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The Most Famous

SINGERS from Turkey

This page contains a list of the greatest Turkish Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 3,528 Singers, 35 of which were born in Turkey. This makes Turkey the birth place of the 20th most number of Singers behind Poland and Finland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Singers of all time. This list of famous Turkish Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Singers.

1. İbrahim Tatlıses (1952 - )

With an HPI of 61.60, İbrahim Tatlıses is the most famous Turkish Singer. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

İbrahim Tatlıses (born İbrahim Tatlı in 1952) is a Turkish folk singer and former actor of Arab-Kurdish descent. Since the 1970s he has been one of the best-known and most successful singers of the pop Arabesk style. Tatlıses has recorded 42 albums, including notable albums such as Ayağında Kundura and Selam Olsun and was the host of the highly popular television programme İbo Show. He was also a leading actor that appeared in several dozen films, and also has had many business ventures.

2. Sezen Aksu (1954 - )

With an HPI of 59.71, Sezen Aksu is the 2nd most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Sezen Aksu (Turkish pronunciation: [seˈzen ˈaksu]; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and producer. She is one of the most successful Turkish singers, having sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "Minik Serçe" ("Little Sparrow"). 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 Yonca Evcimik, Sertab Erener, Şebnem Ferah, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Hande Yener, Yıldız Tilbe, Işın Karaca, Seden Gürel, Harun Kolçak and Levent Yüksel. Sezen Aksu is widely known as a successful songwriter. Her work with Tarkan resulted in continental hits like "Şımarık" and "Şıkıdım" and her collaboration with Goran Bregović widened her international audience. In 2010, NPR named her as one of the "50 Great Voices" of the world.

3. Ajda Pekkan (1946 - )

With an HPI of 58.24, Ajda Pekkan is the 3rd most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (Turkish pronunciation: [aʒˈda pekˈkan]; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. By keeping her works updated and getting influence from Western elements, she managed to become one of Turkey's modern and enduring icons in different periods. Her musical style has kept her popular for more than 50 years and has inspired many of her successors. Pekkan is highly respected in the music industry and her vocal techniques together with many of her albums were praised by music critics. Born in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Pekkan's musical career began in the early 1960s when she appeared in a nightclub as a member of the music group Los Çatikos. However, in 1963, when she won the Ses magazine's cinema artist competition, she became known as an actress, and for a number of years she pursued an acting career. In the same year, she played the leading role in her first film Adanalı Tayfur and became one of the young faces of Turkish cinema at the time. Over the next six years, she starred in nearly 50 black and white films, including Şıpsevdi (1963), Hızır Dede (1964) and Şaka ile Karışık (1965). She eventually quit acting and focused entirely on her singing career. Pekkan spent the first twenty years of her singing career with dozens of songs released as cover versions. These songs, which were generally written by Fikret Şeneş and included "Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti", "Palavra Palavra", "Sana Neler Edeceğim", "Hoş Gör Sen", "Sana Ne Kime Ne", "Bambaşka Biri", "Uykusuz Her Gece" and "O Benim Dünyam", later took their place among the best known songs of both Pekkan's career and the Turkish pop music genre. From the 1990s onwards, she worked with various songwriters and arrangers, including Şehrazat and Sezen Aksu. During this period, many of her songs such as "Yaz Yaz Yaz", "Sarıl Bana", "Eğlen Güzelim", "Vitrin", "Aynen Öyle" and "Yakar Geçerim" ranked among the best songs on Turkey's music charts. Her fame grew steadily throughout the 1970s outside her home country, and particularly in Europe, and it was reinforced by concerts in different countries. She also recorded a French album in 1978. Due to her increasing popularity, Pekkan was viewed as a potential candidate to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 and she reluctantly accepted to participate in the contest. Disappointed that her song "Pet'r Oil" ranked fifteenth in the contest, she decided to take a break from her career for a few years. By selling over 15 million records, Ajda Pekkan is one of the best-selling artists of all time in Turkey. She also holds the title of "State Artist" in Turkey and has been awarded the honorary distinction of Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Three of her albums were included in the list of the Best 100 Albums of Turkey by Hürriyet newspaper. In 2016, Pekkan's name appeared in The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100, a list of the 100 most powerful women in entertainment. Although she does not self-identify as a feminist, many of her songs which tell the stories of powerful women were used as feminist anthems.

