Gülsen

Gülsen Bayraktar born 29 May 1976) is a Turkish singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Istanbul, she graduated from Sehremini High School. After finishing high school, Gülsen enrolled in Istanbul Technical University and at the same time began performing at bars and later left the university. In 1995, while performing at a bar she was discovered by a composer and made a contract with Raks Müzik for making her first studio album. Gülsen's debut album titled Be Adam, was released in 1996 which made her known in the music industry but she preferred to take a break from her professional career and instead focused on her marital life. In 2004, her fourth studio album Of... Of... became a hit in Turkey and a single with the same name as the album earned her both a Golden Butterfly Award and a Turkey Music Award. The Mü-Yap certified album Yurtta Ask Cihanda Ask (2006) and her subsequent albums had successful sales, and Beni Durdursan mi? (2013) became Turkey's best-selling album of the year, followed by Bangir Bangir (2015) which became the second best-selling album of 2015. The singles "Yurtta Ask Cihanda Ask", "Bi' An Gel", "Yeni Biri", "Sözde Ayrilik", "Yatcaz Kalkcaz Ordayim", "Kardan Adam", "Iltimas" and "Bangir Bangir" all became number-one hits on Türkçe Top 20. Gülsen, who has received positive reception from music critics and alongside her singing career is a prominent figure as a songwriter, started singing her own songs especially after the early years of her career and has produced many hit songs for her colleagues as well. In 2015, she became the Turkish singer with the most number of viewers on YouTube and a year later she became the first Turkish singer to have a music video watched over 200 million times on the website. Throughout her career, she has won numerous awards including six Golden Butterfly Awards and nine Turkey Music Awards.