DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- For Googoosh, Iran's most-famous singer, life always has been balancing act of one kind or another.It began as a child, performing with her acrobat father who balanced her on a chair atop another chair resting only on his chin.
Then later, as an icon of stage and screen during the last years of the shah, her looks and hairstyles were copied by Iranian women who wanted to look more “Googooshi," a Farsi adjective all her own.Then came the decades of silence after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, barred from performing, only to return to the stage abroad in 2000.
And now, embarking on a farewell tour, she's adding author as her latest reinvention as her homeland undergoes a societal change yet again.“I did not realize that all these challenges and struggles were considered a balancing act," the 75-year-old singer told The Associated Press.
"If that is what it means, then yes, I have spent my entire life trying to create and maintain a balance between my personal life and my artistic life.”The new book by the singer, born Faegheh Atashin, is called “Googoosh: A Sinful Voice.” In it, Googoosh with the help of co-author Tara Dehlavi recounts a life shaped by both the political forces that have changed Iran in the modern era and her tumultuous personal life.But it all began with performing at an early age with her father, Saber Atashin, to whom the book is dedicated along with the people of Iran.
Googoosh recounts falling only once in the shows, her father catching her.But from the first performance atop the chair, Googoosh appeared bound for the spotlight.
“They held their breath and waited in complete silence,” she recounted.“Every muscle in my body tensed.
Seconds felt like an eternity.Finally, Papa slowly began to lower me gently toward the ground.
When my feet touched the floor, the audience sighed in relief before they erupted into roaring applause.I had survived.
And we were a hit!” Googoosh began singing and p...