structural:scholar_edition
Later life, death and legacy

While in exile, Shajarian privately sat for a series of rare interviews that form the basis of a feature-length documentary entitled The Voice of Dust and Ash. In a leaked clip of the documentary, Shajarian can be heard saying, "I am Mohammad Reza Shajarian, son of Iran. My voice is part of Iran's ancient culture, to remind the people of the world that we have had a culture of love, peace and friendship." The clip went viral on social media twice, once in 2016 and again upon Shajarian's death in 2020. Shot in California and Iran, the interviews occurred shortly before he announced his cancer diagnosis and the rapid deterioration of his health. They now constitute his last public testament.

In March 2016, Shajarian revealed that he had had kidney cancer for the past fifteen years. He appeared with shaved hair in his Nowrouz congratulation video, published on his YouTube account. Bahram Beyzai composed a poem after announcement of Shajarian's illness and described it as a sad day in happy days of Nowruz.

Shajarian transferred to hospital on 27 January 2020 and had a successful surgery. He was released from hospital on 25 August but was hospitalized again on 5 October.

Shajarian died on 8 October 2020 at the age of 80 at intensive care unit of Jam Hospital in Tehran. The cause of his death was not immediately made public. A private religious ceremony was held following day at Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran, before his body being transferred to Mashhad. He was buried at the Tomb of Ferdowsi in Tus, Mashhad, on 10 October.