Sezen Aksu

Sezen Aksu — Biography

Sezen Aksu, born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım on 13 July 1954 in Sarayköy, Denizli, is a Turkish singer, lyricist, composer and record producer regarded as one of the defining voices of Turkish pop. Her career, which took off in the mid-1970s, has brought her more than 40 million album sales across the globe, while the press has long referred to her as "Minik Serçe" (Little Sparrow) and the "Queen of Turkish Pop".

Her mother came from a family that had arrived from Thessaloniki through the population exchange, and her father hailed from the Pazar district of Rize. The family settled in İzmir when she was three, and that is where she grew up and studied. After completing İzmir Girls' High School she entered the agriculture faculty of Ege University, only to quit in her second year in favour of music. She relocated to İstanbul in 1974 hoping to cut a record, and one year later put out her debut single, Haydi Şansım, using the stage name Sezen Seley.

Her first studio album, Allahaısmarladık, came out in 1977. The years that followed produced Serçe (1978), Sevgilerimle (1980), Ağlamak Güzeldir (1981), Firuze (1982), Sen Ağlama (1984), Git (1986) and Sezen Aksu Söylüyor (1989). The 1991 release Gülümse ranks among the highest-selling albums in the history of Turkish music. Deli Kızın Türküsü (1993), Işık Doğudan Yükselir (1995) and Düş Bahçeleri (1996) continued that run, while Düğün ve Cenaze (1997), with music written by Goran Bregović, carried her voice to listeners far beyond Turkey.

Throughout the 2000s she stayed remarkably productive, releasing Deliveren (2000), Şarkı Söylemek Lazım (2002), Yaz Bitmeden (2003), Bahane (2005), Deniz Yıldızı (2008) and Öptüm (2011), and later Biraz Pop Biraz Sezen (2017), DEMO (2018) and Demo 2 (2020). Following a five-year pause, she unveiled the twelve-track album Paşa Gönül Şarkıları on digital platforms on 27 June 2025.

Beyond performing her own material, Aksu became celebrated for handing her songs to other singers. She championed many of the backing vocalists who passed through her orbit, producing their records and thereby playing a part in the rise of Sertab Erener, Şebnem Ferah, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Levent Yüksel, Yıldız Tilbe, Yonca Evcimik, Hande Yener and Harun Kolçak during the 1990s. The two songs she gave Tarkan, Şımarık and Şıkıdım, turned into hits that crossed continents, and her compositions were re-recorded in various Balkan languages. In 2010 the American broadcaster NPR counted her among the world's "50 Great Voices".

Her connection to film and television never faded either. She made her acting debut in Atıf Yılmaz's 1978 feature Minik Serçe, later appearing in works such as Büyük Yalnızlık (1989) and Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti (2008), and guesting in series including İkinci Bahar and Avrupa Yakası. She also featured in Fatih Akın's documentary about the Turkish music scene, İstanbul Hatırası: Köprüyü Geçmek (2005). Her songs additionally found their way onto the soundtracks of numerous productions, among them Propaganda (1999) and Delibal (2015).