Baku falsely credits folk origin to Babajanyan's music

PanARMENIAN.Net - In Azerbaijani social media, several videos about singer Muslim Magomayev deliberately omit the name of Arno Babajanyan, the composer of many of Magomayev’s songs.

According to Sputnik Armenia, Ara Babajanyan, son of the renowned composer, stated that a circulated video featuring the performance of Magomayev's song “The Devil’s Wheel” (lyrics by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, music by Arno Babajanyan) credits the music as “Baku folklore.”

To clarify the situation, Ara Babajanyan has already consulted legal professionals.

“We’ll see what the outcome will be… This often happens during concerts dedicated to Muslim Magomayev. That said, I hold Muslim in great respect and affection. We considered him family. I was just starting my career then. He would come to our home, sit at the piano for hours, sing, and talk,” Ara said.

In Soviet pop music, Arno Babajanyan and Muslim Magomayev formed a legendary creative duo, producing numerous hits such as “Queen of Beauty,” “Melody,” and “Thank You.” These works became integral to the Soviet musical legacy.

Their collaboration began in the 1960s. Their first joint song was “I Remember Bulgaria,” followed by “The Best City in the World” (1964, lyrics by Leonid Derbenyov), “Queen of Beauty” (1965, lyrics by Anatoly Gorokhov), “The Devil’s Wheel” (1969, lyrics by Yevgeny Yevtushenko), “Wedding” (1971, lyrics by Robert Rozhdestvensky), and “Return the Music to Me” (1975, lyrics by Andrey Voznesensky).