Botir Zokirov

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Botir Zokirov (also spelled Batir Zakirov) was a Soviet–Uzbek singer, writer, poet, painter and actor. He is considered the founder of Uzbek pop music. Born on April 26, 1936, in Moscow to singers Karim Zokirov and Shoista Saidova, he was the eldest brother of Jamshid Zokirov and Farrukh Zokirov, and the uncle of singer Nargiz Zakirova. He studied at the Ostrovsky Institute.

In 1972, Zokirov founded Music Hall, the first pop group in the East and the third in the Soviet Union. He helped create the musical The Journey of Sinbad the Sailor (1973) with director Mark Zakharov and actor Aleksandr Shirvindt. He was also a founder of the Uzbek SSR State Estrada Orchestra. He sang in Uzbek, Russian, Arabic and French, gaining fame for performances in many languages.

One of his famous moments was performing Farid al-Atrash’s Ya Zahratan Fi Khayali at the 1957 International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow, which earned wide popularity and was often called the "Arabic Tango." In 1966, he performed at the Paris Olympia, singing Enrico Macias’s Les Filles De Mon Pays in French.

Personal life: Zokirov married actress Erkli Malikbaeva in 1957, and they had two sons, Bakhtiyor and Bakhodir. They divorced in 1974. He later married ballet dancer Galina and had a daughter, Rukhshana. In 1964 he spent time in Kremlin Hospital and underwent lung surgery. He died on January 23, 1985, in Tashkent.

Awards: People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1964); Order of the Red Banner of Labour. In 2000 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Outstanding Merit by Uzbekistan. In 2022, Uzbekistan issued a stamp featuring Zokirov.