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Özlem Tekin

About:

18 November 1971

Özlem Tekin was born in California, America into a Turkish-American family. Her father Talat Tekin was a prominent Turkologist at UC Berkeley. The Tekins moved to Turkey when she was just 4. Özlem grew up in Ankara, where she went on to study classical western music at the Hacettepe University Music Conservatory in Ankara, specializing in the clarinet.

She started out as the vocalist in The Bad. The Bad was an underground hardrock band like most other rock bands and they would perform gigs at clubs, often playing covers of other popular bands. In 1993, she met Şebnem Ferah and they joined forces in the all-female rock band Volvox. Özlem mainly played keyboards but occasionally performed as the lead singer as well.

While still in Volvox, she met Hakan Peker and they started working on her debut solo album in 1994. This album, Kime Ne (literally, who cares?), was eventually released in January 1996 to widespread critical acclaim. The first single Aşk Herşeyi Affeder Mi? (Does love forgive everything?) shot to the top of the charts. Other hit tracks include Duvaksız Gelin (Bride without a veil) and Herkes Şanslı Doğmuyor (Not everyone is born lucky).

Then, Özlem Tekin left Hakan Peker's record label and went to İstanbul Plak which also had acquired other popular singers like Tarkan. The real breakthrough came with het third album called 'Laubali'. After this album she stayed succesfull with subsequent releases Tek Basima and 109876543210.

Next to her musical career Özlem also presents and acts. In 2000 she started up her own TV show on Kanal D called Yaz Rüzgarı (Summer Wind). In year 2003 she started acting in the TV series 'Sil Baştan' (From the Beginning). In 2005, she starred in the stage musical 'Mucizeler Komedisi' (The Comedy of Miracles). That very year, her new album '10987654321' was released, which presented a much harder sound than her previous effort. In 2006 she played in the Cem Yılmaz movie 'Hokkabaz' (The Trickster).On the 2010 and 2013 albums she continues in her indie-rockstyle.

On the web:
- Ozlems website: http://www.ozlemtekin.biz

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts

Jeanne Mas (France)

What do we think:

DB: Rough and raw pop from Turkey. Sometimes even a bit industrial. Ozlem Tekin puts the power in Turkish female popmusic. The fact that she sang in a hardrock band is evident on her first albums, gradually more pop compositions sneaked in untill her last album which is again wild!

PR: XXXXX

Albums:

♪♪ - Kime Ne - 1996

♪♪♪ - Öz - 1998

♪♪♪ - Laubali - 1999

♪♪♪♪♪ - Tek Başıma - 2002

♪♪♪♪ - 109876543210 - 2005

♪♪♪ - Bana bi'şey olmaz - 2010

♪♪♪♪ - Kargalar - 2013

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided