# Ali Pahlavan

Ali Pahlavan (Persian: علی پهلوان; born May 1, 1975) is an Iranian–Australian musician, singer-songwriter, lyricist and composer. He started his professional music career in 1999 by establishing the first Iranian mixed-gender pop band, Arian (Persian: گروه آریان). The band subsequently achieved nationwide success in the 2000s. The arian band has released six albums, sold more than 5 million records and performed more than 400 concerts worldwide. Their fifth album, titled Goodbye, was released in March 2015. They announced that this would be their last album. Ali continued with his solo music career.

## Personal life

Ali Pahlavan was born on 1 May 1975, thirteen years before his younger brother, in Tehran, Iran. Although Pahlavan's primary instrument was the Daf (Persian: دف), a traditional musical instrument from Iran, he decided to continue his musical life with the Guitar. He started learning guitar from Vafa Faraji when he was 17. He studied Industrial Engineering at university and in addition to his music career, works as a project management consultant. Ali immigrated to Australia and became an Australian citizen.

## With the Arian band (1998–2015)

Ali and Payam Salehi, the other vocalist of Arian decided to create the first Iranian mixed-gender pop band and have a concert together. This decision resulted in a concert in Qeshm island one year later in 1998. This concert was the biggest leap for the group, where they met a producer who asked them to create an album, and things went bigger than they expected. Pahlavan and other members of Arian published 6 albums:
* Gol-e-Aftabgardoon (Sunflower) – 2000 – Sold more than 1.7 million official copies in Iran
* Va Amma Eshgh (And but Love... ) – 2001 – Sold more than 2.5 million official copies in Iran
* Taa Binahayat (Till Eternity) – 2003 – Nominated for BBC3 World Music Award
* Bi To Ba To (Without You With You) – 2008 – Featuring Chris de Burgh
* Tak Ahangha – Single Tracks – 2011
* Khodahafez (Goodbye) – 2015
Being on top of the charts in Iran, Arian decided to go beyond the borders and hold concerts worldwide. They traveled to Canada, Europe, USA and some Asian countries. They performed a lot of successful concerts world wide. At one point, the band sold more than 54,000 tickets for one of their concerts in less than six hours. Touring Europe, they met Chris De Burgh and produced a Persian-English version of his song "The Words I Love You".
Ali also published a book containing the chords and vocal notes of the Arian Band's songs. The book is called: The Arian Band Easy Guitar Songs.

## Solo career (2014–present)

Ali moved to Australia and started his career as a solo artist. He has released the following songs:
* Khaterehaye Sooto Koor (Silent Memories)
* Tanhaye Tanha (All Alone)
* Naab (Pure)
* Veg Out (Instrumental)
* With You Without You (featuring Vanessa Steele)
* Khiale To (Your Dream)

## Achievements

* Winner – People's Voice Prize – International Songwriting Competition 2018 – Ali Pahlavan – Song: Naab
* Honorable Mention – World Music Category – International Songwriting Competition 2018 – Ali Pahlavan – Song: Naab
* Semi-finalist -Music City SongStar Songwriting competition Fall 2018 – Ali Pahlavan – Song: Naab
* Semi-finalist -Unsigned Only Songwriting competition 2019 – Ali Pahlavan – Song: Naab
* Semi-finalist -BBC3 Audience Awards – The Arian Band – Album: Till Eternity
* Certificate of Appreciation – World Food Programme – Ali Pahlavan and the Arian Band – Song: Footsteps of Hope.