Today is Muslim Magomaev's birthday

Today would have marked the 83rd birthday of the world-renowned opera and pop singer Muslim Magomayev.

As reported by BAKU.WS, Muslim Magomet oglu Magomayev was born on August 17, 1942, in Baku.

His father, Magomet Magomayev, a theater artist, was killed on the front 15 days before the victory in the Great Patriotic War. His mother, Aishet Magomayeva (stage name - Kinzhalova), was a dramatic actress and a Stalin scholarship recipient. His paternal grandfather, (Abdul) Muslim Magomayev, an Azerbaijani composer whose name is borne by the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall, is one of the founders of Azerbaijani classical music.

Regarding his mother's origins, M. Magomayev wrote that she was born in Maykop, her father was Turkish by nationality, and her mother was half Adyghe, half Russian. About his father's origins, he said that his mother was Tatar (his grandmother Bagdagul-Jamal was a biological sister of Ali and Khanafi Teregulov), while the origins of his father's ancestors were unknown.

M. Magomayev himself always considered himself Azerbaijani.

Nationwide fame came to him after his performance at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses at the closing concert of the Festival of Azerbaijani Art in 1962.

In 1966 and 1969, M. Magomayev's tours at the famous "Olympia" theater in Paris were a great success. The director of "Olympia," Bruno Coquatrix, offered the artist a one-year contract, promising to make him an international star. The singer seriously considered the possibility, but the USSR Ministry of Culture refused, reasoning that M. Magomayev was needed to perform at government concerts.

In 1969, at the festival in Sopot, M. Magomayev received the first prize, and in Cannes - the "Golden Disc" for multi-million record sales. The same was repeated in Cannes in 1970.

In 1973, at the age of 31, M. Magomayev became a People's Artist of the USSR, which followed the conferment of the title "People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR."

M. Magomayev was a personal friend of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, and was a member of the leadership of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress.

He was married to Tamara Sinyavskaya, a singer and People's Artist of the USSR.

One of M. Magomayev's last songs was the composition "Farewell, Baku" set to the poetry of Sergei Yesenin, recorded in March 2007.

Muslim Magomayev died on October 25, 2008, at the age of 66, from ischemic heart disease.

On October 28, 2008, in Moscow at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and on October 29, 2008, at the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall named after Muslim Magomayev (the elder) in Baku, farewell ceremonies for the singer were held. On the same day, he was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku, next to his grandfather.

Thousands of people came to bid farewell to M. Magomayev. The coffin with the body of the deceased was carried out to the sounds of the song "Azerbaijan," which he had written and performed.

The funeral procession was attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the singer's widow Tamara Sinyavskaya, and his daughter Marina, who had flown in from the United States.

On October 22, 2009, a monument to M. Magomayev was unveiled at his grave at the Alley of Honor. On August 17, 2022, in connection with the singer's 80th anniversary, his monument was unveiled in Baku.

In 2023, a bas