The third child of the family, Rashid Behbudov, was born on December 14, 1915, in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. His father, Majid Behbudov, was a famous singer-khananda from the city of Shusha, and his mother, Firuza Vekilova, was a Russian language teacher from the Kazakh region.
The longing for art was passed down to the children from their father, a great performer of folk songs.
The singer's mother, Firuza Vekilova, was the daughter of a famous family and the heir of Abbasgulu bey, a colonel in the Russian Army (according to some sources, a general). Majid Behbudov was originally from a lower social level, so he kidnapped his girlfriend, and the couple decided to leave the city of Shusha and start living together in Tbilisi. This is how Tbilisi became the birthplace of the famous Azerbaijani singer.
In 1933, Rashid Behbudov began his studies at the Railway Technical School, where he formed an amateur student orchestra.
After completing his military service, where he was the soloist of the ensemble, Rashid Behbudov continued to work in Tbilisi for some time and sang in Tbilisi pop orchestras.
In 1943, the Baku Film Studio decided to make the film "Arshin Takes a Wife," based on the operetta of the same name by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, in which Behbudov played the role of Arshin.
Rashid Behbudov was the soloist of the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Hall from 1944 to 1956, and from 1953 to 1960, he was the soloist of the Akhundov Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
In 1957, the singer formed a concert ensemble at the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Hall, combining jazz and Azerbaijani folk instruments. He was the artistic director of the ensemble for two years (1957-1959).
The State Song Theater, which bears his name today, was established by Behbudov in 1966. Rashid remained the artistic director and soloist of the theater he created for the rest of his life.
Behbudov was especially popular in the 1930s and 1940s, not only in the Caucasus republics but throughout Russia.
In addition to the member states and cities of the Soviet Union, Rashid toured: Belgium, Turkey, India, Italy, and Finland.
Behbudov's voice was a tenor alto. His voice had a pleasant timbre and a wide range. He is considered a great performer of both European genre songs and Azerbaijani folk songs.
Behbudov's wife, Jeyran Khanum Behbudova, died on May 3, 2017. In 1965 their daughter named Rashida was born. Rashida continued her father's creative path. She is a singer and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan.
Interesting facts about Rashid Behbudov:
The film "Arshin Takes a Wife," where Behbudov played the lead role despite many difficulties, is based on the true love story of his parents.
During a tour of India, Rashid had an exciting incident. The train, where Maya Plisetskaya, Mukarram Turgunbaeva, Irina Maslennikova, Maksim Mikhaylov, Rashid Behbudov were, was stopped by the residents of the nearby villages, who demanded that their idol, Behbudov, sing for them. The star complied with the fans, and Rashid performed their favorite song directly from the train stairs. There is nothing strange in the locals' demand, considering that Rashid's diverse repertoire included many copyrighted works, including "I Met a Girl," "Lovely Eyes," and "Raji Song" from the movie "Tramp" with Raj Kapoor.
Relatives say that in the last years of his life, Rashid took a lot on himself, and due to a busy work schedule, he refused the necessary medical examinations. The artist has suffered from kidney problems since childhood; in addition, he periodically suffered from diseases related to the adrenal glands, which the musician did not want to cut because he was afraid of losing his voice as a result.
On May 17, 1989, the artistic director became ill at rehearsal. A summoned doctor sent him to a medical facility. But Behbutov decided to return home. For the next two days, his physical condition did not improve - so with a high fever and an indication of an inflammatory process, the patient was again hospitalized. On June 9, his daughter and his wife were informed at the door of the hospital ward that the singer had died despite medical manipulations.
One of the central streets of Baku is named after Rashid Behbudov.
On the same street, there is an N 2 music school of his name and a State Song Theater.
Collectible postage stamps were printed in 1996 and 2005 in Behbudov's honor.
In June 2016, a monument to Behbudov was erected in front of the State Song Theater in Baku.
Azerbaijani singer Rashid Beybutov performs "Song about Tbilisi" - recorded in 1961 (Georgian Public Broadcaster Archive):
