Young Iranian pop star shocks fans with departure

Young Iranian pop star Behnam Safavi has passed away after years of battling cancer.

The singer passed away at the age of 36 at a hospital in Iranian province of Isfahan on Monday.

His program manager announced the death news in a social media post this morning local time.

He stayed at Milad Hospital in the central Iranian city after he slipped into coma in January 2019.

Safavi underwent successful surgery in July 2015 at Tehran’s Erfan Hospital to remove a small tumor from his brain.

In early October of the same year, he announced his plan to perform a concert to raise his spirits sufficiently to allow him to continue chemotherapy treatments.

His medical team permitted him to perform the concert sitting in a chair on October 9 at Tehran’s Milad Tower.

In June 2017, he announced that he was preparing to have a new operation at a German hospital as the tumor recrudesced.

After a successful operation performed by Professor Majid Samiee and his team in a Hanover hospital in July, Safavi returned to pursue medical treatment in his homeland.

However, in early January 2019, he went into a coma. His fellow pop singer Sirvan Khosravi along with his brother Xaniar and Shahab Ramezan performed several joint concerts in Tehran to sympathize with Safavi’s family.

Born in 1983 in Shiraz, Safavi was battling with cancer for more than five years.

Safavi had sung more than 20 songs and four music albums during his professional career.

He created the albums 'Be My Love', 'Calmness', 'Extraordinary' and 'The Miracle'.

Safavi’s debut album, 'Be My Love', was released in October 2009 and a song by the same name from the collection soon became a smash hit of the time.

Two years later, he released his second album 'Calmness' which earned him a firm place in Iranian pop music.

MG/AG