Sezen Aksu

Sezen Aksu is a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ("Little Sparrow"). Sezen Aksu's influence on Turkish pop and world music has continued since her debut in 1975, and has been reinforced by her patronage of and collaboration with many other musicians, including Sertab Erener, Sebnem Ferah, Askin Nur Yengi, Hande Yener, and Levent Yüksel. Her work with Tarkan resulted in continental hits like "Simarik" and "Sikidim" and her collaboration with Goran Bregovic widened her international audience. Sezen Aksu was born in Sarayköy, Denizli, Turkey. Her family moved to Bergama when she was three years old and she spent her childhood and early youth there. Aksu's parents discouraged her singing because they wanted her to have a steady profession as a doctor or engineer. She used to wait until they left the house and sing on the family's balcony. After finishing high school, she began studying at the local agricultural institute, but left college to concentrate on music. Along with her close friend Ajda Pekkan, Aksu is credited with laying the foundations of Turkish pop music in the 1970s. Her sound has also spread across the Balkans and Greece. Aksu has also toured in Europe and the U.S to critical appraise. She has championed a variety of causes, including support for constitutional reform, minority rights, women's rights, the environment, and educational reform in Turkey. She has a son with Sinan Özer, named Mithat Can, who is also a lead vocalist of Pist'on band. In the 80's, Aksu had a relationship with producer Onno Tunç that was both romantic and professional. As a couple they put their signatures to works that broke new ground in Turkish pop music, such as Sen Aglama, Git, Sezen Aksu'88 and Sezen Aksu Söylüyor. Her music matured in the 90's, when she co-produced her best selling album to-date Gülümse with Tunç. The A-1 track from the album called Hadi Bakalim was a hit in Turkey and Europe, and was published as a single in Germany. It was to be later rediscovered in Europop by singer Loona as Rhythm of the Night. She also began to produce albums for her vocalists, notably producing Askin Nur Yengi's debut album Sevgiliye (To a Lover) again with Tunç. She was to repeat her success with artists Sertap Erener and Levent Yüksel also. In 2005, she was featured in Fatih Akin's documentary film "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul" with a performance of the song "Istanbul Hatirasi", Aksu has recently been re-releasing all her old classics digitally remastered and with specially designed new sleeves. In 2008, Aksu released her album called Deniz Yildizi through Starfish Records. And in 2009 she released her latest album Yürüyorum Düs Bahçelerinde. The album contains new original songs as well as some older songs which were composed by Sezen Aksu for other singers, most notably Çakkidi, Kibir, Yok Ki.