Ajda Pekkan

Biography

Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish singer and former actress. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. By keeping her works updated and getting influence from Western elements, she managed to become one of Turkey’s modern and enduring icons in different periods. Her musical style has kept her popular for more than 50 years and has inspired many of her successors. Pekkan’s musical career began in the early 1960s when she appeared in a nightclub as a member of the music group Los Çatikos. However, in 1963, when she won the Ses magazine’s cinema artist competition, she became known as an actress, and for a number of years she pursued an acting career. Over the next six years, she starred in nearly 50 black and white films. She quited acting in 1965 to focus on her musical career. Pekkan spent the first twenty years of her singing career with dozens of songs released as cover versions. Selling over 15 million records, Ajda Pekkan is one of the best-selling artists of all time in Turkey. She is one of the leading figures of Westernization in her country with both her art and her public image.