Botir Zokirov (26 April 1936 – 23 January 1985) was a Soviet and Uzbek singer, writer, poet, painter and actor, who is considered to be the founder of Uzbek pop music. He is the People's artist of Uzbekistan.

Biography

Zokirov studied at the

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Institute of Theatre and Arts named after Ostrovskiy. In 1972, he created the first in the East and the third in Soviet Union pop troupe titled ''Music Hall''. Together with the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n director

Mark Zakharov Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov (russian: Марк Анатольевич Захаров; 13 October 1933 – 28 September 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue best known for his fantasy parable movies. He ...

and an actor of

Moscow Satire Theatre The Moscow Academic Theatre of Satire (russian: Московский академический театр сатиры) is a dramatic theatre in Moscow, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental cou ...

Aleksandr Shirvindt Aleksandr Anatolyevich Shirvindt (russian: Александр Анатольевич Ширвиндт, born July 19, 1934) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, screenwriter and voice actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1989). Since 2000 ...

, Zokirov created the musical ''1973rd journey of Sinbad the Sailor''. Prominent singers such as

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

Irina Ponarovskaya Irina Vitalyevna Ponarovskaya (russian: link=no, Ирина Витальевна Понаровская; born 12 March 1953 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian singer and film actress, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s. Biography Ponarovskaya ...

and bands such as Poyushchiye Gitary,

Yalla (band) Yalla ( uz, Ялла, Yalla) is a folk rock band from Uzbekistan. They appeared in 1970 and in the 1970s–1980s, were popular all over the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries. The most prominent song of Yalla was "''У́чкудук, три к ...

from various countries of USSR performed in ''Music Hall'' too. Zokirov was one of the founders of the

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз� ...

State Estrada Orchestra. In 1964 he spend several months in Kremlin Hospital (now

Moscow Central Clinical Hospital The Central Clinical Hospital of the Administrative directorate of the President of the Russian Federation (russian: Центральная клиническая больница c поликлиникой Управления делами Пре ...

), followed by a lung surgery. Zokirov died on 23 January 1985 in

Songs and performances

Zokirov gained a wide popularity due to singing in many languages including Uzbek,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. A song "''Ya Zahratan Fi Khayali''" (يا زهرة في خيالي – "Flower of my imagination) by one of the most important figures of 20th Century Arab music

Farid al-Atrash Farid al-Atrash ( ar, فريد الأطرش; October 19, 1916 – December 26, 1974), also written Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor. Having immigrated to Egypt at the age of only nine ...

, performed by Zokirov at the International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1957 made him extremely popular. In 1966 Zokirov became the only Uzbek and one of very few Soviet singers singing at the

Olympia (Paris) The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing La ...

. He performed

Enrico Macias Gaston Ghrenassia (born 11 December 1938), known by his stage name Enrico Macias, is an Algerian-French singer, songwriter and musician of Algerian Jewish descent. Early years Gaston Ghrenassia was born to a Sephardic Algerian Jewish family i ...

's famous song ''Les Filles De Mon Pays'' in French.Les filles de mon pays par Batyr Zakirov
(in French). Accessed 2012-02-04

Filmography

Roles in movies

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

— Kогда цветут розы (1959) (When Roses Bloom) — as ''Batyr'' *

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

— Похищение (1969) (Kidnapping) — ''Batyrov'' *

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

— Огненные дороги (1982) (Flame Roads) — ''

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

'' *

— Юность гения (1982) (Genius' Youth) — ''Abdullah''

Family and personal life

Zokirov is the eldest brother of

Farrukh Zokirov Farrukh Karimovich Zokirov ( uz, Фаррух Каримович Зокиров, russian: link=no, Фарру́х Кари́мович Заки́ров, born 16 April 1946) is an Uzbek and Soviet singer, composer and actor. He has been artistic ...

, leader of

from

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

. In 1957 he married actress Erkli Malikbaeva, and had two sons: Bakhtiyor Zakirov and Bakhodir Zakirov. They divorced in 1974. His second marriage was with a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer Galina. Their daughter Rukhshana Zakirova was born in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zokirov, Botir 1936 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Uzbekistani male actors 20th-century Uzbekistani male singers Musicians from Moscow Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Uzbekistani culture Soviet male film actors Soviet male singers Soviet translators Uzbekistani male film actors Uzbekistani male singers Uzbekistani translators Deaths from cirrhosis