Kayahan Açar (29 March 1949 – 3 April 2015) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

pop music singer-songwriter. He was an accomplished composer, consistently ranking among the best-selling Turkish musicians of all time. Kayahan composed all of his own material and released more than eight best-selling albums during a career spanning three decades. Kayahan released a number of

compact cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

s, CDs and albums and had major

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. He represented Turkey in

Eurovision Song Contest 1990 The Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was the 35th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia, following the country's victory at the with the song " Rock Me" by Riva. It was the only time Yugoslavia ...

with "

Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990. The country was represented by Kayahan (vocals by Demet Sağıroğlu) with the song "Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim" written and composed by Kayahan. Before Eurovision 14. Eurovision Şarkı Yar ...

Early years

Kayahan Açar was born in İzmir, Turkey on 29 March 1949. He spent his childhood and young adulthood years in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

before moving to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Career

He became known for his songs "Geceler" ("Nights"), "Kar Taneleri" ("Snow Flakes"), "Esmer Günler" ("Brunette Days"), which were sung by Nilüfer, all becoming later classical. His album ''Yemin Ettim'' (I Swore), released on 3 June 1991, became a bestseller. He coined a motto "Yolu sevgiden geçen herkesle bir gün bir yerde buluşuruz" (One day, we will meet everyone somewhere, whose path goes through love". He wrote and composed also songs for children, and appeared in television shows for children. On 30 April 1992, he released the album ''Odalarda Işıksızım'' (Lightless in the Rooms). Ten songs of Kayahan in the album titled ''Son Şarkılarım'' (My Last Songs), released by the label Raks Müzik in March 1993, became very successful. He continued his career with the albums ''Benim Penceremden'' (''From My Window''), released in January 1995. The song "Allah'ım Neydi Günahım" ("God, What Was My Sin?") has been sung by many singers, and brought him great success. With this album, he introduced to the music world a new, young and talented singer, İpek Tüter, whom he married later in 1999. Kayahan^'s 1996 album, ''Canımın Yaprakları'' (''Leaves of My Life'') had eight songs and expressed "Allah kimseyi sevgisiz bırakmasın" (May God not leave anyone without love), emphasizing the concept "love" with "Sevgisiz hiçbir şey yapılmaz. Herşeyin başı sevgidir" (Nothing can be done without love. The beginning of everything is love). The next year, he released the album ''Emrin Olur'' (Your Call). His ninth album ''Beni Azad Et'' (Set Me Free) came out in April 1999, and featured nine songs, some of them becoming hits. Among them was a song, "

Gömeç Gömeç is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. Its former name was ''Armutova'' before becoming a district. The ancient city Kisthene is located in Gömeç. The population is 4988 (as of 2010). Current m ...

", the name of a seaside resort in

Balıkesir Province Balıkesir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale Province, Çanakkale to the west, İzmir Province, İzmir to the southw ...

, where he has a residence with a special music studio and where he spent most of his summer time. The album ''Gönül Sayfam'' (My Soul's Page), released 26 November 2000, containing the songs "17 Ağustos" (17 August) commemorating the earthquake of 17 August 1999 and "Ninni" (Lullaby) for his new-born daughter Aslı Gönül. In ''Ne Oldu Can'' (What Happened Dear), released 17 December 2002, Kayahan emphasized the importance of the musicians and artists with his song "Bugün Aslında Bayram" (Today Is Indeed, Feastday), he wrote in memory of the late singer-songwriter

Barış Manço Mehmet Barış Manço (born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço; 2 January 1943 – 1 February 1999), better known by his stage name Barış Manço, was a Turkish rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television producer and show host. Beg ...

. Kayahan received his first important award "Altın Portakal" (Golden Orange) with the song "Geceler" (Nights) at the 1986 International Mediterranean Music Contest. He represented Turkey at the

with his song "

" (I'm captive in your eyes), which came 17th. In 2003, he was honored with the Altın Kelebek (Golden Butterfly), and the MÜYAP (Music Producers Association) award for the bestselling-success of the album ''Ne Oldu Can''. He released ''Kelebeğin Şansı'' (The Luck of the Butterfly) in 2005, and ''Biriciğime'' (To My One and Only) on 15 March 2007. He performed many concerts in Turkey and abroad. For his

open-air concert A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

held at

Kızılay Square July 15 Kızılay National Will Square ( tr, 15 Temmuz Kızılay Millî İrade Meydanı), originally Kızılay Square (''Kızılay Meydanı''), is one of the most important centers and junction points of Ankara, Turkey. Geography The square at ...

on the occasion of the

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

in 1992, a crowd of about 160,000 people came together. Kayahan performed many relief benefit concerts to create or increase awareness about the environment.

