Özlem Tekin

Özlem Tekin — Biography

Özlem Tekin was born on 18 November 1971 in California, where her father, linguist Talat Tekin, taught at Berkeley; the family moved back to Turkey when she was four, and she went on to study clarinet at Hacettepe University's Ankara State Conservatory. She began performing as vocalist for the underground band The Bad, then joined the all-female band Volvox after meeting Şebnem Ferah in 1993. Her 1995 debut solo album, "Kime Ne," was made with Hakan Peker, and she appeared alongside Cem Yılmaz in the video for its single "Yar Bana Varmadı." In 2000 she hosted her own programme, "Yaz Rüzgarı," on Kanal D, acted in the series "Sil Baştan" in 2003, and co-starred with Cem Yılmaz in the film Hokkabaz in 2006. She married musician Cem Öcal in 2008. Her sound, which drew increasingly on Turkish folk, pop, punk and house influences, made her the first artist to release a fully electronic album in Turkey, and she also took roles in the series Karaoğlan and the film Kaledeki Yalnızlık. After retreating to farm life in Milas in 2016 and stepping away from touring, she drew renewed attention in 2026 when producers reportedly offered her a multimillion-lira deal to return to the stage.