January 16, 2020 - 10:49 AMT
Iranian-Armenian singer Andy getting a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Famous Iranian-Armenian singer Andy Madadian is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first Iranian artist to earn the honor, The Guardian reports.

At age 22, Madadian left Iran with nothing, moved to Los Angeles and started playing at nightclubs to pay rent.

Now 63, the internationally celebrated pop singer says he’s ready for another “new beginning”.

“Many people may wonder: would you have a new beginning after 14 albums?” Madadian said days before the ceremony unveiling his groundbreaking star. “But to me it’s new … because a lot of Americans are just discovering me and my music. I’m hoping this Hollywood star will open some doors. We have a lot of great Iranian artists here in LA, and the western world has not discovered them yet.”

Sometimes nicknamed the “Persian Bono” or “Persian Elvis”, the Iranian-Armenian American artist is being honored on the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk on Friday, January 17.

Madadian will receive his star alongside a number of world-famous American musicians joining this year, including Elvis Costello, Billy Idol, Alicia Keys, 50 Cent and Muddy Waters.

“It’s a very difficult position to be in as an Iranian American artist, because whatever I produce is for my people – my American people, my Iranian people, my Armenian people,” he said. “Unfortunately, all of them are in some kind of a clash.”

Madadian grew up 7,000 miles away in Iran’s capital, in a neighborhood home to many Armenians. Born in 1956, he shared a single room with his parents, grandmother and five siblings, and for much of his early childhood, the family didn’t have any electricity or running water.

Because his music is officially banned by the Iranian government, he hasn’t been back to Iran in the 41 years since he left.