Murat Göğebakan

Murat Göğebakan — Biography

Murat Göğebakan was born in Adana in October 1968, to a family with roots in Malatya on his father's side and Gaziantep on his mother's; part of his childhood was spent shuttling between Turkey and Germany, where his parents worked. After training in music at the Ankara State Conservatory affiliated with Hacettepe University, he spent time teaching at Çukurova University, giving guitar lessons and performing in bars.

He settled in Istanbul in 1995 to pursue music professionally, and his debut album the following years earned him a Kral TV award as the year's top breakthrough male artist. He went on to release a string of further albums through a company he founded himself, with a 2002 release recognized as the year's best-selling record and concerts that brought him a wide following nationwide. Diagnosed with a blood cancer in 2010, he kept recording after treatment, but the illness ultimately took his life in Istanbul in the summer of 2014. Years later his story was adapted for television as a biographical film.