Dildora Niyozova, billionaire Alisher Usmanov's favorite singer, who upset her father because of her famous song and forgave her husband's infidelity, is 48 years old

Dildora Niyozova, the favorite singer of billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who upset her father with her famous songs and forgave her husband's infidelity, turns 48

Dildora Niyozova, who became famous among the public with her songs "Ishonma" and "Olma" and was recognized as the "Best Singer" in 2012, turned 48 on September 14. Although the singer's creative activity has quieted down a bit in recent years as she has been more in the spotlight due to family scandals, she still frequently gives concerts across the provinces. On the occasion of her birthday, we take a look at her life and career.

"I used to write songs since school"

Dildora Niyozova was an ardent fan of Yulduz Usmonova and had been humming her songs since childhood.

My very first song was called "Yashash" (To Live), and my classmates received it very well. Then I graduated from music school with excellent grades. But unexpectedly, I entered the Faculty of English Philosophy at the Institute of World Languages.

"My father said, 'Will my daughter become a wedding singer?'"

— Becoming an artist is, first of all, destiny. But my father was seriously against me becoming an artist. In his time, he held high positions at "Metropoliten" and "Metroqurilish". Since he had his own prestige and I was the only girl born after three sons, he disapproved of me becoming a singer. He thought, "If my daughter becomes an artist, she will be unhappy."

One day he took me to Alisher Ikromov and said: "Does my daughter really have talent? She won't be a wedding singer all her life, will she?" After listening to my voice, Alisher aka told my father: "Your daughter has a beautiful voice. She will serve the people for many years to come." After those words, my father's attitude towards my art changed. In those days, public festivities were held in the streets on holidays. Seeing the people gathering to listen to my songs at those festivities, his confidence grew. After that event, they recorded several of my songs at the "Tarona Records" studio and released my first audio cassette for sale. The man selling the cassettes was of Russian nationality. My father went to him and asked how my cassettes were selling. At that time, the songs of Yulduz Usmonova and Ozoda Nursaidova were trending. The Russian seller pointed to my cassette and said, "Who is this anyway? Everyone is asking for her cassette." Many people used to come to our house to invite me to perform at weddings. But my father was against me going to weddings. He would refuse, saying, "My daughter does not sing for weddings." My mother always accompanied me, saying, "My daughter does not go to concerts alone." But reaching today's level was not easy. Even though my father worked in a good place, if I wanted to participate in a concert, he would go and ask. Because conditions back then were not as easy as they are now. There were even days when we were chased off the stage or when we performed at concerts by paying bribes, says Dildora Niyozova.

"Aren't you ashamed to sing this song as a girl?"

Dildora Niyozova spoke about how her father was deeply upset with her for performing the song "Ishonma" (Do Not Believe).

— This song was originally performed by a young man named Otajon from Khorezm. Unfortunately, he has passed away. When I was just entering the art world, my producer Tohir aka brought the song and asked me to perform it. After reading the lyrics, I said, "I won't sing this song, it's shameful." Tohir aka said, "I changed the words, don't worry." In the first version of the song's lyrics, there were indeed many explicit words. Even though it was a song about real life, I was ashamed to sing it in public. In short, Tohir aka convinced me to sing the song. When I recorded the song in the studio and played it to my father at home, he scolded me severely. He said, "Aren't you ashamed to sing this song as a girl?" I couldn't sleep until morning because of the "sweet" words I heard. Unaware of this conversation, my producer released the song. When I woke up the next day, Dildora Niyozova's song "Ishonma" was playing everywhere. We were all shocked when we heard the song in the market and in the shops. My father was also surprised, but he was very upset, saying, "Why did you, a girl, sing such a song?" Nevertheless, this song played a major role in making me famous among the people as Dildora Niyozova. After this song became popular, when I gave a concert at the Surxondaryo stadium, there were times when people even lifted my car so that I wouldn't leave. They would ask me to perform the song over and over again in gatherings. Thank God, we saw such days too, says the singer.

According to the singer, at one of the weddings in the Fergana Valley, she was asked to sing the song "Ishonma" several times. A record result for the song was set at that wedding, as it was performed 15 times in a row.

"Broadcasting a song was very expensive"

— In 2002-2003, if you paid the money and found a way, your song would be broadcast on television half an hour later. I remember well how we used connections at the TV channel where our neighbor worked to get my song played. There was no other way. After that, a contract system was established. By paying the money, one could appear on TV whenever they wanted. But its price was very expensive. The last time I had my music video played, the broadcast of one song cost 100 US dollars. This price is too expensive for young singers. Since I haven't been watching TV lately and I am wearing a headscarf, I am not interested in television, says singer Dildora Niyozova.

"I rejected a 10,000-dollar wedding"

— Nothing happens in this world without a reason. I think I made the right decision. There are things that can be said to the public and things that are not appropriate to say. I faced difficult trials. But I don't want to talk about them openly. Before I started wearing the hijab, I had a lot of weddings. At that time, my song "Yuragim" (My Heart) was trending, and I was in high demand for weddings in the provinces as well. On my birthday, I put on a headscarf, and when my husband came, I said, "I won't go anywhere anymore, no one will invite me with my headscarf." At that time, there were few Islamic weddings, and many open weddings were held. Hearing this, the musicians were also shocked. The next day, the musicians came to our house and said, "Sister, why did you make such a decision? It is still not too late; even if you take off the headscarf, no one will know. You have the art given by Allah, and your children are growing up here. Your fans also love you very much. So many weddings have been booked, you are ruining the work." The guys are young too, saying, "Promises have been made to so many people, deposits have been taken for weddings, what will you tell them?" I didn't know what would happen, Allah knows everything.

"I thought I would die because of my health problem"

Photo: Instagram

— Indeed, I suffered badly from my health. I reached a point where I was afraid that I would die. After that, I prayed that my wearing the headscarf would be blessed. I also told the musicians, "Maybe no one will see me wearing the headscarf, but I have given my word, where is my promise?" I said if the Creator wrote it in my destiny, I would create art even with my headscarf, and if not, I would accept it. My husband also got a little angry. Because we lived well, we were respected and honored. My husband said: "Now forget your previous life, now get used to living simply." I said I am more than willing, once I put on the headscarf, I will not take it off again. Two or three months passed, and everything changed. But I realized one thing: I felt that even during the times I was performing at weddings, I was not this happy. I got used to everything, but I started to miss art and the stage. Before entering the headscarf, I had accepted everything. Because I knew well that they would not invite me to concerts or television. Even now, they invite me to shows. But they say, "Wrap the headscarf this way, wrap it that way." No, I say, I will only appear in this look.

At weddings, I only participate in women's gatherings. I do not go to weddings where both men and women participate and where there is alcohol. They invite me to the provinces for large sums of money. No matter how much money is offered, I will not change my decision. My husband also pays serious attention to this. There have even been many times when he entered the wedding hall, saw men sitting in the same gathering with women, and returned the money. He even rejected weddings in Surxondaryo where we were invited with an offer of 10,000 dollars, says singer Dildora Niyozova.

"They say, 'You love money, that's why you can't leave art'"

Photo: YouTube

— Every family has its own days of trial. But only because an artist is a famous person, information about their personal life spreads widely. Is there a husband and wife in the world who do not argue? They do not say in vain that anger drives away reason. If women are not more patient anyway, the situation will get completely out of hand. Keeping a family strong is not easy. When a man gets angry, he makes quick decisions. In a fit of anger, my husband posted a video on Instagram about me leaving art. Misunderstandings happen in every family. This should be accepted correctly. My husband posted that video because he has a quick temper.

But I was hurt by those who comment without knowing the situation in another family. They said, "You love money, that's why you can't leave art." To be honest, such words weighed heavily on my heart. Sustenance is given first of all by Allah; there are those who make so much effort in art and achieve nothing. What bad thing am I doing by performing at weddings? I am not betraying anyone's rights. An artist does not go to serve for a small amount of money, but people invite them to their happy days with good intentions. I do not make intentions saying, "Let people invite me to their weddings." I ask for my sustenance only from Allah.

