Raif Özkan Uğur (17 October 1953 – 8 July 2023) was a Turkish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

musician, member of the renowned band

MFÖ Mazhar Fuat Özkan (MFÖ) was a Turkish pop and rock band consisted of members Mazhar Alanson, Fuat Güner, and Özkan Uğur. While many of their songs poke fun at common Turkish types ("Ali Desidero", "Piskopatım") or satirise prejudice and ...

and actor. After starting his career in 1970, he became a founding member of Kurtalan Ekspres in 1972, which included

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 people, Turkish rock music, rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television ...

. After switching several bands for the next few years, Uğur formed MFÖ together with

Mazhar Alanson Mahmut Mazhar Alanson (born February 13, 1950) is a Turkish musician, guitarist, member of the popular Turkish pop music band MFÖ, and an actor. Early life He was born on February 13, 1950, to a family of musicians in Ankara, Turkey, where ...

and Fuat Güner in 1980. Uğur started acting in 1983 in theatrical plays of

Ferhan Şensoy Osman Ferhan Şensoy (26 February 1951 – 31 August 2021) was a Turkish actor, playwright and director. Private life Şensoy was born in Çarşamba district of Samsun Province in northern Turkey on 26 February 1951. After attending Galatasaray ...

, later acting in movies and TV series as well, most notably in ''Cennet Mahallesi'', '' Poyraz Karayel'' and films of

Cem Yılmaz Cem Yılmaz (, born 23 April 1973) is a Turkish actor, stand-up comedian, musician, filmmaker, screenwriter, and cartoonist. He has four franchise film series '' G.O.R.A.'', '' Karakomik Fimler'', '' Organize İşler'', '' Vizontele''. Also, H ...

. Uğur died in 2023 of complications of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

, which he was diagnosed with in 2013.

Early life

Raif Özkan Uğur was born on 17 October 1953 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. He was the fifth child of the family. Uğur started playing the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

in primary school. While attending the , he founded an amateur band named Atomikler.

Music career

Early years

Özkan Uğur started his professional career in 1970 with the Şerif Yüzbaşıoğlu Orchestra as a

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

ist. In 1971, he met

and Fuat Güner, and joined their band named Kaygısızlar. When the group dissolved in 1972, he joined

in the

Anatolian rock Anatolian rock (), or Turkish psychedelic rock, is a fusion of Turkish folk music and rock. It emerged during the mid-1960s, soon after rock groups became popular in Turkey. The most widely known members of this genre include Turkish musicians ...

band Kurtalan Ekspres as a founding member. When the group temporarily dissolved when Manço left to complete his mandatory military service, Uğur formed Ter together with two others.

Erkin Koray Mustafa Erkin Koray (; 24 June 1941 – 7 August 2023) was a Turkish singer and guitarist who mainly played Anatolian rock. Life and career Koray was active in the Turkish rock music scene since the late 1950s. In 1967, he released his first ...

later joined the group. He came back to Kurtalan Ekspres from 1973 to 1974 after Manço returned from the military. In 1974, Uğur appeared in one of the albums of the Alanson and Güner duo. In the same year, he joined Dostlar Orkestrası, but left it due to disagreements within the group and switched to Ersen ve Dadaşlar. The band collaborated with

Selda Bağcan Havva Selda Bağcan (; born December 14, 1948) is a Turkish folk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and music producer. Early life Selda Bağcan was born in 1948 in the western Turkish town of Muğla. Her father was a veterinarian of Macedonian Tur ...

for one album. He joined Alanson and Güner again in 1975 in İpucu Beşlisi. Uğur briefly returned to Kurtalan Ekspres in 1976, but later formed Grup Karma in 1978.

