Müslüm Gürses

Müslüm Gürses — Biography

Born Müslüm Akbaş on May 7, 1953, in the village of Fıstıközü in Halfeti, Şanlıurfa Province, Müslüm Gürses became one of the most celebrated names in Turkish arabesque and folk music. A singer, composer, lyricist and actor, he was widely known as the "Father of Arabesque" and affectionately called "Müslüm Baba" by fans.

He made his film debut in 1979 with İsyankar and went on to appear in more than forty movies and several television series over the course of his career. From the 1990s onward he broadened his repertoire beyond his own compositions, reinterpreting songs originally written by artists of other generations, including Sezen Aksu, Tarkan, Teoman, Zülfü Livaneli, Nilüfer and Kenan Doğulu, in his own distinctive style.

Gürses died in Istanbul on March 3, 2013. After his death, more than fifty previously unreleased songs, including thirty-two issued under the Elenor Müzik label, were made available to the public. His life was later dramatized in the 2018 biographical film Müslüm, and in 2026 he returned to the stage in hologram form, performing duets with contemporary artists through 5G-enabled technology.