Mohammad Reza Shajarian's career in traditional Persian music stretched back more than 50 years and he was considered a master when it came to singing that could be both sad and strong at the same time.
Sang battle songs
Mohammad Reza Shajarian was born in 1940 in Mashhad.
His uncle encouraged him early on to explore Persian folk music.
He sang on state radio and television, but severed ties with the Shah's regime when government forces killed more than 100 protesters in Tehran in September 1978. During the revolution, he co-wrote battle songs for the people.
Later, during the 2009 and 2010 election protests, his songs were played on the radio by the regime and he asked them to stop.
- Every time I hear my own voice on that medium, my body starts to shake and I am ashamed ... Those songs that I sang in 1979-1980 were for the uprising that the people did, it was for that movement.
But now I see that they mock me, and others like me, right in the face.
They also mock the people I sing for, Mohammad Reza Shajarian told BBC Persia then.
Forbidden to play his music
After that stance, it was forbidden to play Mohammad Reza Shajarian's music in Iran.
His interpretation of the prayer that was sent out daily to break the fast during Ramadan also stopped playing.
Mohammad Reza Shajarian lived in the country, but recorded music and toured around the world.
When it became known earlier this year that he was being treated for kidney cancer at a hospital in Tehran, fans gathered outside and sang his music, which has been banned for almost eleven years.
Videos from tonight show that they have gathered once again and are singing his songs.