Ebrahim Hamedi (born June 19) better known by the name Ebi is a famous

Iranian singer. Being one of the most popular and enduring singers of Iran, he's usually noted for his unique voice and is considered by many to be the best Iranian Pop singer ever. Having started his career over 30 years ago, he is well established star with fans all around the globe. His voice, and his choice of songs has won him awards all around the world, such as "Master of Voice" in 1993 with the song "Persian Gulf" in Australia.

Early Life

Ebi was born in , He was the oldest child of his family and has four sisters and one brother. He started his career as a young teenager with a band called the "Sun Boys." Together they made many public appearances with relative success. After a few years he started his solo career with a song called "Attash" for a movie with the same title. He started his own style and from the beginning he showed that he is a talented singer and a star the newly developed Iranian Pop music can depend on. His third song, "Shab" (Night) is the song Ebi himself agrees made him a star. The song's lyrics were written by Ardalan Sarfaraz, one of the Iran's most famous songwriters. The song was first heard by people on 's show, Mikhake Noghreyi. The popularity of Fereydon Farokhzad's show immediately made Ebi very popular for the Iranian people. Ebi was further trained and nurtured by Ms. Mary Yeghyazarian who at the time (mid '70s) was in charge of new talent discovery and development at the Ministry of Art & Culture. Soon he became one of Mary's favorite students because of his talent and coachability.

Black Cats

As he became more famous, he met Shahram and Shahbal Shabpareh. The brothers were pioneers in Persian pop music. Ebi and a few members (Guitar player Amir and Keyboardist Jamhoor Esfahani, father of harpsichordist from the previous group, Sun Boys joined the Black Cats who were already performing in Kochini club. Kochini club was one of the most famous night clubs before 1979. Although the group's success was great, Ebi left the group to start his solo career again.

 

After leaving Black Cats, Ebi released four albums. "Tapesh", "Nazi Naz Kon", "Shab Zade" and "Gole Yakh" became number one hits and made him a real "superstar". His songs became soundtracks of many movies. Ebi won many prizes in singing competitions around the world

 

After the Islamic Revolution

Ebi left Iran two years before Islamic Revolution for a series of concerts in USA. But because of the revolution, he stayed in the USA. He continued his career in Los Angeles with nearly no support but still managed to release dozen of successful albums. Ebi sang many songs related to Iran, many of them with political messages. One of these songs was the famous controversial song, "Khalije Fars" (Persian Gulf) and Beshkan (literally meaning Break the Islamic republic). During a concert in Dubai he once refused to sing 'Persian Gulf', despite requests from his audience. Ebi was being sensitive to his Arab hosts and did not want to jeopardize his contract with them. Since many Iranians have boycotted his concerts and he has lost his popularity amongst some Iranians for a short period of time. In an attempt to water down the accusations mounted against him, Ebi sings "Persian Gulf" in nearly all of his concerts to show his support for Iran and Iranians. He occasionlly Sings Beshkan at select concerts only. Ebi's success in the past has sold out international arenas such as: Universal Amphitheatre, Shrine Auditorium, Greek Theatre, Sydney Opera House, ...

 

Ebi continues to release successful albums. His latest Album, Hasrateh Parvaz, was another success on his record. His concerts have all been sold out for more than three decades. Lately, Ebi has decided to spend less time on his singing career and spend more time with his family. Also, recently, he's collaborating with new Iranian artists and introducing them to Persian community