Who is Sezen Aksu?

Sezen Aksu (Date of birth 13 July 1954; Sarayköy, Denizli), Turkish singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Since his debut in the mid-1970s, he has become an influential figure with his songs and guided Turkish pop music. In addition to being a singer, he often came to the fore with his songwriter and composer identity thanks to the fact that he gave the songs he wrote and composed to others. Supporting many back vocals for him, he produced their albums. In this way, he helped to recognize and influence various names throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Sparrow title frequently mentioned in the media Aksu, from Thessaloniki exchange market with the daughter of a family with a mother who had come to Turkey, Saraykoy Rizeli as the girl's father, was born in Denizli. When she was three years old, her family moved to Izmir, where she was educated. After completing Izmir Girls' High School, she attended Ege University Faculty of Agriculture, but left the school in the second grade. In 1974, he moved to Istanbul to record and a year later released his first 45 "Haydi Şansım" with the name Sezen Seley. In 1977, he released his first studio album Allahaısmartık. Then there are dozens of books, including Sparrow (1978), Firuze (1982), You Don't Cry (1984), Go (1986), Sezen Aksu Says (1989), Smile (1991), The Song of the Crazy Girl (1993), Dream Gardens (1996). album released. These are the smiles, all the time, Turkey was one of the best-selling album. Aksu has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide to date.

1954-1974: early years and career beginnings

Sezen Aksu was born in Sarayköy district of Denizli province. Her mother, Şehriban, who is a science teacher, is the daughter of a family that came from Thessaloniki through exchange. His father, Sami Yıldırım, of Laz origin, who is from Rize, is a mathematics teacher. Aksu moved to Izmir with his family after living in Denizli until the age of three. Growing up with his brother named Nihat, Aksu became interested in many art branches in his youth. He took painting lessons from Cengiz Bozkurt for a while. He put his theater and dance lessons into this period. Drawing attention with his rebellious personality during this period, Aksu began dreaming of becoming a belly dancer.

The artist later said, "God took pity on my father, so I became a singer" for this process. Aksu was sixth in the 'Golden Voice' contest opened by the Weekend magazine in 1970 and led by Ajda Pekkan, while another pop artist, Nilüfer, was the winner. Thus, Nilüfer released her first album before Sezen Aksu. Entering Ege University Faculty of Agriculture in 1973, Aksu sent three of his songs to a record company in 1974. The artist, who married Ali Engin Aksu in November of the same year, also left her school.

He settled in Istanbul for record production in the last months of 1974.

1975-1982: Forty-fives period

His music career began in 1970, when he took the sixth place in the Golden Voice contest opened by the Weekend magazine. In 1975, under the name of Sezen Seley, he released his first 45, Haydi Şansım. The second 45, which he released under the name of Sezen Aksu, was followed by this very few selling 45s. In 45, he released his third 1976th, No-No / Vurdumduymaz, which will make him number one on the list of forty-five records for a long time.

The artist then started his first stage work in 1976. Aksu, who started to perform at Bebek Belediye Gazinosu, released the albums Allahaısmar We / How Many Years Passed Between, Kaybolan Yıllar / Neye Yarar 1977 and the first 45, "Allahaısmartık" in 33.

“We had sex for years and why were we not happy.
We added lies to our love for years, not love.

I have a last word for you, and that is 'We wish you good luck' »

(Thank God, a verse on the cover.)

Aksu, who wrote for two compositions of Hurşid Yenigün in 1978, made the Shadowing / Love forty-five. In the same year, Serçe, which is the oldest Sezen Aksu album in the market, was released as a double LP. In 1979, like the first day / Liar and God / You are not in my heart, forty-fives were released. The same year, the artist also appeared in the movie industry. The artist's first film, in which he shared the leading role with Bulut Aras; He became the Little Sparrow, an Atıf Yılmaz film adapted from the movie “A Star is Born” (Tr: Frank Pierson; O: Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson). After this date, the artist began to be known as Little Serçe. The film, which tells about the death of another celebrity while a celebrity was born, did not get much appreciation at that time. Aksu watched this movie again in Okan Bayülgen's Zaga program in 1999 and laughed at this role.

In 1979, he played in the movie "Minik Serçe" directed by Atıf Yılmaz. “Little Sparrow” is the first movie that Aksu starred in.

The artist, who released his album with Love in 1980, worked for the musical called Sezen Aksu Aile Gazinosu in 1981. The artist married Sinan Özer in Beşiktaş Marriage Office on 10 July 1981. However, at that time, it was said that Aksu was 4,5 months pregnant from Özer. On November 11, 1981, Aksu gave birth to his son Mithat Can Özer. The artist started working again for Sezen Aksu Family Casino in December of the same year.

In 1982, Sezen Aksu Family Casino was released at Şan Müzikholü. Sharing the same play with Adile Naşit, Şener Şen, Ayşen Gruda and Altan Erbulak, Aksu played seven different characters on the stage. The artist, who later released the Firuze album, was selected as the "Female Singer of the Year" by the popular magazine of the time, Hey. In 1983, Aksu participated in Hey's Traditional Oscar Concert as the Female Singer of the Year.

1983-1989

In 1983, Sezen Aksu decided to participate in Eurovision. The song "Heyamola", whose lyrics and music belongs to Ali Kocatepe, was performed with Ali Kocatepe and Coşkun Demir. This final part of the rest of Turkey was unable to represent Turkey at the Eurovision finals. In 1983, the 45th piece of "Heyamola" was chosen the record of the year by Hey Magazine. In the same year, Aksu divorced Sinan Özer.

In 1984, the artist was again nominated for Eurovision. Halay, in 1945 and stayed with the piece Hello Turkey Umit final. First, the "Hello Hope" good deal Aksu in Turkey finale "Halay" and decided to voice 1945. a foreign friend comes two weeks before the finals in Turkey Aksu, Turkey proposed the only voice in 1945. 1945 who is related to the world of words, Aksu abroad this segment will represent Turkey gave up thinking better of Halay. The final song in the voice of Turkey Sezen Aksu, could not be selected at this time, contrary to expectations.

The artist released the album You Don't Cry on September 6, 1984. Aksu, whose songs were not broadcast on television before because he could not pass the inspection of TRT, had this opportunity since the beginning of 1985. As soon as the songs started to be released on TRT, the album attracted great attention and was at the top of the sales lists for weeks. Aksu made a statement to “Hey Magazine” in the 56th week of the album, “I was expecting but not that much… I didn't think I would stay on the charts for more than a year. I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all music lovers. " made a statement in the form.

In 1985 Aksu, Turkey joined once again in the Eurovision final. The song this time was called A Little Love Story. Sezen Aksu and Özdemir Erdoğan sang this song, whose lyrics belong to Aksu, but the result did not change. somehow the right to represent Turkey at Eurovision win Aksu, after 1985 did not participate in a contest.

In 1985, the artist was prepared for the musical "A Thousand Years Ago, A Thousand Years Later". The musical has been released from the first week of 1986. Vocal Music Hall in this musical blockbuster, was taking the world and Turkey Tie period. Acclaimed on the stage, Aksu shared the stage with names such as Şener Şen, İlyas Salman and Ayşen Gruda.

The artist, who received great acclaim with “Git” in 1986, was named “the greatest female singer of 1986” in the readers' poll in the January 1985 issue of “Onyedi” magazine. Aksu released "Sezen Aksu'1988" in 88. Likewise, Aksu, who appeared in 1989 with the album "Sezen Aksu Söyliyor", received great acclaim with this album.

In 1989, Sezen Aksu appeared on the big screen. Sezen Aksu shared the leading role with Ferhan Şensoy in “Big Loneliness” directed by Yavuz Özkan. The film won the Best Picture award at the 1990 Golden Orange Film Festival. The soundtrack of the movie belonged to Aksu's producer Onno Tunç. “Love Rivers”, one of the soundtracks of the movie, would be included in Levent Yüksel's debut album under the name “Kite Bayramları” four years later.

1990-1999

In the 1990s, Sezen Aksu appeared before the audience as a producer. Thus, he had a very important place in the music of the 1990s, and he brought many names such as Sertab Erener, Harun Kolçak, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Levent Yüksel, Işın Karaca, Hande Yener, Yıldız Tilbe to the music market and supported many important artists.

In the 1990s, he started to make the Sezen Aksu Show program on Kanal 6.

In 1990, Aşkın Nur Yengi, the vocalist of Sezen Aksu at the time, first appeared before the music lovers with her album "Valentine". The album, which is a Sezen Aksu production, sold around a million.

In 1991, he also undertook the production of Aşkın Nur Yengi's second album "Account Ver". The album achieved a high sales like Yengi's first album. In the same year, Gülümse, whose music director was Onno Tunç, was released. The album had a sales figure of over 2 million. One of the reasons why the album sold so much was Aksu's appeal segment. Aksu was addressing all segments of the public with this album. In 1992, the single of the album's hit song "Let's Bakalım" was released in Europe.

