Background
Born in Tehran, Iran where his father was in the military profession during the Shah"s regime.
Born in Tehran, Iran where his father was in the military profession during the Shah"s regime.
The family immigrated to Germany for political reasons when Mehrzad was just six residing in Hamburg. At 13 he joined a gospel choir and eventually took classes at the Sängerakademie studying voice and piano. Taking the stage name Marasco, he released self-produced recordings finding some limited success.
He recorded "She"s Gone", a cover of "She"s Like the Wind" from Patrick Swayze.
He opened a karaoke bar, but the business went bankrupt and he had to live on welfare for a while. Marashi auditioned to the seventh season of the show initially under his stage name Marasco.
Very notably during a live show on DSDS on April 10, 2010, during the Top 3 stage, Marashi proposed to marry his girlfriend. The two married on 7 July 2010 in Hamburg.
DSDS performances
lieutenant topped the German, Austrian and Swiss charts.
lieutenant was also a hit in the Netherland. Both were from his debut album New Life that was released on 11 June 2010. A planned tour was cancelled due to low demand.
In February 2011, Marashi opened a dance school and established a recording studio both in Hamburg.
On 24 June 2011, he released a second album Change Up with "Beautiful World" as a single, both with no success. He later released "Eine Nacht", his own composition.
In 2012 he also founded his own label M8. In 2013, at age 32, he was also involved in Promi-Boxen (celebrity boxing) with an initial fight against Daniel Aminati.