Shervin Haji Aghapour (Persian:شروین حاجی آقاپور; born 30 March 1997) is an Iranian singer-songwriter. Born inBabolsar, he began posting covers to hissocial media in late 2018. After auditioning inNew Era television show on 22 March 2019 with "Maybe Paradise", he released the song as his debut single on all platforms and gained recognition among the younger Iranian generation. Hajipour rose to fame after the release of his single "Baraye" which has been described as "the anthem" of the2022 protests. In 2023, he won the firstGrammy Award forBest Song for Social Change at the65th Annual Grammy Awards for "Baraye".[1][2]
On 1 March 2024, Hajipour was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months of jail and ordered to write anti-America-Aggression music because of "Baraye", a song that won Best Song for Social Change at the65th Annual Grammy Awards.[1][4]
Shervin Haji Aghapour was born on 30 March 1997, inBabolsar,Mazandaran. He took up music at the age of eight, when he entered a violin class. In secondary school, he started to compose professionally. He attended theUniversity of Mazandaran, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in economics.[5] While at university, he composed music for theatre performances and editing. He later began to sing himself.[5][6]
At the age of 22, Hajipour participated inNew Era, a TV Talent show competition (produced byEhsan Alikhani), where he advanced to the finals of the second round of its first season.[5][7][8][9]
During the2022 protests in Iran, sparked by the death of IranianMahsa Amini, Hajipour published his new song "Baraye..." (Persian:برای, For...; Because of...). Written in support of the protests,[10] the song's lyrics were drawn from posts written by protesters and their supporters starting with the wordBaraye...,[11][12] and references the slogan "Zan, Zendegi, Âzâdi".[13][14] He posted "Baraye" to hisInstagram, where it received more than 40 million views in less than two days.[15][16] Other Iranian social media users posted their own videos of singing or playing the song in public.[11]
On 4 October 2022, Hajipour was released on bail "so that his case can go through the legal process," according to Mohammad Karimi, prosecutor of the northern province ofMazandaran.[11][32][33] Hajipour then posted on Instagram that the song was regrettably being used by political groups outside Iran; activists believe this statement may have been coerced.[34]
On 29 August 2023, Pakistani actorHumayun Saeed revealed via his Instagram account that Shervin Hajipour's song "Dornaye Mongharez" would serve as the official OST for the drama seriesMeray Paas Tum Ho.[36] The series' Persian OST was also produced by Hajipour.[37][38]
On 1 March 2024, Hajipour was sentenced to serve up to four years in jail, with eight months for creating propaganda against the government and three years for "encouraging and provoking the public to riot to disrupt national security."[39]
On 31 July 2024, Shervin Hajipour published a video on his Instagram social network and announced that his prison sentence has been finalized and he must present himself to prison within the next 3 days.[40][41][42] On 23 September, Hajipour announced that he had received a pardon.[43]
^""برای…" شروین؛ بیان خواستههای نسل معترض دهه ۸۰" [The Protest of a Famous Turkish Singer against the Arrest of Shervin, the Singer of the "Baraye" Song] (in Persian). Independent Persian. 1 October 2022. Retrieved1 October 2022.
