Ebi

Ebi is the stage name of Ebrahim Hamedi, an Iranian singer born in 1949 in Tehran. He is a Persian pop artist based in the United States and is associated with EMH Productions. Ebi is also a member of Black Cats.

Career

Ebi begins his career as a teenager with a band called the Sun Boys, which makes a number of public appearances. He later moves into solo work with the song “Attash”, written for a film of the same title. His third song, “Shab” (“Night”), becomes the track he identifies as the one that turns him into a star. The lyrics are written by Ardalan Sarfaraz, and the song first reaches listeners through Fereydoon Farrokhzad’s television programme Mikhake Noghreyi. Ebi later says that he owes much of his success to Farrokhzad.

He leaves Iran in 1977 for a series of concerts in the United States, before the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, he releases more than 20 albums and becomes one of the most enduring names in Iranian pop.

Style and collaborators

Ebi is known for a distinctive voice and for songs that sit within Persian pop. He works with a wide range of lyricists, including Ardalan Sarfaraz, Iraj Janatie Ataie, Shahyar Ghanbari, Masoud Hooshmand, Amir Farrokh Tajalli, Masoud Amini, Leila Kasraa, Bijan Samandar, Masoud Fardmanesh and Paksima Zakipour. His collaborators as composers include Varouj Hakhbandian (Varoujan), Babak Bayat, Touraj Shabankhani, Farid Zoland, Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh, Siavash Ghomayshi, Andranik and Abdi Yamini.

His album Setarehaye Sorbi is described as one of the most important releases in Persian music. He later works again with Siavash Ghomayshi and Iraj Janatie Ataie, with arrangements by Shoubert Avakian, and also records Shab-e Niloufari and Hasrate Parvaz. Earlier, after Tolou Kon, he stops working with Ardalan Sarfaraz, Farid Zoland and Shahyar Ghanbari for a time. He also records songs with lyrics by Paksima on “Adat” and Amir Farrokh Tajalli on “Ki Ashkato Pak Mikoneh”.

Recognition

His voice and song choices bring him awards internationally, including a “Master of Voice” award in Australia in 1993 for the song “Persian Gulf”.

Later life

Ebi lives in Spain with his wife, Mahshid.