Biography
Tahir Nejat Özyılmazel or Neco (b. 1948, Yozgat) is a Turkish singer and actor. In 1964, his musical career began with the Altınparmaklar Orkestrasıyla. Between 1965 and 1966 he played with the Çizgiler Orkestrasıyla. In 1967, he worked with the Silüetler Orkestrasında. At the end of summer 1967, he and Murat Ses – Aziz Azmet and Aydın Daruga, they left the Silhouettes Orchestra and formed the “Moğollar” group. Shortly after, he left the group. In the winter of the same year, he started to work with Aydemir Mete orkestrası. He joined İlhan Feyman, one of the famous orchestras of those days. He conducted his first radio emission program with this group. The name Neco was first introduced in this program. In 1969 he joined the Şerif Yüzbaşıoğlu Orkestrasına. In 1971, he had one of the leading roles in the famous musical “Hair”. In the middle of 1974, he returned to music and started to perform solo under the name of Neco. He released his debut single in 1974. Eight years later, Neco was chosen to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Hani?”. Another three times in the 1980s, he attempted to represent his country but not successful. In 1989, he gained a great success with his role as Ché in the world-famous Evita musical. A year later, the artist’s overseas festivals, competitions and concerts began. He became one of the most seen Turkish artists in other countries.
With the music of “Sefiller“, he started his work more as a composer and lyricist behind the scenes.