Vigen (entertainer)

Vigen Derderian (Persian: ویگن دردریان, Vigen Derderyân; Armenian: Վիգէն Տէրտէրեան, Vigēn Tērtērian; 23 November 1929 – 26 October 2003) was an Iranian pop music singer and actor. He was known as the "King of Iranian pop" and the "Sultan of Jazz." He was an Iranian Armenian by ethnicity and sang in both Persian and Armenian. During the golden age of Persian pop (the early 1970s) until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, many Iranian performers and celebrities—among them Delkash, Pouran, and Elaheh—yearned to be associated with him. He moved to the United States in 1971 and lived the rest of his life there. Vigen's innovative and upbeat style of music had a great influence on paving the way for a new genre of Iranian music, influenced by Western European and Latin American styles. His musical and performing talents soon captured the attention of many prominent Iranian lyricists and composers such as Parveez Vakili(fa) and Kareem Fakkour(fa), and together they created some of Iran's most memorable songs.