4. Bülent Ersoy (1952 - )

With an HPI of 57.95, Bülent Ersoy is the 4th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Bülent Ersoy (Turkish pronunciation: [byˈlænt ˈæɾsoj]; born 9 June 1952) is a Turkish singer and actress. She is known as one of the most popular singers of Turkish music, nicknamed Diva by her fans. Ersoy has many famous hits such as "Ümit Hırsızı" (Hope Thief), "Geceler" (Nights), "Beddua" (Curse), "Maazallah" (God Forbid), "Biz Ayrılamayız" (We Cannot Break Up), and "Sefam olsun" (I Enjoy Myself). Ersoy has published more than thirty albums so far and has made a name for herself in Turkish music history.

5. Ahmet Kaya (1957 - 2000)

With an HPI of 55.64, Ahmet Kaya is the 5th most famous Turkish Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Ahmet Kaya (28 October 1957 – 16 November 2000) was a Turkish–Kurdish folk singer. Kaya was persecuted by Turkish nationalist celebrities and authorities. Kaya left Turkey in an act of self-exile, and moved to France, where he would shortly after die of a heart attack. He was granted the Musician of the Year Award in February 1999 during a controversial award ceremony involving Turkey's most popular singers, at which he declared that he wanted to sing a song in Kurdish.

6. Darío Moreno (1921 - 1968)

With an HPI of 54.20, Darío Moreno is the 6th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

David Arugete (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centred in France which also included films, during the 1950s and the 1960s. He became famous with his 1961 song Brigitte Bardot.

7. Leyla Gencer (1928 - 2008)

With an HPI of 53.90, Leyla Gencer is the 7th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Ayşe Leyla Gencer (Turkish pronunciation: [lejˈla ɟenˈdʒeɾ], née Çeyrekgil; 10 October 1928 – 10 May 2008) was a Turkish operatic soprano. Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles. She made very few commercial recordings; however, numerous bootleg recordings of her performances exist. She was particularly associated with the heroines of Donizetti.

8. Roza Eskenazi (1895 - 1980)

With an HPI of 52.86, Roza Eskenazi is the 8th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Roza Eskenazi (mid-1890s – 2 December 1980, Greek: Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) was a Jewish-Greek dancer and singer of rebetiko, Greek folk music, Kanto and Turkish folk music born in Istanbul, whose recording and stage career extended from the late 1920s into the 1970s.

9. Sertab Erener (1964 - )

With an HPI of 52.48, Sertab Erener is the 9th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990s. Because of her education in classical music, she initially had difficulties in performing pop music. Although she did experimental works from time to time, she eventually preferred to focus on making pop music instead of avant-garde works, in order to make her music heard by a larger audience. In some of her works, she combined Western music and Eastern music, and benefited from operas as well as classical Turkish music with ethnic elements. With her entrance to Europe's market in the early 2000s, many of her works were also sold in Turkey as well as European countries. With Sezen Aksu's help, she made her debut in 1992 with the album Sakin Ol!, and made herself known as a Turkish pop music artist in the 1990s by releasing the albums Lâ'l (1994), Sertab Gibi (1997) and Sertab Erener (1999). From these albums, the songs "Sakin Ol!", "Aldırma Deli Gönlüm", "Ateşle Barut", "Sevdam Ağlıyor", "Aslolan Aşktır", "Yanarım", "Zor Kadın" and "Vur Yüreğim" became number-one hits in Turkey. In the early 2000s, she continued her work by releasing the songs "Kumsalda" and "Kendime Yeni Bir Ben Lazım". She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Everyway That I Can", marking Turkey's first victory in the competition. In 2004, she released the album No Boundaries, followed by Aşk Ölmez in 2005. After five years, she released another Turkish studio album Rengârenk in 2010, and the hit songs "Bu Böyle", "Açık Adres" and "Koparılan Çiçekler" made the album a successful work, and marked her return to the music market. After Rengârenk, she released the album Ey Şuh-i Sertab (2012), which was dedicated to her father. At the same year, she received the Best Female TSM Soloist award at the Golden Butterfly Awards. In 2013, her new album Sade was released. The songs "İyileşiyorum", "Öyle de Güzel" and "Söz" all became hits in Turkey. In 2016, with the release of Kırık Kalpler Albümü, Erener stated that she was returning to her 90s style. The album received favorable reviews, and "Kime Diyorum" and "Olsun" both became hit songs in Turkey. Erener has been praised for her music style and is one of the most successful artists who were discovered by Sezen Aksu. Due to her championship in Eurovision, she received the State Medal of Distinguished Service. In 2014, Hürriyet named her in its list of "91 Symbols of the 91st Anniversary of the Republic". Aside from her career as a singer, she also taught music at Müjdat Gezen Art Center for one year. Erener has been married three times, the second of which was to Levent Yüksel during 1990–96. She married Emre Kula in 2015. Throughout her career she has won seven Kral TV Video Music Awards as well as two Golden Butterfly Awards, and has received various other nominations.

