Iran's most famous singer Googoosh recalls family, exile and life in the spotlight

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(5 Dec 2025) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles, California, USA - 04 December 2025 ++VIDEO CALL++ ++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++ 1. SOUNDBITE (English) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "One day when my uncle wanted to work with other people my father put me on the stage to be his partner and that was when I started being on the stage." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 2. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "After the revolution the pressure on me grew. Since Farsi is my mother tongue and I grew up in Iran, I could not adjust to living outside my country. I did not want that life. I hoped I could somehow continue performing for my own people, inside my own country." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 3. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "Meanwhile, my entire life had been on the stage, and I loved my career. I wanted to sing more songs, and continue doing what I loved and still love, especially films and cinema." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 4. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "I did not realize that all these challenges and struggles were considered a balancing act. 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." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 5. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "We are seeing our youth, especially women, fighting for their most basic rights, including choosing what to wear, expressing their art freely if they have artistic talent, and living a normal life like people in other parts of the world." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 6. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "In general, people in my country are struggling to give their families an ordinary life. They struggle for drinking water, clean air to breathe, and land where they can live. Our young people grew old without ever enjoying their youth. Our people must end this painful cycle and achieve the freedoms every human around the world enjoy." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 7. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "Throughout my life I have almost never been able to plan my future. Everything has simply happened to me. I've always lived my life based off things that have happened without my choosing." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 8. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "We have not controlled our own lives for forty-seven years. Whatever we planned never happened, and whatever happened was never planned by us. I am no exception, and I expect to continue living this way." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 9. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Googoosh, Iranian pop singer: "I prefer to leave my artistic work for a day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country." ++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++ STORYLINE: Iran's most famous singer has written an account of her life as she embarks on a farewell tour. “Googoosh: A Sinful Voice” recounts a life shaped by both the political forces that have changed Iran in the modern era and her tumultuous personal life. Googoosh spoke to The Associated Press about the book and praised Iranian women for standing up against the country's theocracy by refusing to wear the hijab, or mandatory headscarf. “I prefer to leave my artistic work for a day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country,” she said. =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected]. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7459817b0e424f1489c489c473a61dd1