Personal life

Açar was married three times. He made his first marriage to Nur in 1973. From this marriage, which lasted 18 years long, he became father of a daughter Beste (

for music composition), born in 1975. Beste was runner-up for

Miss Turkey Miss Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Güzellik Kraliçesi) is a national beauty pageant in Turkey. The pageant was founded in 1929, where the winners titled as Miss Turkey Universe, Miss Turkey World and Miss Turkey Supranational. History Miss Turk ...

in 1995. Kayahan remarried to Lale Yılmaz in 1992. The couple divorced in 1993. In 1999, at age fifty, he remarried to his third and current wife 1976-born İpek Tüter. In August 2000, İpek gave birth to their daughter Aslı Gönül.

Illness and death

In 1990, Kayahan was diagnosed with soft-tissue cancer. He caught the same disease in 2005 again. The illness repeated in 2014, and he was under treatment for cancer. Kayahan died of

multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ (anatomy), organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medicine, medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple ...

on 3 April 2015, aged 66, in a hospital in Istanbul. He had been battling

small-cell lung cancer Small-cell carcinoma is a type of highly malignant cancer that most commonly arises within the lung, although it can occasionally arise in other body sites, such as the cervix, prostate, and gastrointestinal tract. Compared to non-small cell car ...

since one-and-half years. He had overcome the disease twice before. After a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

concert he lately performed with Nilüfer on 14 February 2015, he bid a public farewell to his fans. He was buried in

Kanlıca Cemetery The Kanlıca Cemetery ( tr, Kanlıca Mezarlığı) is a burial ground located on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of media and music rest here. Situat ...

, which overlooks

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

, following a memorial ceremony in

Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall The Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall ( tr, Cemal Reşit Rey Konser Salonu) is a concert hall located in the Harbiye neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the country's major concert halls, being the first one designed for classical music. N ...

, and the religious funeral service at

Teşvikiye Mosque The Teşvikiye Mosque is a neo-baroque structure located in the Teşvikiye neighbourhood of Şişli district in Istanbul, Turkey. History The mosque was originally commissioned in 1794 by Sultan Selim III, but most of the current mosque that st ...

, attended also by President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

and a great number of renowned musicians. He was survived by his wife İpek Açar, and daughters Aslı Gönül and Beste.

Tribute

Turkish musicians contributed to and sang for a tribute album, ''

Kayahan'ın En İyileri No.1 ''Kayahan'ın En İyileri No.1'' ( en, The Best of Kayahan Vol. 1) is a tribute album released in late 2014 to the late Turkish singer Kayahan, Kayahan Açar. It was recorded by numerous artists, including Tarkan (singer), Tarkan, Sezen Aksu, Sıl ...

'' to celebrate his music and legacy. Of the popular Turkish artists, taking part were Tarkan,

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "''Minik Serçe''" ("Little Spar ...

, Sıla, Nilüfer,

Gülşen Gülşen is a Turkish given name for females (originally from Persian Golshan/گلشن, means place of flowers). People named Gülşen include: * Gülşen Aktaş (born 1957), Turkish schoolteacher and political scientist * Gülşen Bayraktar, Tu ...

Ajda Pekkan Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. ...

Mustafa Ceceli Mustafa Ceceli (; born 2 November 1980) is a Turkish singer. Career His musical career started with an amateur high school band. After high school, he attended to Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary. In third class, he left this faculty, he ...

Emre Aydın Emre Aydın (born 2 February 1981) is a Turkish rock singer-songwriter. The singer won the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 in the "Europe's Favourite Act" category. He is also the former lead singer for the Turkish rock band 6. Cadde. Biography E ...

among several others.

Albums

* 1975 – ''Bekle Gülüm – Ateş'' (Wait, My Rose – Fire!) * 1978 – ''İstanbul Hatırası – Neden Olmasın'' (A Souvenir from Istanbul – Why Not?) * 1981 – ''Canım Sıkılıyor Canım'' (I Get Bored) * 1987 – ''Merhaba Çocuklar'' (Hello Kids) * 1988 – ''Benim Şarkılarım'' (My Songs) * 1989 – ''Benim Şarkılarım 2 (Siyah Işıklar)'' (My Songs Vol. 2: Black Lights) * 1991 – ''Yemin Ettim'' (I Swore) * 1992 – ''Odalarda Işıksızım'' (Lightless in the Rooms) * 1993 – ''Son Şarkılarım'' (My Last Songs) * 1995 – ''Benim Penceremden'' (From My Window) * 1996 – ''Canımın Yaprakları'' (Leaves of My Life) * 1997 – ''Emrin Olur'' (Your Call) * 1999 – ''Beni Azad Et'' (Set Me Free) * 2000 – ''Gönül Sayfam'' (My Soul's Page) * 2002 – ''Ne Oldu Can?'' (What Happened? My Dear) * 2004 – ''Kelebeğin Şansı'' (The Luck of the Butterfly) * 2007 – ''Biriciğime'' (To My One and Only) * 2011 – ''365 Gün'' (365 Days)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayahan 1949 births 2015 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in Turkey Deaths from soft-tissue sarcoma Deaths from multiple organ failure Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1990 Musicians from İzmir Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Turkey Turkish male singers Turkish pop singers Turkish singer-songwriters Turkish Muslims Burials at Kanlıca Cemetery