Muslim Magomaev, a baritone operatic and pop singer, was born on 17 August, 1942 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Muslim Magomaev represents one of the most respected artistic dynasties in Azerbaijan. His grandfather Muslim Magomaev (1885-1937), a friend and contemporary of the prominent Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, was one of the founders of Azerbaijani-composed music. Magomaev's father, a soldier and a hero, was killed in the end of World War II in Berlin. He was a gifted painter, and his mother was an actress.

Muslim learned to play a piano as a child, and began to take lessons from teachers of voice at the age of 14. He finished the piano and composition class of the musical school at Baku conservatoire, and then graduated from the vocal class of Baku conservatoire. As a teenager he became interested in Italian songs, American jazz and other styles of popular music.

In 1962, at the age of 20, Muslim Magomaev first appeared in Moscow where he performed within the frameworks of the Days of Azerbaijani Culture. He sang two musical pieces in a gala-concert on the USSR's main stage, the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, and became a celebrity on a spur of the moment. A year later he gave his first solo concert in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Concert Hall to a full house and became a soloist of Azerbaijan opera theatre. Muslim earned fame in the USSR as an opera singer with Rossini's "Barber of Seville". He also became known for his arias from Puccini's "Tosca", Hajibeyov's "Koroghlu" and "Shah Ismayil", which was composed by his grandfather.

In 1964 - 1965 Muslim was on probation in the La Scala theatre in Milan, but turned down the invitation to sing in the Moscow Bolshoi Theater upon his return. For a couple of years he was a soloist of the Baku Opera Theater.

Later on, the singer turned to popular music, becoming a pop idol for several generations of music lovers in the Soviet Union and abroad.

Muslim Magomaev's popularity in the USSR was overwhelming. He quickly became a cult figure and gave concerts filling out huge arenas all across the Soviet Union, while his albums sold millions.

In 1966 and 1969 Muslim Magomaev performed in Paris Olympia with great success. The director of Olympia Bruno Coquatrix offered him a contract, and Muslim Magomaev was seriously considering an opportunity to pursue international career, but he didn't get the Ministry of Culture's permission, who claimed that it needed Muslim Magomaev to perform at governmental concerts.

In 1969 he received MIDEM Gold Disc Award in Cannes for the album sales of over 4,5 million units. In 1973, at the very young age of 31, Muslim was awarded the Soviet Union's highest artistic title: People's Artist of the USSR.

Muslim Magomaev is also known as a composer, he writes songs, film soundtracks and music for theater performances. In addition, Muslim Magomaev played in films and acted as a host in television and radio broadcasts devoted to prominent musicians of the 20th century.

Muslim Magomaev also likes to paint pictures, but calls it his hobby.

Muslim Magomaev has been living and working in Moscow since the early 1970s. In 1997, in recognition of Magomaev's professional successes, a Russian astronomical society named two planetoids of the solar system in honor of him and his wife, Tamara Sinyavskaya, a prominent Russian opera singer who was also awarded People's Artist of the USSR and worked as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater.