Sezen Aksu - Musician

Sezen Aksu was born and educated in Izmir on the romantic and nostalgic Aegean coast of Anatolia. During her school years, she took lessons in painting, music and theatre. Whilst studying at the Aegean University she released her first composition, including lyrics. This first song, 'Kaybolan Yıllar' (Lost Years), became a hit that touched thousands of people's hearts and marked the beginning of her professional career. Sezen Aksu is the first female Turkish artist to compose and perform her own music.

Her background and upbringing surrounded by prominent specialists and teachers in Turkish Music, became vital in her work. She has always composed songs that appeal to everyone and that are influenced and inspired by rich and colorful Anatolian cultures of her childhood. Literature, cinema, poetry and theatre remained close to her heart.

Sezen's Odyssey
Sezen Aksu has been walking among us freely for almost 30 years now. She was only eighteen and she had big ears, big lips and big, deep looking eyes when we first got to know her. Even in her early lyrics, she promised to be an explorer of vast horizons and abysses of emotions she were to lean over. On the burning depth of her voice, she made us feel since the beginning, that a long journey awaited us. Beyond her lyrics, it was her voice that had the intensity. She was looking into our eyes with a genuine self-confidence that we were not familiar in the pop scene. She was the little warrior who did not want to be disturbed as she sang her songs. This young girl had come with a halo over her head. She always knew how to refuse what she did not want. Perhaps, we first fell in love with her uncompromising sincerity. She was not like any other person we knew.

In her songs love is a fiery riot; affection is a boundless generosity. Sezen keeps writing the poetry of entrancement. The unique color of her voice tempts the listener to great loves, great sacrifices and great uprisings. The sadness of a vulnerable little girl and the defiance of a woman resisting confinement, blend in her voice. Sometimes she is the romantic poet of the streets, sometimes the naughty girl of the neighborhood. It is as if she reminds us that freedom is possible. She speaks from a world where baring one's self until he/she becomes an open sore, is a virtue.

When we listen to her, we realize she has felt the same; she has been through the same path of emotions with each one of us. The vigor of her emotions that at times embarrasses us, her stubborn pursuit of a 'better and better' musical sentence and beyond all else, her loyalty to her self being in all circumstances along the way, make her unique.

Sezen Aksu,
o Is the most famous Turkish singer/song writer
o Composes, writes and performs her own songs for 30 years
o Created more than 400 songs includıng the hıt 'kıss kıss'
o Released 10 singles and 27 albums
o Her albums sold more than 20 million copies in total
o Performed live on stage more than 1500 times
o Performed to more than 4 million people live in total
o Songs were performed by 100 different artists
o Performed in 20 different countries
o Is the owner of 200 awards

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