Bülent Ersoy

Bülent Ersoy — Biography

Bülent Ersoy (born 9 June 1952) is a Turkish singer, actress and media personality, counted among the most celebrated interpreters of Turkish classical and arabesque music. The name she was given at birth was Bülent Erkoç; after being discovered by the nightclub owner Fahrettin Aslan, her surname was changed to Ersoy. Renowned for the power and exceptional breadth of her voice and her command of the stage, she has been called “Diva” by the entertainment press for decades, while her fans address her affectionately as “Ablan”.

She became involved with music as a child. As a young woman she entered the İstanbul Municipal Conservatory but left after roughly two months, continuing her training through private lessons with masters such as Melahat Pars and Rıdvan Aytan. In the early 1970s she began performing in İstanbul's nightclubs, and her first single appeared in 1971 on the Saner Plak label, featuring the Muzaffer Özpınar compositions Lüzûm Kalmadı and Neye Yarar Gelişin. In 1974 she began appearing at the Maksim nightclub, the most prestigious venue of the period, and that same year her classical long-player named after Itrî's composition Tutî-i Mucize Gûyem broke sales records. At a time when pop, arabesque and other commercial styles ruled the market, this deeply classical repertoire made her the first artist to bring classical Turkish music into the licensed nightclubs. During these years she also recorded many classical pieces for the state broadcaster TRT.

Over a recording career spanning more than four decades, she has released over thirty albums. Among her best-known are Düşkünüm Sana, Yaşamak İstiyorum, Biz Ayrılamayız, Ablan Kurban Olsun Sana, Sefam Olsun and Benim Dünya Güzellerim; songs such as Ümit Hırsızı, Geceler, Beddua, Maazallah and Bir Tanrıyı Bir de Beni Sakın Unutma have been passed down from one generation of listeners to the next. In the 1990s she hosted her own television programme, Bülent Show, and in later years appeared in productions such as Ben Bilmem Eşim Bilir. She has also performed in major venues abroad, becoming the first Turkish singer to appear on stages such as the London Palladium and Madison Square Garden, and in 1997 she performed at the Olympia in Paris.

Her acting career advanced alongside her music. She made her cinema debut with Sıralardaki Heyecan in 1976 and went on to star in films including Ölmeyen Şarkı, İşte Bizim Hikayemiz, Beddua, Yüz Karası, Acı Ekmek, Asrın Kadını and İstiyorum, also providing the music for some of them; many of these pictures are remembered together with the songs whose titles they carried. Decades later she returned to the screen with a guest role in the series Çukur.

Ersoy began her career performing as a male vocalist. In 1981 she underwent surgery in London that completed her gender transition, and she has lived as a woman ever since, keeping the name Bülent she was given at birth. The decision brought her a ban from the stage in Turkey, and during the years of legal struggle that followed she spent a period in Germany, where she worked as an actress. Following the legal reforms of 1988 she was officially invited back to her country and returned to the stage, quickly attracting an even larger following than before. One of the most discussed artists in Turkey, Ersoy is also regarded as an emblematic figure of the country's LGBT community.