Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

A monument to Azerbaijan’s prominent singer and public figure, Rashid Behbudov will be erected in Baku soon.

The tribute to the star and a legend of the 1960s Behbudov will be a mark of his continuing legacy inspiring young talents of the country.

Behbudov is one of the founders of pop music in Azerbaijan. Even, to this day, his incredible songs grab people with astonishing force.

Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Adalat Valiyev said that the monument is planned to be installed by April 2016 in front of the State Song Theatre named after Rashid Behbudov, which the eminent singer established in 1966.

People's Artist sculptor Fuad Salayev will be the author of the monument.

Behbudov’s beautiful voice let him sing songs of any genre including popular hits, folk songs and classical music. The soulful singer went on to become one of the most-sought after names in the music industry.

His numerous films and astonishing recordings continue to stun and inspire singers and the public. He was celebrated and honored with numerous honors and awards.

Many people first became familiar with Rashid's extraordinary talent from the 1945 movie version of the opera, "Arshin Mal Alan" ("The Cloth Peddler") which outstanding Uzeyir Hajibeyov composed in 1910.

His 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.

He had a good ear and exceptional linguistic ability. Behbudov sang in Azerbaijani, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali among other languages.

December 14 marked the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani singer.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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