He continued to make albums for Aksu vocalists in 1992. Working with Sertab Erener, Aksu released Erener's first album Sakin Ol. The album achieved more than expected sales figures. A few months after this album, Aksu, who worked with Levent Yüksel in 1993, launched Yüksel's first album “Med-Cezir” for sale. This album also reached a high sales figure, making Levent Yüksel famous in the 90s.

In the same year, the artist released his own album "Deli Kızın Türküsü". Working with Uzay Heparı on the album, Aksu tried different styles. Famous Aksu songs such as "Küçüğüm" and "Innocent" came out from this different album. While the effect of the album continued, Heparı, with whom he worked on the album on May 20, 1994, crashed into the stationary car of the actor Demet Akbağ with his motorcycle and entered the vegetative life. Heparı, who was married for six months at the time and learned that he would be a father the day before the accident, died on May 31st. After this event, Aksu composed a song called “Yas” to commemorate Uzay Heparı. However, instead of reading this song, he put it on Levent Yüksel's next album. After all these turmoil, Aksu undertook the production of Sertab Erener's second album, Lâ'l. While this album also achieved a high sales, Sezen Aksu gained an important place in the music of the 90s.

A year later, in 1995, Aksu released the album Işık Doğudan Yükselir. The album included Anatolian music rather than pop music. There were works of Yunus Emre, Mevlana and Aşık Standing. Fahir Atakoğlu also had two works. The first one was the song Alâturka, which was released later, and the other was Yaktılar Halim. Arto Tunç, who made the music of Gülümse, also had two compositions in this album. Another song in the album included the following lines by Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu:

“This is Anatolia, this is Anatolia. This unprecedented generous mother. This is the breast all over, this is the lips, this is the rose all over. Seven roses that give without taking this bullshit and give it all the time. "

In 1996, she accompanied the songs "Men de Yanar" and "Let Me Love You Are Comfortable", which were included in Nazan Öncel's Sokak Kızı album, as a vocalist. The same year, he appeared in Zerrin Özer's famous "Pasha Gönlüm" video.

"Düğün ve Cenaze", which went on sale in December 1997, was another criticized Aksu album. The album could not achieve a high sales figure as a result of intense criticism. He wrote the lyrics of the album, which consists of nine Goran Bregovic and one Kurtis Jasavev compositions, together with Aksu, Pakize Barışta and Meral Okay. In 1998, the single of the album's most prominent song "Men" was released. In April 1998, Levent Yüksel's third album "Adı Menekşe" was released.

In December 1998, Aksu released his album titled Adı Bende Saklı. Reminiscent of the melancholic, partly arabesque Sezen Aksu albums of the '80s, “His Name Is Hidden In Me” was liked by different circles. The songs "Ben Sevdalı Sen Belalı", "Tutuklu" and "My Name Is Hidden", whose lyrics and music belong to Selami Şahin, became the best-known songs of that period. In 1999, the Yellow Chambers followed suit. The clip of the piece was shot in Arnavutköy to oppose the 3rd bridge intended to be built in Istanbul.

2000-2009

On June 2, 2000, Aksu released his new album Deliveren. This album included the most well-known songs of the period such as Oh Oh, Yellow Rooms, Kahpe Kader and Keskin Bıçak. The album sold close to a million. In one of his statements, Aksu stated that the name Deliveren means “the one who leads the angel with the devil inside”.

Six concerts given that summer by Aksu, who struggled with health problems in 2001, attracted great attention. Işın Karaca, who has been Aksu's vocalist for six years, participated in the auditions of the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, but could not be selected. At the end of this year, Karaca's first album "Anadilim Aşk" was released. The album bore the signature of Sezen Aksu throughout.

On May 20, 2002, Sezen Aksu put his album "Şark Söylemek Lazım" for sale. This album was the artist's first album released by DMC. 12 June 2002 the album followed by a concert tour of the artist, Turkey, bringing together all the languages ​​and civilizations of Turkey "Songs" concert series is offered. In the concerts, the artist was accompanied by the Greek, Orthodox, Armenian and Jewish choirs, as well as the Diyarbakır Municipality Children's Choir. Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Greek songs and folk songs were sung on the stage. At the end of the concert, the artist sang “I Need to Sing a Song” and the song “Yeniliğa Doğru” consisting of Mevlana's lyrics.

This concert series was not the only news in many countries in Turkey. A photo taken by the AP agency has been published in many countries. Besiktas at the beginning of 2003. Before that bkm Unplugged concert on the concert Sezen intense interest in Maltepe Highland Art Center then continued in different cities of Turkey. Before the end of 2003, the artist's new album “Before Summer Ends” was released. The album, which includes four new songs, one of which is instrumental, also had songs by Sezen Aksu previously performed by other commentators. A clip for one of the new songs, "I am Aware" was shot in the district of Gevaş in Van.

