Songs of the famous Soviet Azerbaijani singer and performer Muslim Magomayev are playing today in the Moscow Underground to celebrate his birthday, Izvestia.ru informs.
Muslim Magomayev was born on August, 17, 1942 in Baku. He represented one of the most respected artistic dynasties in Azerbaijan. His grandfather Muslim Magomayev (1885-1937), a friend and contemporary of the prominent Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, was one of the founders of Azerbaijani-composed music.
Magomayev learned to play a piano as a child, and began to take lessons from teachers of voice at the age of 14. He finished the piano and composition class of the musical school at Baku Conservatoire, and then graduated from the school's vocal class.
As a teenager Muslim became interested in Italian songs, American jazz and other styles of popular music. He was 19 when he first performed, at an international youth music festival in Helsinki. In 1962, at the age of 20, Magomayev first appeared in Moscow where he performed within the frameworks of the Days of Azerbaijani Culture. In 1966 and 1969 Magomayev performed in Paris Olympia with great success. Magomayev moved to Moscow in the early 1970s, where he worked in theater. In 1997, in recognition of Magomayev's professional successes, a Russian astronomical society named a planetoid of the solar system, 4980 Magomaev.
In 1998 Magomayev officially stopped his musical career and had only few performances with his wife. He died on October 25, 2008 in Moscow, in his flat, from heart attack. He was buried in the Alley of Honors in his native city of Baku, next to his grandfather, on October 29.
According to Interfax, Muslim Magomayev performed more that 600 songs and authored more than 20. He also composed several soundtracks and starred in movies.
