Polad Bülbüloğlu (Azerbaijani: Polad Murtuza oğlu Məmmədov; born February 4, 1945) is a Soviet and Azerbaijani singer, actor, politician, and diplomat. Bülbüloğlu became famous in the Soviet Union with composing jazz-influenced pop songs which has heavy Azeri folk feelings in Russian and Azerbaijani languages. He also sang his own songs. Three of his songs became Songs of the Year and he received numerous prestigious awards in the Soviet Union. Bülbüloğlu is a lyrical tenor.
In the late 1990s, despite having a huge success with a new version arranged by Paul Buckmaster of his old song Gəl Ey Səhər (Come, Hey Morning!) in Turkey and sold out concerts in Russia, Bülbüloğlu started a political career. He became the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan and is currently the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia.
In 2017, he was a candidate to the post of Director-General of UNESCO. He withdrew his candidacy on October 10 after getting only 2 votes in the first round of the election.