Sezen Aksu's new album Bahane, which was released in 2005, attracted more attention than expected. The album “Bahane”, which was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Aksu's career, sold 320 thousand in the first two weeks of its release. among the works in the album "Shabby My Now," "I used to be very old" and "Yanmışım Sönmüşüm Ben" song clips draw "Excuses", end of the year Turkey became the biggest selling album in 2005. Aksu collected the lyrics he wrote between 1975-2006 in the book Missing Poetry, published in 2006. His poetry book attracted great attention and sold 4 copies in the first 17.000 days.

In June 2008, he released his album Deniz Yildizi. In the album, there were piano samples played by Onno Tunç, with whom Aksu worked for many years. Unlike the previous Aksu albums, the album was an album with jazz sounds and ballads. Aksu, the songs on the same album Tears of God that he wrote for the creation of a peaceful environment in Turkey, announced that it occurs should be completed inside of possible cross-border operation.

In 2009, he released his album, which consists of 2 CDs, named… in Yurorum Dreams Gardens. The lyrics and music of the album belong to Sezen Aksu; The songs that were given to other artists by Aksu before were reinterpreted by the artist.

2010-present

Listed in the "2010 Great Voices" list determined by the American NPR radio in 50 [17], Sezen Aksu's concert with Fahir Atakoğlu in Stockholm, Sweden's capital city, was watched by many Turkish and Swedish music lovers in April 2010. Aksu held a day at Strathmore Concert Hall, Maryland, between April 10-4, jointly organized by "TurkofAmerica" ​​and "GNL Entertainment" and sponsored by the Washington-based Turkish Cultural Foundation, after a 7-year break. He gave three concerts in New York, Carnegie Hall and Prudential Hall in Newark, New Jersey. Atakoğlu accompanied the artist in USA concerts. When Aksu exceeded the time allocated to him in his New Jersey concert, he said to the audience, We crossed these limits, the Americans also broke a record of patience, it will be like this in New Jersey tonight, I will not leave this stage without making you happy. Lastly, Ahmet Kaya… sang the song “Ağtıkça” in an album of eksiğiz.

In 2011, Aksu re-entered the studio and released the album Öptüm. The album, which includes songs such as "Forgotten Mu Beni", "Vay", "Aşka Şükrederim", "Ah Felek Yordun Beni", which consists of his own lyrics and compositions, is also included in the album. takes. Cemal Süreyya's poem "Sayım" was also included in the album with Aksu's composition. Clips were shot for the songs "Forget Me Me" and "Vay" from the album.

Aksu released the Singles Lost City in 2013, Yeniler and Yeni Kalanlar in 2014, and most recently supported sustainable tea agriculture with the song Don't Be Missing in 2015.

Sezen Aksu, who took the stage at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul in January 2016, announced that he said goodbye to the stages. Aksu said, “Every end is a new beginning. I will continue to produce, but after doing a few concerts I promised before, I bid farewell to the stage. My last concert in Istanbul. I am full of gratitude for being here with me today in memory of 40 years. " said. He announced that he would make music again in September the same year.

In January 2017, he released his twenty-third studio album Biraz Pop Biraz Sezen via DMC. "Begonvil" and "Aykırı Çiçek", voiced by the name of My Place Also Sev, in the album Akşam Sefası, which was released in 2018 by Sibel Can in the album Demo, which was released in 2007 and whose lyrics-music belongs to Sezen Aksu, was released in the same year by Arif "Ah Beni Beni", voiced by Sağ, "Yol Bitti Çoktan", which was voiced by Ferhat Göçer in the album called Çok Sevdim İkimize in 2008, "Wait" in Mustafa Ceceli's album of the same name, which was released in 2009, by Rengin in the album of the same name. "Aldatıldık", the song named "Ahbap Çavuşlar", which was performed by Cihan Okan in 1996, the song named Delidir in Ebru Yaşar's song called Delidir, which was released in 2010, "Her Şey Fani" performed by Tarkan in 2013 albums in 2017 and the song by Rümeysa. He sang the songs “Anlasana” and “Yansın İstanbul” with his own interpretation in this album.

Sezen Aksu has more than 400 poems and compositions to date. 197 of these poems were published in the book Missing Poems. The second of this book was released by Metis Publishing in November 2016 with the name "Missing Poetry Second Book".

albums 

Films

• Little Sparrow (1979)
• Great Solitude (1990)
• Crossing The Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005)
• Ottoman Republic (2008)

Books

• Missing Poem (First Edition: September 9, 2006 - Second Edition: May 11, 2007)
• Missing Poetry Second Book (November 2016)