Sezen Aksu

However, even though she competed in the national finals for the competition three times, with Küçük Bir Aşk Masalı (A Little Love Tale) as a duet with Özdemir Erdoğan, "Heyamola" which was performed as a trio with Coşkun Demir and Ali Kocatepe, and 1945 which was a solo performance, she did not get the chance to represent Turkey abroad.

It was to be left to her pupil, Sertab Erener, to win the Eurovision and realise Aksu's dream to push her musical vision further into Europe.

In the 80's, Aksu had a relationship with Turkish-Armenian producer Onno Tunç that was both romantic and professional.

As a couple they put their signatures to works that broke new ground in Turkish pop music, such as Sen Ağlama, Git, Sezen Aksu'88 and Sezen Aksu Söylüyor.

Her music matured in the 90's, when she co-produced her best selling album to-date Gülümse with Tunç.

The A-1 track from the album called Hadi Bakalım was a hit in Turkey and Europe, and was published as a single in Germany.

It was to be later rediscovered in Europop by singer Loona as Rhythm of the Night.

She also began to produce albums for her vocalists, notably producing Aşkın Nur Yengi's debut album Sevgiliye (To a Lover) again with Tunç.

She was to repeat her success as a teacher with artists Sertab Erener and Levent Yüksel.

Sezen Aksu (born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and producer.

She is one of the most successful Turkish singers, having sold over 40 million albums worldwide.

Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "Minik Serçe" ("Little Sparrow").

Along with her close friend Ajda Pekkan, Aksu is credited with laying the foundations of Turkish pop music in the 1970s.

Her sound has also spread across the Balkans and Greece.

Aksu has also toured in Europe and the U.S to critical appraise.

She has championed a variety of causes, including support for constitutional reform, minority rights, women's rights, the environment, and educational reform in Turkey.

Aksu has been married and divorced four times, but kept the name from her second marriage to Ali Engin Aksu, a doctor of geology who currently resides in Canada.

She has a son with Sinan Özer, named Mithat Can, who is also a lead vocalist of Pist'on band.

Aksu's influence on Turkish pop and world music has continued since her debut in 1975, and has been reinforced by her patronage of and collaboration with many other musicians, including Yonca Evcimik, Sertab Erener, Şebnem Ferah, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Hande Yener, Yıldız Tilbe, Işın Karaca, Seden Gürel, Harun Kolçak and Levent Yüksel.

Sezen Aksu is widely known as a successful songwriter.

Her work with Tarkan resulted in continental hits like "Şımarık" and "Şıkıdım" and her collaboration with Goran Bregović widened her international audience.

Sezen Aksu released her first single, Haydi Şansım/Gel Bana in 1975 under the name of "Sezen Seley".

However, she remained undiscovered until her 1976 single Olmaz Olsun/Vurdumduymaz reached number one in the Turkish charts.

In 1976, Sezen Aksu won the "Promising Female Artist of the Year" award.

Her first album was 1978's Serçe, which earned her a famous nickname, first penned by a Turkish journalist.

Aksu finally decided to represent Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest in the mid-70s.

Parting ways with Tunç, in 1995, Aksu branched out with the experimental album Işık Doğudan Yükselir, drawing both on western classical and regional Turkish musical traditions.

This album made her name known outside Turkey and gave her a worldwide audience, especially in Europe.

In 1996, she released Düş Bahçeleri as a tribute to Tunç, who died that same year tragically when his private plane crashed.

In 1997, she released Düğün ve Cenaze, this time collaborating with Goran Bregović.

She returned to her roots with Adı Bende Saklı, which was released in 1998.

She began to use experimental sounds and was once again pushing Turkish pop into the future.

Aksu continued with this trend with her subsequent albums Deliveren, Şarkı Söylemek Lazım (which also featured former Sparks bassist Martin Gordon as engineer/mixer, who also was bass player on her subsequent European tour), and Yaz Bitmeden between the years 2000–2003.

In 2010, NPR named her as one of the "50 Great Voices" of the world.

Sezen Aksu was born in Sarayköy, Denizli, Turkey.

Her father was a mathematics teacher.

Her family moved to Bergama when she was three years old and she spent her childhood and early youth there.

Aksu's parents discouraged her singing because they wanted her to have a steady profession as a doctor or engineer.

She used to wait until they left the house and sing on the family's balcony.

After finishing high school, she began studying at the local agricultural institute, but left college to concentrate on music.