Hakan Peker

Hakan Peker — Biography

Hakan Peker is one of the high-energy, dance-driven male singers of 1990s Turkish pop, and his name is tied above all to the song "Bir Efsane". His path from dancer to singer to producer is still going: in June 2026 he released a new single, "Sen Yoluna Git", and that summer he shared a large open-air concert stage with Sefo in Karabük.

His career began in dance. He worked as a dancer for Seyyal Taner and Deniz Erkanat, and in 1981 won the Turkish Dance Competition with a group of his own. His first album, Bir Efsane (1989), made its title song a hit, and Camdan Cama (1990) brought him real fame. He then founded his own label, Peker Müzik, and while cementing his position with albums such as Hey Corç and Amma Velakin he also released the debut albums of Meyra, Burak Kut, Özlem Tekin and Zafer Peker, among others. In 2000 his album İlla ki won "best-selling album" and "male artist of the year" at the Turkish Music Awards. The following years brought Canım İstedi, a collection of Turkish art-music songs, then Aşk Bana Lazım, Yak Beni, Gece Gözlüm and Karamela; in 2016 he returned with the album Efsane Şarkılar and a concert at Harbiye.

Outside music, he ran as the İYİ Party candidate for mayor of Safranbolu in 2023, finishing fifth with 3.68 percent of the vote. A disagreement with Murat Başaran over the song "Karam" has also been reported in the press.