Persian Pop

Persian pop is the popular music of Iran and its diaspora sung in Persian, combining Western pop, rock and dance forms with Persian melodic modes, poetry and vocal ornamentation. It took shape in the 1950s around the Armenian-Iranian singer-guitarist *Viguen*, and reached a golden age in the 1970s when *Googoosh*, *Ebi*, *Dariush* and *Hayedeh* fronted orchestral arrangements enriched with funk, psychedelia and indigenous instruments. Banned after the 1979 Revolution, the music survived in the Los Angeles exile industry known as Tehrangeles, and since the 1990s has again been produced inside Iran under official permit.