Aref (singer)


Aref Arefkia, known as Aref, born August 10, 1940 in Tehran, Iran, and known as "the king of Hearts" and "the legend of pop", is an Iranian pop music singer and former actor.
He graduated from Tehran Industrial School of Art in 1958. Before starting his career as a singer, Aref worked as a teacher in Qazvin industrial school of art for two years, but the truth is that he has been singing since he was 12 years old.
In the 1960s, Aref introduced a new wave of romantic styles to the large spectrum of romantic Persian music. After the Islamic revolution Aref left Iran and went to London and Los Angeles. He has one son and four daughters.
His first hit was "Daryacheye Noor" which is still popular among all the Iranians. Aref and his family left Iran in 1979, following the Islamic revolution. He first lived in London, England, for three years, then moved to Los Angeles, United States.

Discography

Aref recalls to have sung up to 850 songs to this date. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, In Los Angeles and Dubai he produced many albums:
This package has 60 of Aref's hits:
Aref received many awards, including the Highest Cultural Imperial Medallion from the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, for singing at the Asian Games of 1974 in Iran. In this concert with Tehran's Philharmonic Orchestra, Aref sang in front of 100,000 Iranians and in the presence of many international state officials and dignitaries.
Aref performed his first concert outside of Iran in New York City in Madison Square to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the American Independence.
His success continued well into the mid-1970s. In a survey conducted by Javanan Magazine, Aref and Googoosh were both chosen as "Most Famous Pop Icon" of the year, nine years in a row.
Zan-e Rooz magazine chose Aref as Man of the Year from a large group of politicians, singers and actors.

Filmography

Aref was also a popular singer for movie soundtracks. His songs were heard on numerous Iranian films of the 1960s and early 1970s among which Gholam Jandarm, Soltan-e Ghalbha, Ghesseh-e Shab, Yaghout-e 3 Chashm, Dalahoo and Gharibeh are the most famous. He also appeared in six different musical films: