TEHRAN – Iranian pop star Behnam Safavi died on Monday at the age of 36 after a nearly four-year battle with brain cancer.

“Iran’s polite boy of music, the creator of the albums ‘Be My Love’, ‘Calm’, ‘Extraordinary’ and ‘The Miracle’ rested in a perfect peace forever in Isfahan a few minutes ago,” his publicist Reza Foadian said in a post published on his Instagram at 10:40 am.

He stayed in the Milad Hospital of the central Iranian city after he went into a 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 on October 9 at Tehran’s Milad Tower while sitting in a chair.

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 Samii 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.

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 at that time. 

Two years later, he released his second album, “Calm”, which earned him a firm place in the Iranian pop music arena.

Photo: Iranian pop singer Behnam Safavi performs at Tehran’s Milad Tower on October 9, 2015. (Honaronline/Farzan Qasemi)

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