Muazzez Abacı

Muazzez Abacı — Biography

Hicran Muazzez Abacı entered the world in Ankara on 12 November 1947, born to Oktay Altıok, a national boxing champion, and his wife Suzan; she lost her father before she turned two and was sent to board at TED Ankara College for her schooling. Joining Ankara Radio in 1966 marked the start of her musical career, and once her debut recording, Bir Sen Kaldın İçimde, came out in 1973 she grew into one of the performers most credited with popularizing Turkish classical music, soon headlining nightclubs across Istanbul. She filled dozens of singles and albums over her career, remembered above all for Şakayık and for Vurgun, composed by Selçuk Tekay; releasing the album Vurgun in 1990 marked her career's high point, and the culture ministry put her forward for the State Artist title, which she received in 1998. She stepped back from performing in the early 2000s, joined the jury of a talent show in 2007, made her only advertising appearance alongside Gönül Yazar in 2011, and resumed her music career after 2012. Personally she was married to police officer Abdurrahman Abacı, to lawyer Atilla Kurtbaş, and to the well-known tough guy Hasan Heybetli; her daughter from the first marriage, Aslı Saba, went on to become a doctor. She fell ill with a cardiac arrest while in the United States to see her daughter that October, and passed away in Rochester on her 78th birthday, 12 November 2025, with burial following at Ankara's Cebeci Asri Cemetery.