Bülent Ersoy

Bülent Ersoy — Biography

Bülent Ersoy (born 9 June 1952) is a singer and actress, one of the best-known performers of Turkish classical and arabesque music. The name she was given at birth is Bülent Erkoç. Known for her wide vocal range and her powerful manner, she has long been referred to in public as “the diva”.

She became interested in music as a child. In her youth she entered the İstanbul Municipal Conservatory; she did not stay there long and continued her training in private lessons with teachers such as Melahat Pars and Rıdvan Aytan. At the very start of the 1970s she began performing in the nightclubs of İstanbul, and in 1971 she released her first record with two tracks, Lüzûm Kalmadı and Neye Yarar Gelişin. In 1974 she began performing at Maksim, one of the most fashionable venues of the day; at a time when pop and arabesque music dominated the market, she achieved an unexpected sales success with pieces chosen from the classical Ottoman-Turkish repertoire.

Over a recording life spanning more than forty years she has released more than thirty albums. Bir Tanrıyı Bir De Beni Unutma, Orkide, Yüz Karası, Düşkünüm Sana, Yaşamak İstiyorum, Biz Ayrılamayız, Ablan Kurban Olsun Sana, Sefam Olsun and Benim Dünya Güzellerim are among her prominent works. Songs such as Ümit Hırsızı, Geceler, Beddua, Maazallah, Biz Ayrılamayız, Sefam Olsun and Bir Tanrıyı Bir de Beni Sakın Unutma have been listened to by generations in Turkey. In the 1990s she appeared on television with her own programme Bülent Show, and in later years took part in productions such as Ben Bilmem Eşim Bilir; it was in this period that her fans' habit of calling her “Ablan” took hold.

Alongside her musical career she also worked in cinema. Her acting career, which began with the 1976 production Sıralardaki Heyecan, continued with films such as Ölmeyen Şarkı, İşte Bizim Hikayemiz, Beddua, Yüz Karası, Acı Ekmek, Asrın Kadını and İstiyorum. She also prepared the music for some of the productions she appeared in, and most of these films are remembered together with the songs whose titles they carry.

In the early years of her career Ersoy performed as a male singer; in 1981 she completed her gender transition with an operation in London and from then on lived as a woman, while continuing to use the name Bülent she had been given at birth. She was subsequently barred from performing on stage in Turkey and fought a legal battle lasting years for legal recognition, spending part of that period abroad. After the legislation changed she returned to the country and to the stage at the end of the 1980s, and soon surpassed her earlier popularity. One of the most talked-about artists in Turkey, Ersoy is also regarded as an emblematic figure for the country's LGBT community.