Martik Gharakhanian was born on 17 July 1949 in the
Farahabad neighborhood of
Abadan, Iran. He spent his childhood in Abadan and has two sisters and one brother. At the age of 15, he developed an interest in
music. After his father retired from the
National Iranian Oil Company, the family relocated to
Tehran, where Martik began his professional career as a
guitarist, performing foreign songs. In the late 1960s, Martik joined
Googoosh's orchestra as a regular guitarist. He later ventured into composing and singing. His melodies were influenced by rock and rhythm and blues (R&B). His first composition,
Chelcheleh, was released in early 1975, with lyrics by
Zoya Zakarian, then a relatively new lyricist, and performed by
Hassan Shamaizadeh. Martik’s debut as a
Persian-language singer was with the song
Harir, also written by Zoya Zakarian, which established him as a notable vocalist. After transitioning to performing Persian songs and collaborating with artists like Googoosh and Hassan Shamaizadeh in songwriting, performances, and television programs such as
Panjereh, he quickly gained public recognition. He released his first album in 1977. Before the
1979 Iranian Revolution, Martik traveled to
London, where he performed as a guitarist with an Italian orchestra at the
Hilton Hotel. He briefly returned to Iran before the revolution but left the country in 1980, settling in
Los Angeles, United States. In an interview with
Manoto TV, Martik mentioned that he had considered returning to Iran years earlier. Due to his Western-influenced musical style, Martik initially struggled to gain widespread popularity in the 1980s compared to artists like
Moein,
Ebi, and
Bijan Mortazavi. Over time, he adapted his style, with songs such as
Bahar,
Mah,
To Nashnidi Sedat Kardam, and
Do Delbar, composed by renowned Iranian composer Sadegh Nojouki, significantly boosting his popularity. In addition to his continued collaboration with Zoya Zakarian, Martik worked with prominent post-revolution lyricists, including
Jakilin Derderian, Masoud Fardmanesh, Jahanshakh Pazouki, Bijan Samandar, Homa Mirafshar, Ardalan Sarfaraz,
Shahyar Ghanbari, and Iraj Jannati Ataei. Alongside composing his own songs, he collaborated with distinguished composers such as
Hassan Shamaizadeh,
Siavash Ghomayshi, Mohammad Heydari, Sadegh Nojouki, Farid Zoland, and Manouchehr Cheshmazar. His most recent album,
Sayehneshin, was released in February 2015. After a long hiatus, Martik performed a live concert on September 27, 2025 at the
Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. He is also scheduled to perform a series of concerts throughout the United States in November 2025. ==Discography==