I entered the headscarf with great strength. Indeed, at that time, I said I would not sing songs either. But I thought to myself that I would not leave art completely, but would only sing praises (salawat) and nasheeds. I realized that our love for Allah is in our hearts, and we do not need to constantly show it to those around us. Singing songs is in my destiny. That too was given by Allah. If it had not been written in my destiny, I would not have reached today's level. When I go to perform at weddings, people pray for me, saying, "I returned to life because of your song." I begin to think that maybe what I am doing is not wrong. A servant has no right to judge another servant. Therefore, it is not good to conclude that someone is doing something wrong. Do those who express negative opinions about me have no mistakes or sins? I am not used to hearing bad words. Negative words affect my heart deeply. Therefore, I would not want people to make bad assumptions about others without knowing, she says.

"I forgave my husband's infidelity"

One of the hardest things was finding out about my husband's infidelity. At that moment, it felt as if my heart was breaking, and it seemed difficult even to look people in the eye. For a while, I didn't even want to appear in public. But as time passed, I thought about it. One of the greatest qualities of the Creator's servants is forgiveness. I also asked myself: "If the Creator forgives so many of our sins, why can't I forgive?" I came to this decision.

I said, "If I forgive, it will be a relief for both me and my family. No one can be happy by holding a grudge." Many women who heard about this decision of mine wrote to me on social networks and asked for advice. Then I realized that there are many women among us who face such trials.

"They spread rumors calling my husband a gigolo"

The singer is several years older than her husband, Latifjon Yunusov. But the age difference did not prevent them from getting married.

These words weighed very heavily on him. I know him well — he is an honest, hardworking person who cares for his household and children. After those rumors, so that people would not misunderstand, he returned to his profession. Now he is working on the construction of a clinic in Andijan. I went and saw — he is working just like ordinary workers do. This proved his honesty and responsibility for his family once again.

After these events, I understood one thing in life — a woman should rely only on the Creator. No human being — neither a husband nor others — can make a woman's life perfect. I also gradually learned to be independent, to drive a car, and to manage my household alone. Loneliness matures a person, says Dildora Niyozova.

"Billionaire Alisher Usmanov is my fan"

— To be honest, since I did not follow internet networks regularly, I did not know Alisher Usmanov. We were traveling from province to province for weddings. Then my husband said, "Do you know who this person is? This person is one of the richest people in the world." One day, when we went to perform for them, he asked everyone to be quiet, and after the whole gathering fell silent, he expressed very good opinions and wishes about my creative work. I had a song called "Seni ko‘rishim kerak" (I Need to See You); Alisher Usmanov loved to listen to this song of mine very much. At one of his events, I sang this song about twenty times; I was exhausted myself from singing it so much, says the artist.

"Thank you also to my colleagues for not liking me"

— Thank you also for not liking me. Because when two women get together, we make mistakes and say wrong things without realizing. A woman is prone to gossiping. The more idle a person is, the more sins and wrong things they commit. Thank you also for not joining them and for them not liking me. Maybe I made a wrong conclusion thinking they didn't like me. Even though I do not go to gatherings and socialize with artists, my relations with them are good. When I see them, I greet them with a smile, and that is enough. If I talk for an extra hour, gossip increases, and then we hold our heads and regret why we said that. Since I know my own character, I prefer to stay away from the circle of artists. Life is very short. By the time I do housework and take care of my children, it gets late. By the time I finish my work and go to sleep, it is 1-2 o'clock in the morning. The next day, this process is repeated. When things were going well for a person close to me, they had many friends on the street. When they fell on hard times, their numbers decreased significantly. Even in the past when I earned a lot of money, I was not friends with anyone, and it is the same now. Many female artists invited me to play "gap-gashtak" (gatherings). But I did not go to any of them. Later, thinking she won't come anyway, they stopped inviting me, says singer Dildora Niyozova.