Ajda Pekkan

Ajda Pekkan was born on February 12, 1946 in Istanbul to a Turkish naval officer father. She spent her childhood at the naval base in Golcuk (Turkey) amongst American families. In 1962, at the beginning of her musical career, she appears as a singer at a very popular club of the time called 'Cati'. One year later in 1963, she becomes the winner of a contest organized by SES Magazine, searching for new talents for the movie industry. This marks her professional career. Pekkan became a recognized star in Turkish movie industry. 1963 to 1967 she acted in 47 movies with well known actors such as Ayhan Isik, Cuneyt Arkin, Izzet Gunay, Ediz Hun until her last movie, 'Harun Resid'in Gozdesi'. What she really wanted to do was to become the best singer ever one can possibly be. She was one of the first to sing western style popular songs in their native languages such as Italian, French and English at early years, later singing the same songs in Turkish. In 1965 her very own single 'Her Yerde Kar Var - 17' Yasinda was out in the markets. In 1967 her single 'Iki Yabanci' broke sale records. In 1968 and 1969 she represented Turkey at the International Apollonia Music Festival (Greece) with a Turkish song, 'Ozleyis', and 'Perhaps One Day' in English. At the beginning of the seventies with her growing reputation, Ajda Pekkan drew the attention of foreign music companies and settled in France for many years. The first success was a song composed by Mort Schuman and Etien Roda Gil just for her, 'Babylone Babylone'. Pekkan was at one of her peaks with a series of concerts took place at world famous Olympia Music Hall in Paris with a world famous French singer Enrico Macias. It was no later than that time she recorded songs in French, German, Greek, Spanish, Japanese and had already acquired international fame. In the middle of the seventies she boomed. Each and every one of her songs became a Pekkan Classic, e.g. 'Tanri Misafiri', 'Kimler Geldi Kimler Gecti' and 'Hosgor Sen'. In 1977, she represented Turkey at The Yamaha Music Festival (Japan) with a French song, 'A Mes Amours', and gained two great awards, one for the best performer, one for the best song. Following this success she released two singles in Japan. Again in 1977, her album 'Superstar' was one of its kind with astonishing design and production, followed by concerts, stage performances, and international tours. With her 'Superstar 2' album in 1979, she once again was at her peak in her musical career. She also represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song 'Pet'r Oil', but did not get the expected result. She then moved to the United States for a while. Following the USA years, without wasting any time, Pekkan successfully performed 'Superstar 83' show, followed by an album with the popular group 'Bes Yil Once On Yil Sonra'. Her marriage caused her to suspend her musical career for many years. She broke her silence with her 'Ajda 90' Album. 'Ajda 91', 'Ajda 93', 'Ajda 96' albums followed. In 1998 it was time for 'The Best Of', followed by 'DIVA' albums in the year 2000. 2003 brought us the single 'Sen Iste', and brought her a successful new beginning. In 1998, the Turkish Ministry of Culture granted her statute of 'Artist of State' representing so many years of her dedicated career. With her last album released in 2006, 'Ben Aslında O Gordugun Cool Kadın Degildim', Ajda Pekkan once more proved she was one of the most important quality sounds in Turkey.