to Iran.
In 2000, a feature-length documentary called Googoosh: Iran's Daughter was released which chronicled the singer's life and her icon-status while detailing the socio-political turmoil that led to the 1979 Revolution in Iran. Made by Iranian-American filmmaker Farhad Zamani, the documentary began production in 1998 and was made at a time when Googoosh was still forbidden to give interviews.
Googoosh started collaborating with Mehrdad Asemani with QQ Bang Bang (2003). They continued their collaborating in the albums Akharin Khabar (2004), Manifest (2005) and Shabe Sepid (2008). Most of the lyrics of these albums were by Shahyar Ghanbari.
Politics
Googoosh and other speakers participated in a 22 July 2009 protest at the United Nations which attracted exiles from Iran. They stood in front of a banner with names of Iranian protestors who they believed were still incarcerated and of other protestors, written in red, who had been killed. During this protest, Googoosh made a speech stating that she entered politics because of the outcome of the 2009 Iranian presidential election. She said, "I have come here to be the voice for the sad mothers who lost their loved ones in peaceful demonstrations. I have come here to be the just voice of the grass-roots and spontaneous movement among my compatriots and to show my solidarity."
In 2018, Googoosh and Siavash Ghomayshi released the political song 40 Saal in criticism of the Islamic Republic.
Googoosh dedicated her Frankfurt 2022 concert to Mahsa Amini. She released the song Dobareh in support of Iranian protests. She said at a gathering of Iranians in Washington: "Today I feel proud and angry, but I am still more hopeful than ever about the future of Iran, and I focus my anger on that obsessively hateful and resentful leader and the child-killing government."
Following the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, she announced that she would no longer perform live until “my people get their freedom.”
Personal life
Googoosh has three half-brothers on her father's side and a brother and sister on her mother's side. One of her brothers died in his youth.
In 1980, Googoosh was imprisoned for nearly one month after the Iranian Revolution. In 2018, in reply to a question by interviewer about how she stays young, she said, "Love, music and lots of fruit!".
Marriages
Googoosh's first husband was Mahmoud Ghorbani, a cabaret owner and music promoter who helped Googoosh make a name for herself in the 1960s. Googoosh and Ghorbani married in February 1967. They had a son, Kambiz. After about six years of marriage, Ghorbani and Googoosh divorced in late 1972.
In 1975, Googoosh married Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi; they divorced fourteen months later in 1976. During their brief marriage they were considered to be the country's biggest celebrity power couple. During the late 1970s, Googoosh became involved with Homayoun Mesdaghi, and married him in 1979. Six years later, in 1985, she divorced Mesdaghi. She then married director Masoud Kimiai in 1991. They divorced in 2003.
Religious beliefs
Googoosh is a Twelver Shia Muslim. She became a non-practicing Muslim in 2004 according to her 2023 interview, where she said: "I used to pray every day until 2004."
In her interview with Homa Sarshar in 2022, she stated that she used to have beliefs, but her beliefs were "broken".
In 2023, she posted a video on her official YouTube page and Instagram from one of her concerts, in which she explains that she uses "God" instead of "Kaaba" in the performance of the song Marham due to distance from religion. Googoosh had previously explained in Manoto's "Behtarinhaye Behtarinha" that she requested this lyric change from Ardalan Sarfraz after her pilgrimage to Mecca.
Discography
Studio albums
1970: Do Panjereh (Two Windows)
1970: Fasle Tazeh (New Season)
1971: Mordab (The Swamp)
1971: Nimeye Gomshodeye Man (My Lost Half)
1972: Kooh (The Mountain)
1973: Mano Gonjeshkaye Khooneh (Me and the house Sparrows)
1974: Do Mâhi (Two Fish)
1974: Hamsafar (Co-Traveler)
1975: Pol (The Bridge)
1975: Mosabbeb (With Dariush)
1977: Dar emtedâde shab (Along the Night)
1978: Ageh bemouni (If You Stay)
Studio albums (since her return to music in 2000)
2000: Zartosht
2003: QQ Bang Bang
2004: Akharin Khabar (Latest News)
2005: Manifest
2008: Shabe Sepid (White Night)
2010: Hajme Sabz (Green X)
2012: Ejaz (Miracle)
2015: Akse Khosoosi (Private Portrait)
2021: Twenty One
Filmography
Googoosh also acted in two other movies: Mard-e keraye-i (مرد کرایهای) and Hajji Firuz (حاجی فیروز), but the production of each of these films was suspended during the final stages for unknown reasons. Googoosh has also acted in many television shows and commercials in Iran.
Books
Googoosh: A Sinful Voice (2025)
Tours and concerts since 2000
Awards and achievements
1971: first prize and gold record for the best singer in the world at the Midem trade fair in Cannes for her 7" record (as "Gougoush") performing two songs in French produced by Barclay Records: "Retour de la Ville" (A-side) and "J'entends Crier Je T'aime" (B-side).
1972: Performed at Cantagiro Music Festival.
1972: Performed at the Carthage Music Festival
1972: First medal of arts of Tunisia
1973: The best actress for Bita in Iranian Sepas film festival.
1973: Recorded soundtrack (produced by RCA Records) of San Remo Music Festival.
2001: Performed at the Carthage Music Festival.
2014: Best Iranian Singer (World Music Awards)
2017: Best Music Video For Do Panjereh (Directed by Yasmin Asha)(Festigious Film Awards March 2017)
Two awards from Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles for record breaking performances
2022: Performed at the Expo Festival.
2024: Performed at the Saadiat Nights Festival.
2024: Arab Glamour 2024 (Enigma magazine)