In 1987, Iranian television began broadcasting the historical series “Mirza Kuchak Khan”. The original choice of singer, Touraj Zahedi, faced intense criticism for lacking a Gilaki accent. The composer, Mohammad Mirzamani, was eventually guided to Masoudi’s modest home in Rasht.
With mediation by Gilan’s cultural elders and assistance from the actress Farrokhlagha Hoshmand, Masoudi finally agreed to sing the legendary lament he had learned as a child. At 52 years old, he revived a song older than himself—linking three generations of memory into one trembling voice.
This performance became a historic act of return, symbolizing the resurrection of regional identity after a decade of cultural suppression.
When Nasser Masoudi passed away at the age of ninety in Rasht, Iran did not merely lose a singer—it lost a living archive. He had been the last surviving artist of the Golha tradition within regional music, the last voice to carry both the whisper of Gilaki forests and the grandeur of classical Iranian radif.
His death symbolized the fading of a generation that had lived through occupation, revolution, radio glory, silence, and revival.
