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Badalian was born on December 15, 1924, in the village of Shavarin, near Hamadan (Iran). His parents were from the Armenian village of Gardabad near Urmia and had become refugees when the Ottoman army invaded northwestern Iran during World War I.

He attended the Armenian school in Baghdad, and in 1936 he returned to Iran, and started singing in composer Nicol Galanderian’s choir in Tehran. In the Iranian capital, he studied and performed with Hambardzum Grigorian. During the repatriation of post-World War II, Badalian left Iran and settled in Soviet Armenia to study music. He attended the Romanos Melikian Music College in Yerevan. In 1949 he joined the Tatoul Altunian Folk Dance and Song Ensemble (1949-1954) as soloist and in 1954 he went to the Folk Music Instruments Ensemble of the Public Radio, where he would perform as a soloist until the end of his life. He also taught at Gomidas State Conservatory (1982-2001).