Mahasti

{{about|Iranian singer|12th-century poet|Mahsati|the contemporary novelist|Mahasti Shahrokhi}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Mahasti

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Mahasti2.jpg

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| caption = Mahasti in 1970s

| background = solo_singer

| native_name =

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| birth_name = Eftekhar Dadehbala{{efn|name=birthname}}

| alias =

| birth_date = November 16, 1946

| birth_place = Tehran, Iran{{Cite web |date=28 June 2018 |title=آواهای کم‌شنیده از دیروز تا امروز • مهستی |url=https://m.dw.com/fa-ir/آواهای-کمشنیده-از-دیروز-تا-امروز-مهستی/av-44360797 |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=fa}}

| death_date = June 25, 2007 (aged 60)

| death_place = Santa Rosa, California, U.S

| genre = {{hlist|Persian classical|folk|Persian pop|Jazz}}

| occupation = Singer

| instrument =

| years_active = 1965–2007

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| associated_acts = Hayedeh

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}}

Eftekhar Dadehbala{{efn|name=birthname|Sources differ with regards to what her actual first name was, with some giving Khadijeh ({{langx|fa|خدیجه}}),{{Cite web |date=25 June 2007 |title=مهستی، خواننده ایرانی، درگذشت |url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/arts/story/2007/06/070625_oh_mahasti |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=BBC Persian |language=fa}} and others Eftekhar ({{lang|fa|افتخار}}).{{Cite web |date=28 June 2018 |title=بیوگرافی مهستی |url=https://dayan.ir/%d9%85%d9%87%d8%b3%d8%aa%db%8c/ |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=fa}}}} ({{langx|fa|افتخار دده‌بالا}}; November 16, 1946 – June 25, 2007), known by her stage name Mahasti ({{lang|fa|مهستی}}), was an Iranian singer of Persian classical, folk, and pop music with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. She was active for more than four decades.

Early life and career

File:Mahasti-hayedeh-Chaharshanbe Suri.jpg.]]

Khadijeh Eftekhar Dadehbala was born on November 16, 1946, in Tehran, Iran.{{Cite web |date=28 June 2018 |title=آواهای کم‌شنیده از دیروز تا امروز • مهستی |url=https://m.dw.com/fa-ir/آواهای-کمشنیده-از-دیروز-تا-امروز-مهستی/av-44360797 |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=fa}} She was the younger sister of Iranian singer Hayedeh.{{Cite news |date=January 19, 2006 |title=In Memory of the Persian Legendary Diva HAYEDEH (1942–1990) |work=Persian Heritage/Payvand News |url=http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jan/1140.html |access-date=February 17, 2018}} Their parents later divorced and married other people. Mahasti started her career on the Persian traditional music radio program "Gol hâ ye Rangârang" ({{langx|fa|گلهای رنگارنگ}} "Colorful Flowers") in 1963, with the song "Ân ke Delam Râ Borde Khodâyâ" ({{langx|fa|آنكه دلم را برده خدایا}}) composed and arranged by maestro Parviz Yahaghi with lyrics by Bijan Taraghi.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

In the beginning, Mahasti's family was reluctant to allow her to pursue a career in entertainment because it was not an appreciated career for women in Iran at that time. However, Mahasti overcame this stigma providing Iran with a new image for women within the entertainment industry.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Mahasti created an image of a "gentle-woman" singer, a lady with great manners. Her enormous success in music opened the pathway for many other women, including her elder sister, Hayedeh, who started her work 5 years after Mahasti. The two sisters had tremendous contributions to improving the image of female singers in Iran and in transitioning the Iranian music from where it was to where it is now.{{Cite web |title=MAHASTI, The Acclaimed Iranian Singer, Dies at 60 in California |url=http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jun/1273.html |website=payvand.com}}

In 1979, before the Iranian Revolution. she emigrated to the United Kingdom, and then to the United States in 1981, where she lived thereafter.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Death and burial

File:Grave of Mahasti at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.jpg in 2016]]

In 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 importance of regular physical examinations. She was then living in Santa Rosa, California with her daughter, Sahar, her husband, Naser, and their two children, Natasha and Natalie, her only grandchildren. She died on June 25, 2007, aged 60, in Santa Rosa.

