İzel

İzel — Biography

İzel Çeliköz, known by her stage name İzel, was born on 29 April 1969 in Kocadere, part of the Çınarcık district of Yalova, to a civil-servant family. She graduated from Istanbul Technical University's Turkish Music State Conservatory, trained on the three-string kemençe, and entered the music business in 1987 backing soloists on kemençe at the Maksim nightclub in Istanbul. After lending backing vocals to Neco's 1989 Eurovision qualifier entry, she competed solo the following year and finished last; in 1991, teamed with Can Uğurluer and Reyhan Karaca, she flew Turkey's flag at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome, performing İki Dakika to a 12th-place finish.

That same trio gained wide recognition later that year opening for Ajda Pekkan on a German tour, and released the album Özledim, which sold over a million copies. After the group split, İzel launched her solo career in 1995 with the album Adak, whose track Hasretim became a major hit and earned her Altın Kelebek and MGD awards for best female pop artist. Albums such as Emanet, Bir Küçük Aşk, Bebek, Şak, Bir Dilek Tut Benim İçin and Işıklı Yol established her as one of the most successful names of the 1990s and 2000s, and she also produced albums for artists including Cenk Eren and Çağrı Müftüoğlu.

The İzel-Çelik-Ercan trio reunited more than three decades later, only to split again for a second time in 2025.