Andy
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Andranik Madadian (born April 22, 1958 in Tehran), better known by his stage name, Andy, is an Armenian-Iranian singer and songwriter. Seen by many as an icon and a legend in pop music, Andy has had more hits than any other pop artist in Persian music history. He has released more than forty Number 1 hits. His albums have always been best-sellers and he has sold out arenas for nearly two decades. He plays to sold-out venues all over the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Russia, Central Asia (Armenia, Uzbekistan, and cities Tashkent, Samarghand) and the Middle East (United Arab Emirates).
He has created a new fusion of sound that combine traditional Middle Eastern instruments with the Western world’s drum and bass, guitar and modern technology. His global sound embraces many exotic influences. Aside from his Persian- Armenian heritage, Andy combines lush Arabic modes with African rhythms, which he spices with Spanish flamenco guitar licks, and western dance music. Besides Farsi and Armenian, his two native languages, Andy sings in English and Spanish. Ironically, even though Andy ’s music is banned in his home country of Iran, his albums sell into the millions, though all are underground and bootlegged.
Besides the profound respect Andy has for Persian and Armenian poetry and traditional music, he developed an abiding love for contemporary Western music. His musical icons include the Beatles, Deep Purple, Ray Charles and the masters of jazz, but mostly it is his love and respect for Santana’s chugging Afro-Latin rhythms that influenced him the most. And like Santana, Andy invited some of the world’s most famous musical artists to collaborate on his latest album.
Biography
From his early childhood in Tehran, his life has been a study in contrasts. His father built roads, yet the family had no car. They were beyond poor - nine people living in a small one-room house but his mother’s careful management kept food on the table and enabled his parents to put six children through school. Their house was filled with love, laughter, and most importantly for Andy, music.
As Andy was beginning to explore his musical roots, his native land began to broil with turbulence during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The revolution has made it impossible for Andy to perform in his native country so he decided to leave Iran for the United States.
In the U.S., He started his career with promoter Alireza Amirghassemi in the early 1980s and made it big when he joined Kouros and together formed a successful duo. Together they released 4 very successful albums including the hit album "Balla!" and became the most famous pop singers at the time.
In 1992 Andy and Kouros split and both went to pursue solo careers. Since then Andy has had countless number of hits and has become the most famous Iranian pop singer.
He has been awarded Best Armenian International Singer of the year four times and in 1994 Universal Studios declared Andy the best Iranian singer of the decade. He has released 15 albums since the start of his solo career including the multicultural album "And My Heart..." in 2000 where he sings in Persian, English, Spanish, Armenian, Arabic, and Hindi. Later that year, an American edition of the album was also released.
A humanitarian, Andy has appeared and contributed in many International charitable causes, most recently having recorded “Stand by Me” with Jon Bon Jovi to show solidarity for the people of Iran (See Video in this link and also embedded below).
Once a professional soccer player, Andy’s love for the game has remained throughout the years and he will be the Featured Halftime Performer for the exclusive Chelsea VS Inter-Milan Soccer Match at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on July 21st, 2009.
For five years in a row Andy has received the coveted Best Armenian International Singer, Best Armenian World Artist and Best Armenian World Album awards. He was also thrilled to be the recipient of the JPF “Independent Music” Awards "Best Middle Eastern Album" for "Platinum" as well as the Best Middle Eastern Song for "Areh Areh" from the album. In March 2006 "City of Angels" hit #1 in Virgin Megastores in Dubai."City of Angels" won the Best International Armenian Album award for the 2006 Armenian Music Awards. Andy currently lives with his long time girlfriend Shani in Los Angeles.