MFÖ

Uğur returned to working with Alanson and Güner for a fourth time in 1980. The trio formed the band Mazhar Fuat Özkan, which was later shortened to MFÖ. The band released their first album in 1984. Together with MFÖ, Uğur represented

Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest Turkey has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since its debut in . The Turkish participating broadcaster in the contest is (TRT). Turkey won the contest once in , and hosted the contest in Istanbul. Since the introduction ...

twice: in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

with " Didai didai dai" where they finished 14th, and in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

with "

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

" when they placed 15th. In 2017, the group released their first album in 5 years. Uğur was the only member of the band to not have released a solo album.

Acting

Özkan Uğur starred in several theatrical plays, movies and TV series after starting his music career. Uğur started acting for the first time in 1983 together with Fuat Güner, when they composed songs for and played in two theatrical plays of

. Uğur starred in his first movie, ''Arkadaşım Şeytan'', in 1988. He is known for playing the character Beter Ali in ''Cennet Mahallesi''. In 2015, Uğur joined the '' Poyraz Karayel'' cast, starring as İsmail Karayel, the father of the main character. Additionally, he played in

' movies G.O.R.A., A.R.O.G and

Arif V 216 ''Arif V 216'' is a 2018 Turkish comedy film directed by Kıvanç Baruönü and written by Cem Yılmaz. It stars Cem Yılmaz, Ozan Güven, Seda Bakan, Zafer Algöz and Özkan Uğur. It is a sequel to '' A.R.O.G'' (2008) and '' G.O.R.A'' (2004). ...

in 2004, 2008 and 2018 respectively.

Personal life and death

Özkan Uğur married dancing instructor Aysun Aslan in 1989. They had a son together. In 2013, Özkan Uğur was diagnosed with

. In July 2020, Uğur defeated cancer for a second time. Due to his illness, he had to visit the doctor every 6 months for a check-up. In April 2022, he announced that he was diagnosed with cancer for a third time, which was successfully treated again, but harmed his organs. In 2020 and 2023, during the times when his condition worsened, misinformation was spread on social media claiming that Uğur had died. In late June 2023, it was announced that Uğur was

intubated Intubation (sometimes entubation) is a medical procedure involving the insertion of a tube into the body. Most commonly, intubation refers to tracheal intubation, a procedure during which an endotracheal tube is inserted into the trachea to supp ...

and placed in an

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

. On 8 July 2023, he died at a hospital in Istanbul, at the age of 69. On 11 July 2023, he was interred at

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery () is a 700-year-old historic cemetery located in Üsküdar, on the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the largest and second oldest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey by number of interr ...

in Istanbul.

Discography

;

& Kurtalan Ekspres * 1972: Ölüm Allah'ın Emri / Gamzedeyim Deva Bulmam * 1973: **Gönül Dağı / Hey Koca Topçu **Nazar Eyle / Gülme Ha Gülme ;

& Ter * 1972: Hor Görme Garibi / Züleyha ;Mazhar-Fuat * 1974: Türküz Türkü Çağırırız (LP) ;Edip Akbayram & Dostlar Orkestrası * 1974: Garip / Kaşların Karasına ;Ersen & Dadaşlar * 1975: **Dostlar Merhaba / Ne Sevdiğin Belli Ne Sevmediğin **Gafil Gezme Şaşkın / Güzele Bak Güzele * 1976: Ekmek Parası / Zalim ;Selda & Dadaşlar * 1976: Türkülerimiz (LP) ;Seyhan Karabay & Kardaşlar * 1976: Kan Davası / Dam Üstünde Çul Serer ;İpucu Beşlisi * 1976: Heyecanlı / Hop Otur Hop Kalk ;Grup Karma * 1978: İmkansız / Mutlu Mu Gülenler ;MFÖ Source:

Filmography

Television series

Film

Notes

References

Citations

External links

Biography

Sinematürk
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugur, Ozkan 1953 births 2023 deaths Turkish pop musicians Turkish male film actors Turkish film score composers Turkish male television actors Turkish bass guitarists 20th-century Turkish male musicians 21st-century Turkish musicians Turkish male guitarists Musicians from Istanbul Deaths from lymphoma in Turkey Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery