Mahasti
Eftekhar Dadehbala (Mahasti) (November 16, 1946 - June 25, 2007) was an Iranian singer who was recognized as the "Banooye Golhaa va Delha" (Lady of hearts & flowers). She was the younger sister of another popular Iranian female singer, Hayedeh. Mahasti's voice was discovered by maestro Parviz Yahaghi, a distinguished Iranian composer and violinist.
She was amongst a rare group of singers who "started" their careers on the prestigious Persian traditional music radio program Gol hâ ye Rangârang( گلهای رنگارنگ), in 1963 with the song "Anke Delam Râ Borde Xodâyâ"(Persian -آنكه دلم را برده خدایا) composed and arranged by maestro Parviz Yahaghi with lyrics from Bijan Taraghi. She has worked with some of the most famous Iranian composers, including Parviz Yahaghi, Habibollah Badiei, Homayoon Khorram, Asadollah Malek, Anooshiravan Rohani, Jahanbakhsh Pazooki, Hasan Shamaeizadeh, Mohammad Heidari, Jamshid Sheibani, Sadegh Nojooki, and Manoochehr Cheshmazar as well as some younger composers such as Bijan Mortazavi,Faramarz Aasef, Mehrdad Asemani, and Shadmehr Aghili.
She has been known as a singer who has supported many young musicians, and have been loved by all those who have worked with her.
n March 2007, Mahasti publicly announced that she had been battling colon cancer for four years. She hoped that her experience would raise awareness within the Iranian community regarding cancer and the significance of constant physical examinations. She was then living in Santa Rosa, California with her daughter, Sahar. She died at 7:52 AM on June 25, 2007 in Santa Rosa.
Mahsati's parents got divorced and got married to other people. When she wanted to pursue a career of singing her parents weren't happy because of Islams' look upon female singers. Mahasti married Kouros Nazemiyan and gave birth to her only child, Sahar. Mahasti and her family lived in Abadan for several years , finally moving back to Tehran. Her marriage with Nazemiyan ultimately ended in divorce. Nazemiyan was executed by the Revolutionary Court of the new Islamic Republic shortly after revolution. Several years later she re-married to Bahram Sanandaji, owner of a shoe factory, however their marriage also ended.
In 1978, Just before the Iranian Revolution she emigrated to the United Kingdom and then to the United States where she lived thereafter.
Mahasti was interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California on June 29, 2007 the same cemetery where her sister Hayedeh was also buried at. Her funeral was broadcast live on Persian Broadcasting Company "Tapesh" and was attended by many Persian celebrities and stars and other artists.