10. Hande Yener (1973 - )

With an HPI of 50.89, Hande Yener is the 10th most famous Turkish Singer. Her biography has been translated into 79 different languages.

Makbule Hande Özyener (born 12 January 1973), better known by her stage name Hande Yener, is a Turkish singer. She made her debut in the early 2000s, and since then has become a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with numerous songs that topped the music charts. Alongside her music career, she is also known for her choice of clothes and has renewed her image multiple times over the years. She has occasionally made changes in her music style as well; for a while, she started making electronic music, but this period was short-lived and she again returned to performing pop music. During her career, both her professional and personal life have been among the favorite subjects of columnists, and her rivalry and on and off feud with Demet Akalın were covered in the tabloids from time to time. Yener was born in Kadıköy, Istanbul. After finishing her middle school she decided to go to a conservatory, but after facing objections from her family, she enrolled in Erenköy Girls High School. She left the school while in the second grade and got married. To achieve her dream of becoming a singer, she tried to get in contact with Sezen Aksu, and while she was working as a shop assistant she met Hülya Avşar who later introduced her to Aksu. She worked as Aksu's backing vocalist for a while, before working with Altan Çetin who helped her with preparing her first studio album, Senden İbaret, which was released in 2000. She later released the MÜ-YAP certificated album Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma... (2002), followed by Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor (2004) and Apayrı (2006). These albums made her one of the successful artists inside Turkey in the 2000s. With the album Nasıl Delirdim? (2007), she shifted her style to electronic music and distanced herself from pop music for a while. During this period, which formed the first decade of her career, many of her songs became hits, including "Yalanın Batsın", "Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma...", "Acele Etme", "Kırmızı", "Kelepçe", "Aşkın Ateşi", "Kibir" and "Romeo". Although Yener's electronic songs received critical praise, she suffered commercial loss compared to her previous works, which resulted in several problems with her producing partners, causing a change in the production company and label twice. Hence, Yener's era of electronic music ended in a few years and with the pop album Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? (2010) she returned to pop music charts. The pop albums released in this phase of her career were often compared to her initial albums, and although they received mixed reviews in general, many of their songs, especially those from Mükemmel (2014) and Hepsi Hit Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2016–17) topped the music charts in Turkey. Among these songs were "Bodrum", "Ya Ya Ya Ya", "Naber", "Sebastian", "Mor", "Bakıcaz Artık" and "Beni Sev". Throughout her career, Yener has been influenced by a number of artists, including Madonna to whom her image, clips and performances were often compared. In the 2000s, she was one of the few artists who had an album that sold over 1 million copies in Turkey. In 2013, she was the Turkish singer whose music videos were viewed the most on YouTube. By the end of the 2000s, she was known as a gay icon inside Turkey, and made some statements demanding the advancement of LGBT rights in Turkey, but she became the target of criticism after being silent about LGBT issues in the following years. In the second half of the 2010s, she expanded the scope of her work and worked periodically as the operator of various night clubs. Yener has received five Golden Butterfly Awards, as well as four Kral Turkey Music Awards and has received various other awards and nominations.

People

Pantheon has 35 people classified as singers born between 1895 and 2000. Of these 35, 28 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living singers include İbrahim Tatlıses, Sezen Aksu, and Ajda Pekkan. The most famous deceased singers include Ahmet Kaya, Darío Moreno, and Leyla Gencer. As of April 2022, 4 new singers have been added to Pantheon including Mustafa Ceceli, İrem Derici, and Hayko Cepkin.