Mahasti

Eftekhar Dadehbala[lower-alpha 1] (Persian: افتخار دده‌بالا; 16 November 1946 – 25 June 2007), known by her stage name Mahasti (Persian: مهستی), was an Iranian singer of Persian classical, folk, and pop music with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. She was active for more than four decades.

This article is about Iranian singer. For 12th-century poet, see Mahsati. For the contemporary novelist, see Mahasti Shahrokhi.

Mahasti
Mahasti in 1970s
Background information
Birth nameEftekhar Dadehbala[lower-alpha 1]
Born(1946-11-16)16 November 1946
Tehran, Iran[1]
Died25 June 2007(2007-06-25) (aged 60)
Santa Rosa, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1965–2007

Early life and career
Mahasti (left) and Hayedeh, leaping over a fire at Chaharshanbe Suri.

Khadijeh Eftekhar Dadehbala was born on 16 November 1946, in Tehran, Iran.[4] She was the younger sister of Iranian singer Hayedeh.[5] Their parents later divorced and married other people. Mahasti started her career on the Persian traditional music radio program "Gol hâ ye Rangârang" (Persian: گلهای رنگارنگ "Colorful Flowers") in 1963, with the song "Ân ke Delam Râ Borde Khodâyâ" (Persian: آنكه دلم را برده خدایا) composed and arranged by maestro Parviz Yahaghi with lyrics by Bijan Taraghi.

In the beginning, Mahasti's family was reluctant to allow her to pursue a career in entertainment because it was not an appreciated career for women in Iran at that time. However, Mahasti overcame this stigma providing Iran with a new image for women within the entertainment industry.

Mahasti created an image of a "gentle-woman" singer, a lady with great manners. Her enormous success in music opened the pathway for many other women, including her elder sister, Hayedeh, who started her work 5 years after Mahasti. The two sisters had tremendous contributions to improving the image of female singers in Iran and in transitioning the Iranian music from where it was to where it is now.[6]

In 1978, before the Iranian Revolution. she emigrated to the United Kingdom, and then to the United States in 1981, where she lived thereafter.

Death and burial
Mahasti's grave at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in the Westwood area of Los Angeles

In March 2007, Mahasti publicly announced that she had been battling colon cancer for four years. She hoped that her experience would raise awareness within the Iranian community regarding cancer and the importance of regular physical examinations. She was then living in Santa Rosa, California with her daughter, Sahar, her husband, Naser, and their two children, Natasha and Natalie, her only grandchildren. She died on 25 June 2007, aged 60, in Santa Rosa.

Mahasti was interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California on 29 June 2007, the same cemetery where her sister Hayedeh was also buried.

Her funeral was broadcast live on Persian Broadcasting Company Tapesh and was attended by many Persian celebrities and stars and other artists including the mayor of Beverly Hills Jimmy Delshad and designer Bijan Pakzad.[7][8][9]

Discography

Albums
  • Parandeye Mohajer (1981)
  • Eyde Shoma Mobarak (1982) with Sattar & Manoucher Cheshmazar
  • Moj (1983)
  • Yeki Ra Doost Midaram (1983) with Hayedeh & Houshmand Aghili
  • Asheghaneha (1983) with Hayedeh
  • Zendegi (1985) with Hayedeh
  • Tou Bezan ta Man Beraghsam (1985)
  • Gol-haye Ranga-Rang (1988)
  • Sepideh Dam (1990)
  • Masti (1990)
  • Asir (1990)
  • Ziyafat (1991)
  • Mosafer (1991)
  • Ghasam (1993)
  • Gole Omid (1993)
  • Nameh (1994)
  • Ashofteh (1994)
  • Beganneh (1994)
  • Havay Yaar (1994)
  • Parandeha (1995, with Leila Forouhar, Shahram Solati)
  • Hagheghat (1995)
  • Bazm Mahasty & Sattar (1996)
  • Saraabe Eshgh (1996)
  • Labkhand (1996) with Shahram Solati
  • Havaye Asheghi (1998)
  • Avazak (1999)
  • Hamishe Ashegh (1999)
  • Gole Gandom (2000, with Sattar)
  • Deldadeh (2001)
  • Hamisheh Sabz (2003)
  • Az Khoda Khasteh (2004)

Also appeared on:

  • Khatereh 2 (1983) with Hayedeh & Homeyra
  • Nargez Shiraz(1984) with Sattar, Hayedeh
  • Entekhabi 2 (Sarbaz Kocholoo) (1984)
  • Entekhabi 3 (Ghanari) (1985)
  • Khatereh 4 (1985) with Ebi, Sattar, Hayedeh
  • Khatereh 5 (1986) with Hayedeh, Sadegh Nojouki, Hooshmand Aghili
  • Entekhabi 7 (Gozashtehaye Shirin) (1986)
  • Entekhabi 8 (Kieh Kieh) (1986)
  • Entekhabi 9 (Ya Mowla) (1987)
  • Tanine Solh (1987)
  • Saghare Hasti (1987) with Moein, Hayedeh, Bahram Forouhar
  • Ganjineh 1 (1987) with Moein, Sattar, Hayedeh
  • Parastooha (1988) with Sattar, Hayedeh
  • Entekhabi 11 (Bi Nazir) (1991)
  • Hamsafare Eshgh (1993) with Sattar, Delaram, Fataneh, Ahmad Azad
  • Khaneh Ashgegh Koojast (1993) with Homeyra, Sattar, Shohreh, Martik, Emad Ram

Singles
  • 2007: Music (with Leila Forouhar, Andy, Aref)
  • In May 2023, 16 years after her passing, her voice was used by artificial intelligence and placed on Shadmehr Aghili's song Tamasha, sparking quite a bit of interest from music fans because of the sense of nostalgia and futurism the song provides at the same time

See also

Notes
  1. Sources differ with regards to what her actual first name was, with some giving Khadijeh (Persian: خدیجه),[2] and others Eftekhar (Persian: افتخار).[3]

References
  1. "آواهای کم‌شنیده از دیروز تا امروز • مهستی". Deutsche Welle (in Persian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. "مهستی، خواننده ایرانی، درگذشت". BBC Persian (in Persian). 25 June 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. "بیوگرافی مهستی". Deutsche Welle (in Persian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. "آواهای کم‌شنیده از دیروز تا امروز • مهستی". Deutsche Welle (in Persian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. "In Memory of the Persian Legendary Diva HAYEDEH (1942–1990)". Persian Heritage/Payvand News. 19 January 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  6. "MAHASTI, The Acclaimed Iranian Singer, Dies at 60 in California". payvand.com.
  7. amandakarimi (9 February 2008). "mahasti funeral". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. Shohreh Solati (19 June 2012). "Shohreh in Mahasti's Funeral – 2007 (By Shahram Shajarian)". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  9. amandakarimi (9 February 2008). "mahasti funeral , bardia , jamshid , amir ghasemi". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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