Mahasti was buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California on June 29, 2007, the same cemetery where her mother and sister Hayedeh were buried.

Her funeral was broadcast live on Persian Broadcasting Company Tapesh and was attended by many Persian celebrities and stars and other artists including the mayor of Beverly Hills Jimmy Delshad and designer Bijan Pakzad.{{Cite web |last=amandakarimi |date=February 9, 2008 |title=mahasti funeral |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gH2G-ZDWE0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/9gH2G-ZDWE0 |archive-date=2021-12-13 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web |last=Shohreh Solati |date=June 19, 2012 |title=Shohreh in Mahasti's Funeral – 2007 (By Shahram Shajarian) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV5APjJlKxw |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/GV5APjJlKxw |archive-date=2021-12-13 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web |last=amandakarimi |date=February 9, 2008 |title=mahasti funeral, bardia, jamshid, amir ghasemi |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFa_NSEX9Gs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/MFa_NSEX9Gs |archive-date=2021-12-13 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Discography

=Albums=

Parandeye Mohajer (1981)
Eyde Shoma Mobarak (1982) with Sattar & Manoucher Cheshmazar
Moj (1983)
Yeki Ra Doost Midaram (1983) with Hayedeh & Houshmand Aghili
Asheghaneha (1983) with Hayedeh
Zendegi (1985) with Hayedeh
Tou Bezan ta Man Beraghsam (1985)
Gol-haye Ranga-Rang (1988)
Sepideh Dam (1990)
Masti (1990)
Asir (1990)
Ziyafat (1991)
Mosafer (1991)
Ghasam (1993)
Gole Omid (1993)
Nameh (1994)
Ashofteh (1994)
Beganneh (1994)
Havay Yaar (1994)
Parandeha (1995, with Leila Forouhar, Shahram Solati)
Hagheghat (1995)
Bazm Mahasty & Sattar (1996)
Saraabe Eshgh (1996)
Labkhand (1996) with Shahram Solati
Havaye Asheghi (1998)
Avazak (1999)
Hamishe Ashegh (1999)
Gole Gandom (2000, with Sattar)
Deldadeh (2001)
Hamisheh Sabz (2003)
Az Khoda Khasteh (2004)

Also appeared on:

Khatereh 2 (1983) with Hayedeh & Homeyra
Nargez Shiraz(1984) with Sattar, Hayedeh
Entekhabi 2 (Sarbaz Kocholoo) (1984)
Entekhabi 3 (Ghanari) (1985)
Khatereh 4 (1985) with Ebi, Sattar, Hayedeh
Khatereh 5 (1986) with Hayedeh, Sadegh Nojouki, Hooshmand Aghili
Entekhabi 7 (Gozashtehaye Shirin) (1986)
Entekhabi 8 (Kieh Kieh) (1986)
Entekhabi 9 (Ya Mowla) (1987)
Tanine Solh (1987)
Saghare Hasti (1987) with Moein, Hayedeh, Bahram Forouhar
Ganjineh 1 (1987) with Moein, Sattar, Hayedeh
Parastooha (1988) with Sattar, Hayedeh
Entekhabi 11 (Bi Nazir) (1991)
Hamsafare Eshgh (1993) with Sattar, Delaram, Fataneh, Ahmad Azad
Khaneh Ashgegh Koojast (1993) with Homeyra, Sattar, Shohreh, Martik, Emad Ram

=Singles=

2007: Music (with Leila Forouhar, Andy, Aref)
In May 2023, 16 years after she died, her voice was used by artificial intelligence and placed on Shadmehr Aghili's song Tamasha, sparking quite a bit of interest from music fans because of the sense of nostalgia and futurism the song provides at the same time. Soon many more pothumous songs were released that featured her and her iconic voice.