Gökhan Özoğuz

Gökhan Özoğuz — Biography

Born on 11 October 1976 in Istanbul, Gökhan Özoğuz is the son of a pharmacist and lives in the city's Caddebostan neighborhood. After completing an open-education program at Anadolu University, he co-founded Athena, one of Turkish rock's leading bands, with his twin brother Hakan Özoğuz, serving as its lead vocalist and guitarist.

Since their 1993 debut album, Athena has produced hits such as 'Holigan', 'Öpücük', 'Yalan' and 'Arsız Gönül', and Özoğuz, a Fenerbahçe fan, also composed '12 Dev Adam' for the Turkish national basketball team and an anthem for Fenerbahçe's 100th anniversary. The band represented Turkey at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with 'For Real', scoring 195 points, then the country's highest Eurovision total. Özoğuz served as a judge on 'O Ses Türkiye' from 2013 to 2017, and his 2019 documentary '25 Litre', made with National Geographic, drew wide attention.

He appeared in the films 'O Şimdi Asker', 'O Şimdi Mahkum' and 'Tramvay', released 'Kendi Yolumda' in 2022 as its lead actor and producer, and made a guest appearance as Dara in 'Kırmızı Oda' in 2021. He married Melis Ülken in December 2012 and had three children with her before the couple divorced in 2025. In 2026 he testified in a prosecutor's investigation into the Ahbap association, saying he had made no money transfers or had any business relationship with it, and that he felt let down after trusting the organization.