Can Bonomo

Can Bonomo — Biography

Working in the rock and alternative-pop vein, Turkish singer-songwriter Can Bonomo also writes poetry and fiction and has worked as a broadcaster and actor. He reached a general audience in 2012, when he represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku with his self-written Love Me Back and finished seventh in the final; he is also remembered as Turkey's last Eurovision entrant.

His career took shape on the radio before music. While studying cinema and television at Istanbul Bilgi University he hosted Can Bonomo Show on Radio Class, Number 1 FM and Radio N101, and presented Rock'n Dark Express on MTV Turkey. When a short film made for a class assignment, Hoppala, spread online, he was cast in the lead of the series +18. A demo he sent to producer Can Saban led to his debut album Meczup (2011), followed by Aşktan ve Gariplikten, Bulunmam Gerek, Kâinat Sustu, Ruhum Bela and, in 2024, Kara Konular. He has kept releasing singles and, from 2016, co-hosted the radio programme O Tarz Mı?.

His writing runs alongside the music: he published the poetry collections Delirmek Belirmektir (2013), Şu Sevdalar Tevatürü and Parya Koma, and a novel, Ateşli Silahlar ve Bilardo, in 2024. He won best-new-artist honours at the Radio Boğaziçi Music Awards and the Golden Butterfly awards. Born in İzmir to a Sephardic Jewish family, he is married to the actress Öykü Karayel.