Mohammad Nouri

Mohammad Nouri (December 22, 1929 – July 31, 2010) was one of the foremost folk and pop singers in Iran.Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Nouri was relatively unknown among Iranian pop music lovers mainly because his was string orchestral pop tunes hardly fit for disco and party entertainment, not to mention little exposure and publicity efforts on his part.Not surprisingly, other than a few folk tunes, such as "Jaan-e Maryam" and "Gol-e Maryam," he was mostly played on the state run radio shows, such as the Army Hour or during odd hours or ibetween.Later when the Islamic regime overhauled the entire state run mass media and most pop artists flew out of the country and later continued their career overseas for their fellow exiled Iranian concert audiences, Nouri's career flourished.He had stayed behind since he was considered one of the "people's artists" and his work, especially the lyrics were indigenous directly from native northern folk tradition.To the post revolutionary youth Nouri's and a host of other traditional musicians' work embodied true art unaffected by the western commercialism and its loose trappings.After years of having been side-staged by disco and popular entertainers, Nouri began to enjoy renewed fame and reputation as his fan base grew wider and wider.By this time he had turned full circle to folk orchestral music and almost abandoned the old string orchestral style.