Ferman Akgül

Ferman Akgül — Biography

Born İbrahim Ferman Akgül on 25 December 1979 in Ankara to a family originally from Şarkışla, Sivas, he first encountered music at nine on a piano his family bought. While studying architecture at Gazi University from 1998 he played in several underground bands, and joining a still-unnamed group in late 2001 that soon became maNga, he has been its lead singer since 2002.

The band moved to Istanbul and released its 2004 debut album, one of the best-selling in Turkish rock history and a Golden Record winner; 'Bir Kadın Çizeceksin' was used on the FIFA 06 soundtrack in 2006. Following 2009's Şehr-i Hüzün, recorded with traditional instruments, maNga won Best European Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards and finished runner-up at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with 'We Could Be the Same'; e-akustik (2012) and Işıkları Söndürseler Bile (2014) followed.

Akgül holds a master's in cinematography from Marmara University, and alongside directing music videos and hosting the TRT Müzik program 'Kulaktan Kulağa', he has released a solo album, Yürüyorum İçimde, and a book, Osmanlı Cadısı Tırnova. He divorced Esra Bayram Yaman in 2012, married Bettina Kuperman, the mother of his son Aaron, in 2021, and has since settled with his family in Copenhagen; in 2024 he lost a compensation lawsuit he had filed against the band REDD.