Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

A statue of prominent Azerbaijani singer and public figure Rashid Behbudov was erected in Baku, Trend Life reported.

The statue was built in front of the State Song Theatre named after Rashid Behbudov.

The author of the monument is People's Artist of Azerbaijan, Rector of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts, Professor Fuad Salayev. The statue will be unveiled in September.

Rashid Behbudov was an Azerbaijani singer and actor. 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.

Last year, the 100th anniversary of national singer was marked in Azerbaijan. In 2015, President Ilham Aliyev signed order on celebration of 100th anniversary of Rashid Behbudov.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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