Cemil Özeren

Cemil Özeren — Biography

Cemil Özeren was a musician best known as the lead singer of Ayna, a group founded in 1996 and known for its awards. Songs such as Ceylan, adapted from the Caucasian melody Lezginka, and Ölünce Sevemezsem Seni, set to a poem by Karacaoğlan, made him memorable. He died in Istanbul on 20 November 2012.

Born in Bandırma, Özeren said he had loved Caucasian melodies since childhood; he took Barış Manço, Cem Karaca, Erkin Koray and Moğollar as examples alongside Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and also followed heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Manowar. While studying at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir he formed a rock band called Entalpi with friends, as singer and bassist, writing hard-rock-leaning songs such as Bir Damla Kan. He spent some time in Bodrum as a guitar teacher and driving-school instructor. In 1996, at Erhan Güleryüz's call, he came to Istanbul and founded Ayna. The first album, Gittiğin Yağmurla Gel, was a big success; the group won the Kral Türkiye Music Awards in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000, took the Altın Kelebek awards three years running and released five albums.

He left Ayna at the end of 2002 over differences in musical style. In 2004 he did a one-song project with the group Destan, but they did not get along. In the following years he performed with his group Cem-i Cümle and released the single İstanbul in summer 2012. His planned album Sahibinden Satılık was left unfinished.