Before there was Madonna or Beyoncรฉ, there was Googoosh. For the first time, one of the biggest pop stars of the 20th century tells her remarkable story: her rise to fame in pre-revolution Iran, her arrest and imprisonment, her twenty-year exile, and finally, her triumphant return to the global stage.
โMy story is not only my story. Itโs about our past, my country, how it was, what it became, what happened to the people, to artists.โ
What would happen to a countryโs biggest pop star if religious extremists took control? In the wake of Iranโs 1979 Islamic Revolution, singer Googoosh found out. She was ordered by her government to never sing again, and for twenty years, she didnโt...until she did.
Now, in this lyrical and moving memoir, pop superstar Googoosh unveils her unforgettable journey. From her difficult upbringing in Iranโs tumultuous 1950s and โ60s to her stardom in the โ70s, she reveals what it was like to reach the peak of her career just as the 1979 Islamic Revolution swept the country. Seemingly overnight, she went from being on magazine covers, at film premieres and fashion shows, and constantly on the radio, to targeted by religious clerics. What followed is a harrowing tale of oppression, intimidation, and exile.
After more than twenty yearsโforbidden to sing or speak outโshe found her voice at the turn of the millennium, once again on the international stage. Now, inspired by the brave women of Iran on the front lines fighting for their freedoms, Googoosh finally tells her full story, and with it, the story of a country once again on the brink.