A monument to the Rashid Behbudov erected in Baku

The opening ceremony of the monument to the legendary singer Rashid Behbudov took place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on October 4. President Ilham Aliyev and his wife, public figures, prominent representatives of culture and art, native singer, fans of his work participated in the opening ceremony of the monument, which is mounted in front of the Song Theatre named after Rashid Behbudov.

Work on the monument authored by sculptor Fuad Salayev, began in December 2015, when was celebrated the centenary of People's Artist of the USSR.

Rashid Behbudov was born on December 14, 1915 in Tbilisi. His father was Majid Bebutov was a famous folk singer from Shusha. Mother, Firuza Vekilova, was a teacher of the Russian language, as well as the head of the drama circle in Tiflis club. His rise to fame began in 1945 with the film-operetta Arshin Mal Alan, where he played the role of Asker.

Behbudov has done a lot for the development of the national opera and musical comedy. A stage appearance, a great artistic talent and charm, the ability to understand any national music brought Behbudov huge success that accompanied him throughout his life. The song repertoire of the singer was very wide, and the song "I met a girl," which he first performed in 1957, remains a hit in the post until now.

He traveled much and successfully to different regions of the USSR and foreign countries, certainly including in his repertoire songs in the languages ​​of the countries where he performed. Once  inhabitants of one of the Indian villages blocked the traffic on the railroad and did not let  the Soviet artists to go  until Behbudov sang to  them, Wikipedia informs. It is known that  Beybutov performed the song  in the film by  Raj Kapoor  “I am a Tramp” (Awaara hoon), which was released in rent in the USSR in Russian and Hindi.

Rashid Behbudov died on June 9, 1989 and was buried in the Alley of Honorable Burial in Baku.

Merit: People's Artist of the USSR (1959), Hero of Socialist Labor (1980), Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR, People's Artist of Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, People's Artist of Azerbaijan SSR (1951), winner of the second degree of the Stalin Prize (1946) for the role of Asker in the film " Arshin mal alan "(1945), State Prize of Azerbaijan SSR (1978), two orders  named after Lenin (1976, 1980), the Order of Red Banner of Labor (1966), the Order of Friendship of peoples (1985) and a number of medals.