Rashid Behbudov was born in Tbilisi, in 1915. His father, Majid Behbudoghlu, was a singer as well. From 1938 to 1944, Rashid moved to Armenia and worked at Yerevan State Philharmonia and Opera House, and in 1945, upon the invitation of Tofig Guliyev, Rashid Behbudov moved to Baku. In the same year, he was assigned the main role of Asgar in the film "Arshin Mal Alan" The Cloth Peddler, based on a play by Uzeyir Hajibeyov. His role in this film combined with his vocal skills brought him fame throughout Azerbaijan.
In a short time, Behbudov became also prominent Azerbaijani pop singer. His combination of vocal masterpieces ranged from classical performances to lyrical songs. Behbudov's rare vocal talent gave him opportunity to travel beyond the "Iron Curtain" of the Soviet Union, and as a singer he toured with concert performances in several countries of the world, including Iran, Turkey, China, India, Japan, Argentina, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Rashid often performed in the Near East. In Iran, he was accompanied by the pianist Chingiz Sadikhov and tar player Ahsan Dadashov. He gained a lot of popularity in Iran (particularly Iranian Azerbaijan region) because Iran's second major ethnic group is Azerbaijani. They were so popular that their two-week tour in Iran stretched into two months.
His first concert in Turkey took place in 1961 with the talented violin player Azad Aliyev. The concerts in Ankara and Istanbul were extremely successful as well. As Azad Sharifov reports: I was lucky enough to see one of his concerts in Ankara in 1966. At that time, I was a correspondent for the newspaper "Izvestiya." It was his tenth concert on that tour. The concert hall was sold out, but I decided to try to go anyway. Fortunately, Rashid's manager saw me and motioned for me to follow him backstage. There I found Rashid pacing the floor. The manager cautioned me, "He's getting ready to go on stagebetter not disturb him right now." I stood silently as if frozen. Suddenly, Rashid looked up, recognized me and came and hugged me. "Where have you been for so long?" he asked. "If you only knew how much I miss Baku and my daughter. Thank God, I'll be flying back tomorrow. So good of you to come. After the concert, let's have dinner together." I remember that the Turkish audience that night knew all of Rashid's repertoire by heart and sang along with him.
Even though Rashid was extremely popular, official recognition of his contributions to the performing arts was late in coming. The title of "People's Artist of the USSR," the highest honor that could be given to an artist, had to be approved by the Kremlin. But the Soviet government balked and made excuses. They would admit that he was great, but then would add disparagingly, "But he's just a pop singer, not an opera singer."
But Rashid was not just a pop singer. He could handle extremely complicated opera roles as well which he proved in the portrayal of Balash in Fikrat Amirov's opera, "Sevil" (1953). This work is based on the storyline of a dramatic play of the same name by Jafar Jabbarli earlier in the century. The opera is characterized by its bright and colorful national melodies. Amirov himself offered the part of Balash to Rashid Behbudov. Amirov's "Sevil" was performed at this event with Rashid playing the role of Balash. He demonstrated an unusual brilliancy and talent and for this he was finally awarded the coveted title of "People's Artist of the USSR." It provided a chance for the various republics to make their art known throughout that vast land that spanned ten time zones.

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