Nilüfer Yanya (; born 11 May 1995) is a British singer, songwriter and musician.

Early life

Yanya is the daughter of two visual artists. Her mother is of Irish and Barbadian heritage and her father is Turkish. Yanya said her mother lived in Turkey with her father when they were expecting her, and often heard the Turkish pop singer Nilüfer's name on the radio. She loved the name so much that she said, "If I have a daughter, I will name her Nilüfer." Yanya grew up in Chelsea, London, listening to

Turkish music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music ...

and classical music at home. She gravitated to rock music and learned how to play guitar at the age of 12.

Career

Informally starting her musical career with demos uploaded to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

in 2014, Yanya turned down an offer to join a

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

produced by

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

and focused on developing her own music instead. She has spoken out against this model of talent acquisition, telling ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'': "'Let's go and pinch some young people, tell them we're going to make a really successful group but we're obviously going to make a lot more money than them.' It's a very selfish thing to do." The project was reportedly abandoned after a year. Her first EP, ''Small Crimes/Keep on Calling'', was released in 2016. Her second EP, ''Plant Feed'', was released in 2017, followed by ''Do You Like Pain?'' in 2018. All three EPs were later compiled into the EP ''Inside Out'' in 2021. In 2019, Yanya released her debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

'', which received rave reviews and critical acclaim, with critics noting her ability to bounce back and forth between musical and lyrical styles, shifting between "gimlet-eyed composure and cataclysmic panic". Yanya's music has been described as nervous and restless, combining influences from

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

. A ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' review called her voice "malleable and endlessly expressive." In 1-2 July 2022, Yanya performed before

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

's first live UK concert after five years, in Hyde Park. Later that year, Yanya was the UK opening act for rock band

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

, who reformed in 2022 for a 50th anniversary tour. Yanya featured on the

Bombay Bicycle Club Bombay Bicycle Club is an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash. They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electr ...

track "Meditate" on the band's 2023 album '' My Big Day''. In May 2025, Yanya was announced as a supporting act on

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

's upcoming Ultrasound World Tour.

Musical style

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prim ...

'' has likened her material to the likes of

King Krule Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer. He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The foll ...

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

Parquet Courts Parquet Courts is an American rock music, rock band from New York City. The band consists of Andrew Savage (artist), Andrew Savage (vocals, guitar), Austin Brown (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Sean Yeaton (bass, vocals), and Max Savage (drums). H ...

and

the Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...

Personal life

Yanya has tried to embrace her Turkish heritage more as an adult and started taking Turkish lessons. She likes to involve her family in her career, with her younger sister Elif sometimes performing with her as a backing singer and her elder sister Molly directing her music videos.

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2019) * '' Painless'' (2022) * '' My Method Actor'' (2024) EPs * ''Small Crimes/Keep on Calling'' (2016) * ''Plant Feed'' (2017) * ''Do You Like Pain?'' (2018) * ''Feeling Lucky?'' (2020) * ''Inside Out'' (2021) * ''Dancing Shoes'' (2025)

References

External links

* * * *
Nilüfer Yanya: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
National Public Radio, 22 July 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanya, Nilufer 1995 births Living people British alternative rock guitarists British alternative rock singers ATO Records artists British indie rock musicians English rock keyboardists English rock singers English people of Barbadian descent English people of Irish descent English people of Turkish descent Musicians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers People from Chelsea, London Singers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea