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Mohsen Namjoo () is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. His style of music is influenced by blues and rock as well as Iranian folk music.
He was admitted to the Tehran University of Art in 1994.
In 2003 he started recording parts of his works in Tehran. His debut album titled Toranj was officially released in Iran in September 2007 and the last album to get legal license. The album featured nine traditional folk songs, including poems from Hafez, Rumi, Baba Taher and Attar. It was mostly produced underground music and was very well-received among the Iranian community. This album insulted the Islamic regime, which forced him into exile in 2008. In 2009, while living in Vienna, he was sentenced to five years in prison in absentia for recording music that "dishonours" passages from the Quran.
In 2010, Namjoo kicked off his "A Minor" tour, performing at many venues globally, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Sony Centre for the Arts in Toronto. Mohsen Namjoo also released a single entitled "Such Strange Times" in June 2010, his first song performed in English language. "Strange Times" words came from the Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou.
It was officially released in June 2010.
In the fall of 2011, Namjoo recorded his next album Alaki live during his concert in Stanford University. This album was part of his work in the Stanford Pan Asian Music Festival. The accompanying band consisted of Ali Bazyar (Percussion), Dina Zarif (back vocal), Tannaz Jaffari (back vocal), Serwah Tabbak (backing vocals), Siamack Sanaie (Guitar), Mark Deutsch: (Bazantar, Guitar)
In the fall of 2012, Namjoo released his new album, 13/8. Thirteen/eight is a compilation of six pieces that were developed in the United States during the previous year. The performance had been prepared in collaboration with California-based musicians James Riotto (Contrabass), Robert Shelton (Keyboard), Ezra Lipp and Greg Ellis (Percussion). Payam Entertainment produced a series of live performances for 2012. The inaugural performance in Berkeley, California, will be recorded in preparation for a future double-album release by the same title.
In late 2013, Mohsen Namjoo became an Artist-in-Residence in the Brown University Middle East Studies department. On 7 December 2013, to kick off his residency, he performed at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. In spring 2014, he taught the course "Tradition and Protest: Persian and Iranian Music," and gave several musical talks to public audiences on topics including "Shahram Shabpareh: Honesty and Minor Scale" and Iranian Rhythms. The spring 2014 semester was capped by a concert on the evening of 10 May. In the fall of 2014, Namjoo taught "Revolution and Poets: Content and Form in Iranian Poetry."
His newest song named, "Begoo be baran" composed by Ehsan Matoori was released in March 2019 by Sheed Records company. His new album "Phantasm" composed and produced by Ehsan Matoori released on 27 April 2019, in San Francisco.
In April of 2022, Namjoo posted a since-deleted video on his own YouTube channel in which he offered his apologies to those who had accused him of harassment. “Yours truly, Mohsen Namjoo, sincerely, honestly and with humility, apologizes to you for whatever words or deeds that might have been wrong or have hurt you. I express my regrets to both you and your respected and noble families.”
However, the next day, an audio recording of the singer speaking candidly was leaked online. Over the course of the 17-minute monologue, Namjoo makes a number of statements that ignited controversy, such as: "I say this with all humility: one hour of my breathing equals six months in the life of any one of you." He also called rape victims “crazy”, ridiculed the #MeToo movement, and makes a homophobic remarks. On the topic of consent Namjoo states: "'No means no?' Who says 'no means no?' The beauty of Persian literature is that 'no' means 1000 things." Namjoo also declares that he is better than all women singers and, as an expert, claims that all young Iranian woman singers sing “off-key.” Namjoo also expressed overt homophobia in the recording by targeting lesbians: “The only way she can attract attention is to say she is a lesbian because she knows that if she says she is straight... there some things that are God-given, and her appeal is so below-average that nothing has been able to compensate for it.” The recording begins with him saying that since the accusations, his Instagram followers and Spotify plays have only increased.
| 2005 | Damavand]] | دماوند |
| 2006 | Jabr | گیس |
| 2007 | Toranj | ترنج |
| 2008 | Jabr-e Joghrafiyaei | جبرِ جغرافیایی |
| 2009 | Oy | آخ |
| 2011 | Useless Kisses | بوسههای بیهوده |
| 2014 | Trust the Tangerine Peel | از پوست نارنگی مدد |
| 2016 | Personal Cipher | صفر شخصی |
| 2018 | On the String of the Tear's Bow | بر چلّه کمان اشک |
| 2019 | Phantasm | سودای من |
| 2020 | Motantan | مطنطن |
| 2020 | Symphonic Odyssey | سمفونیک اودیسه |
| 2022 | Odd Time Rock | لنگ راک |
| 2023 | Restless | بی تاب |
| 2024 | Oula | اولى |
| 2011 | Alaki | الکی | In December |
| 2012 | 13/8 | سیزده/هشت | In Fall |
| 2017 | Voices from the East | آوازهایی از شرق | In July |
| 2017 | Axis of Solitude | مؤلفۀ عزلت | In October |
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