Monday, May 21, 2007 | 7:57 a.m.
Lyrics by Nassiri. The chorus:
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays of the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one
Fred Nassiri is a man of passion.
The native of Iran was passionate about succeeding in the United States, which he did beyond his wildest dreams, becoming a multi millionaire in wholesale fashion.
He is passionate about music - writing, producing and singing his own songs.
And he is passionate about world peace and harmony - telling everyone who will listen of what could be accomplished if each nation would reduce its military budget and use the money for peaceful purposes.
"We will not have a hungry child," Nassiri said at his complex of offices, warehouses and recording studios at the Hughes Center. "We will not have the poverty that we have in countries such as India and Brazil.
"Many places in the world, people don't have the basics of life, no blanket to cover themselves, only a spoon of rice to eat every 24 hours. No shower. No bathroom. They sleep on the streets."
Using only 10 percent of the military budgets would make dramatic changes in the world, Nassiri says.
"We could revitalize 50 countries a year," he said. "And in five years we won't have the poverty we have around the world."
All of the 70-year-old tycoon and peace activist's passions have converged. He has taken millions of dollars of his own fortune to fund a trip around the world to film himself singing his song, "Love Sees No Color," with thousands of children in 18 different nations.
It is a journey that took two years to plan and eight months to complete. The budget was $50 million.
"I haven't spent it all yet," said Nassiri, who flew to the Cannes Film Festival in France last weekend to attend the premiere of the music video that spreads the message of love and peace.
Technically, the "video" was shot on film. The song has a world music feel, reminiscent of Sting's "Desert Rose."
"It was like shooting 18 different movies, one every three days," Nassiri said.
In a chartered plane he and his crew globe-hopped to Japan, Korea, China, India and more than a dozen other nations, filming scenes at historical sites such as the Great Wall of China as well as in ghettos.
He hired directors in each country to film himself singing his song of love and peace with children surrounding him at each location.
Out of the project has come the video and an album. With more than 800 hours of film in the can, a documentary will be made about the making of the international music video.
"My message is to create a kinder and gentler planet," Nassiri said. "This system of an eye for an eye is not working. The rich are getting richer, the poor poorer. My message is to share some of the wealth."
Nassiri focused on children in his quest for world peace.
"A child in Palestine is not born with a gun in his hand, nor in Israel or North Korea," he said. "Children are born innocent. We've spent all this money on the destruction of mankind. We've got to change this."
Nassiri came to the United States in 1964. He moved to Las Vegas in 1976 and became a mogul in the fashion industry, one of the largest wholesalers in the world.
"I brought fashion to this town," he said.
And now he wants to bring peace to the world.
He has adopted an impoverished village in India; funded a school in Brazil; is helping a family afflicted with HIV in Africa.
He says all of the money from the sale of his song will go to charities around the world.
Nassiri, who was born a Muslim and later became a Christian, says he made his decision to use his money to try to change the world 10 years ago.
"I was sitting in my office and thought, 'I don't want to be 70 years old and doing nothing but buying and selling and making more money.' What are you going to do with another million? You can't eat any more. You can't drive any more cars, wear any more clothes. You lose sleep thinking about how you're going to spend the money."
He chose to use money to help others, but not through charities.
"With charities, people don't get the money, it goes to administration," he said.
So he followed his own path of helping others, a path that included music, writing and producing.
"I was born with music in me," Nassiri said. "I took 45 days off and wrote a lot of songs with a lot of messages. The world doesn't need another singer/songwriter unless the song is different and the music is different.
"Every word in my song has a positive message. Every word is very well thought out. My song is not to please record companies, not to sell my soul to make money. I don't have to please the record companies. I don't have to please radio stations. I just do it for love of humanity."
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