Arash (singer)

Arash Labaf
آرش لباف
Arəş Ləbaf Zadə

Arash (2009)
Background information
Born (1977-04-23) 23 April 1977
Tehran, Iran
Genres Persian pop, hip hop, R&B, dance music, house
Occupation(s) Singer, DJ
Years active 2005–present
Labels Warner Music Scandinavia (WEA)
Website arash.com
Arash in Las Vegas

Alex Arash Labaf (Persian: آرش لباف‎‎, Azerbaijani: Arəş Ləbaf Zadə, born 23 April 1977) is an Iranian-Swedish singer, entertainer and producer of Azerbaijani origin.

Early life

Arash Labaf was born in Tehran, Iran. At age ten, he and his family moved to Sweden, where he still resides. In an interview with BBC Persian Television, he has mentioned that his mother and father are from the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Isfahan, respectively.[1] Also in one of his interviews, he stated his great grandfather is Iranian Azerbaijani.[2][3][4][5][6] In an interview with Arash emphasized: "My great-grandfather was an Azeri so I always feel my Azerbaijani roots."[7] In another interview Arash stated he is originally Azerbaijani.[8]

Career

Arash has said that the reason he chooses to sing in his native language is because of his "deep attachment to Iran and Persian culture."[9]

His debut album, Arash, was released by the Warner Music Sweden in June 2005, after he had finished college. His singles, "Boro Boro" ("Go Away") and "Temptation" (featuring Rebecca) made it to the hit lists around Europe, and their respective videos garnered significant airplay on more than 20 MTV outlets across the world. In addition to successes in his home countries' music charts, namely Sweden and Iran, the platinum-selling singer and producer Arash has had hits notably in Eastern European and South-East European charts like Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey and in Asian music charts like in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and throughout the Arab Middle Eastern countries. His singles have charted many times on Swiss and Finnish charts and he is especially famous in Poland.

Arash's records were certified gold in 5 countries: his album Arash in Germany, Russia, Slovenia and Greece and single "Boro Boro" in Sweden.[10] This song was also featured in the Hindi Bollywood film Bluffmaster! and he was the featured Artist of the Month on MTV India.

Rebecca Zadig and Arash in a concert in Las Vegas, December 2008

Helena did not take part in the music video of "Pure Love", although her voice was used in it. The video was starred by Arash, together with the Venezuelan beauty queen, Marianne Puglia.[11]

Arash has produced along with Thomas G:son, Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm the Swedish entry to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 "Allt jag vill ha" that was performed by Josefine Ridell.[12][13][14]

Aysel and Arash in the Green Room during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

In early 2009, it was revealed that the Azerbaijani entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 would be the song "Always" which was written and composed by Arash. The song was performed by Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash in a duet in Semifinal 2 of the Eurovision competition.[15][16] The song qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest final which took place on 16 May 2009, and was placed third. In one of his interviews Arash explaned his decision to represent Azerbaijan in this contest: "Why did I take part in the contest? I'm originally Azerbaijani, and I would like to have a part in this country's confident ascent in the history of Eurovision."[8]

Personal life

Labaf married his longtime fiancée, Behnaz Ansari, in Dubai in May 2011.[17][18] On 22 April 2012 they became the parents of twins (a boy, Darian, and a girl, Donya).

Discography

Main article: Arash discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Compilation albums

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Arash's Iranian family from Sweden". BBC (interview by Behzad Bolour). 2008-09-11. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. ↑ "Aysel & Arash: "We Are Going to Surprise You!" | Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku". EuroVisionary. 2009-05-04. Archived from the original on 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  3. ↑ Рафаэль Сааков Би-би-си, Москва. "BBC Russian – Культура и шоу-бизнес – Финал "Евровидения"-2009: на первый-второй рассчитайсь!". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  4. ↑ "AySel & Arash - Always (Azerbaijan 2009) | Participant Profile | Eurovision Song Contest - Copenhagen 2014". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
  5. ↑ "Aysel & Arash Always Live, Azerbaijan Eurovision 2009". YouTube. 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  6. ↑ "Azerbaijan at Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - Азербайджан на конкурсе песни Евровидение 2009". Esckaz.com. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
  7. ↑ "The Great Big Eurovision Experiment 2009 – Azerbaijan « Eurovision Blog". Eurovisionblog.wordpress.com. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
  8. 1 2 "Eurovision Azerbaijan: Aysel goes to Eurovision with song by Arash". 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  9. ↑ "Iran: Arash Tops European Pop Charts With Persian-Language Hits". RFE/RL. 2005-04-21. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  10. ↑ "AySel & Arash | Participant Profile | Eurovision Song Contest – Baku 2012". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  11. ↑ "ARASH – "Pure Love" – Making Of The Video". YouTube. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  12. ↑ Niklas Kjellberg/TT Spektra. "Josefine tävlar för Sverige i Minsk – Kultur & Nöje" (in Swedish). www.gp.se. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  13. ↑ "Sweden JESC 2010 Швеция Детское Евровидение 2010". Esckaz.com. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  14. ↑ "Junior/lilla mf/mgp nordic". escsweden.com. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  15. ↑ Brey, Marco (2009-02-05). "Azerbaijani entry written by Arash". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  16. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (2009-02-12). "Azerbaijan to send a duet to Eurovision". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  17. ↑ "APA – Arash presents $400-thousand necklace to his bride Behnaz at their wedding – PHOTOSESSION". Apa.az. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  18. ↑ "Arash married on May 28 in Dubai". Chuiko.com. 2011-03-16. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-14.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arash.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Elnur & Samir
with Day After Day		 Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
(with AySel)
2009 		Succeeded by
Safura
with Drip Drop
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