Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR [now Azerbaijan] | 1945-02-04

Polad Bülbüloğlu is a Soviet and Azerbaijani singer, actor, politician, and diplomat. Bülbüloğlu was born (Polad Murtuza oğlu Məmmədov) on February 4, 1945 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. His father was Murtuza Rza oglu Mammadov (1897–1961), better known by sobriquet Bülbül (lit. "nightingale"), a famous Azeri opera singer and a native of Shusha, who exposed Polad to musical culture from an early age. His Batumi-born mother Adelaida Mammadova (née Gasimova, 1922–2015), who was the director of the Bulbul Museum until her death, was the daughter of Rza Gasimov, son of an Azeri merchant from Erivan, and his wife Ketevan who belonged to the Georgian noble Vezirishvili family.Polad studied the piano in a music school and then studied composing in the Baku Academy of Music, under Gara Garayev. By the age of 17 he composed several songs that were performed by professionals, as well as songs for his friend Muslim Magomayev. Bülbüloğlu's singing talent was also discovered on a trip to Moscow with Magomayev, where Bülbüloğlu recorded his own songs in the Azerbaijani language. In his career, Bülbüloğlu combined modern music style with national Azeri music to create a new musical stream in the Soviet Union. He toured the entire USSR and performed around the world. In 1982, Bülbüloğlu became a National Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR. He participated in the Soviet television program and festival Song of the Year and won the first prize on four occasions. His songs were performed, among others, by Muslim Magomayev, Joseph Kobzon and Lev Leshchenko. In 1969, Bülbüloğlu became a member of the USSR Union of Composers and the USSR Union of Cinematographers. He composed music for over twenty feature films and had leading roles in several. Among others, he worked with the Russian director Eduard Smolny. Bülbüloğlu has a star at the Moscow Performers' Square, inaugurated in 2000. He received a doctorate of the History of Art from the Azerbaijan National Academy of Culture and holds an honorary professorship in the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. In the 1990s, despite having a huge success with a new version of his old song Gəl Ey Səhər (Come, Hey Morning!) in Turkey and sold out concerts in Russia, Bülbüloğlu started a political career. He became the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan and is currently the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia. In 2017, he was a candidat to the post of Director-General of UNESCO. He withdrew his candidacy on October 10th after getting only 2 votes in the first round of the election.