Kourosh Yaghmaei

Kourosh Yaghmaei (also spelled as Kourosh Yaghmaee; born 3 December 1946) is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer and record producer, who started his career in the early 1970s.

Regarded as one of the greatest Persian psychedelic rock musicians in the history of Iranian rock music, he is known as "the Godfather of Iranian psychedelic rock", as well as "the king of rock".

Born in 1946 in Shahrud to Zoroastrian parents, Yaghmaei later grew up in Tehran.

Most of his songs combine classical Persian poetry with more contemptary works, often incorporating his own lyrics.

Musically, Yaghmai is recognized as being an early cross-pollinator for Persian traditional music and the western psychedelic rock of the era, with artists Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd often listed as specific influences.

Kourosh Yaghmaei was born on 3 December 1946 in Central District of Shahrud, Semnan, Iran to a well-off family.

His name Kourosh ( Kūrauš;), is a common Iranian male given name, shared with the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great.

He is second son as a part of the Yaghmaei family.

His elder brother Kamran Yaghmaei and younger brother Kambiz Yaghmaei are also musicians.

His grandfather was a landowner and one of his distant ancestors was a popular Iranian poet.

The family later relocated to Tehran, with Yaghmaei eventually studying at Shahid Beheshti University.

Yaghmaei began his interest in music at his age of ten.

He started to learning Santur, an eastern instrument, which was bought by his father.

Soon he learned to play and primarily followed by the traditional Iranian music.

Later he self-learned to play guitar, at the age of fifteen, and became interested in Western music.

At a young age, he started his first band with some friends by listening to the vinyl records of bands like Surf-rockers and The Ventures.

In the early 1960s, Yaghmaei joined a group named The Raptures who covers The Ventures, The Kinks, The Beatles, and The Monkees.

In 1967 lineup of that group was Yaghmaei (lead vocal, guitar), Bahram Saeedi (electric guitar), Kamran Khasheh (organ), Jahangir (bass), Viguen (drums).

He also played in another group named Rebels for a while, who later gradually took their places in Iranian rock scene.

In the early 1970s, at the age of early 20s, Yaghmaei set up his solo band along with his elder brother Kamran Yaghmaei and younger brother Kambiz Yaghmaei.

That time he was playing guitar, bass and making vocals.

His music consisted of combining Iranian melodies, instrumentals, vocals, and tones with Western harmonies, scales, and modes.

He began his solo career in 1973 with his first single "Gol-e Yakh" ("Ice Flower"), a track selling more than 5 million copies in the domestic market.

This single was followed by the eponymous Gol-e Yakh (1973), which included the song.

Much of Yaghmaei's work is well known by the Iranian diaspora, with singles "Gol-e Yakh", "Havar Havar" ("Shout Shout"), "Khaar" ("Thistle"), "Leila", "Paiz" ("Autumn"), "Reyhan" being particularly beloved.

In 1973, Yaghmaei made his debut single when he was studying in Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran.

The song "Gol-e Yakh" was written by Mahdi Akhavan Langeroudi who was Yaghmaei's friend at the university and one of the significant modern Persian poets.

"Gol-e Yakh" penetrated beyond the borders of Iran, and thereafter various performances in other countries of the world continued till this day.

The song brought a great fame to Yaghmaei and it was adapted for various languages.

At the same year he released debut solo album Gol-e Yakh under Now-Again Records level, an American independent record label based in Los Angeles which is also a subsidiary of Stones Throw Records.

He released 4 singles from his contracted record company Ahange Rooz.

In 1973 "Gole Yakh" / "Del Dareh Pir Misheh" and "Leila" / "Paiz", in 1974 "Hajme Khali" / "Akhm Nakon" and in 1975 "Saraabe Toe" / "Dar Enteha" was released.

Despite the high sales from all these records he could only gain a modest royalty.

He released two albums before being banned, both of which are important works of Iranian rock history.

Between 1975 and 1979, Yaghmaei recorded 24 songs in total.

17 of those songs were collected in two albums named Hajm-e Khali (1975) and Sārāb-e Toe (1977) released in cassettes.

The remaining 7 songs were recorded in the pre-revolution riot period between 1978 and 1979.

Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Yaghmaei's work was banned from the country's airways, markets and homes, and his name from the press.

In 2011, his first compilation album, Back From the Brink: Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock From Iran: 1973-1979, was released by Now-Again Records to international recognition.

Vogue has described Yaghmei as "psyche singer, stylish, moustached and funky".