Nazeri was born to a Kurdish family in Kermanshah, Iran, in 1950. He received traditional music instruction from his father and his uncles. He performed at Sufi (Islamic mystic) ceremonies, began singing at a very early age, and even sang on Iranian national television by age eleven.
He became attracted to the mysteries of Sufism and its music and literature through the works of Mowlana Jelaladin Rumi, Sheikh Attar and others. His teachers include some of the most important exponents of Persian music, Abdollah Davami, Nourali Boroumand, and Mahmood Karimi.
