Sertab Erener

Sertab Erener — Biography

Sertab Erener, born 4 December 1964 in Istanbul, is a classically trained Turkish singer, songwriter and composer known for her coloratura soprano voice. She began her career as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu and, with Aksu's support, launched her solo career in 1992 with "Sakin Ol!". Through the 1990s she released Lâ'l (1994), Sertab Gibi (1997) and Sertab Erener (1999), scoring number-one hits such as "Aldırma Deli Gönlüm", "Ateşle Barut" and "Zor Kadın".

In 2003 she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga with "Everyway That I Can", giving Turkey its first and so far only Eurovision victory and earning her the State Medal of Distinguished Service. She followed with the English-language albums No Boundaries (2004) and Aşk Ölmez (2005); her 2010 album Rengârenk, led by hits like "Bu Böyle", marked a commercial comeback. In 2012 she turned to Turkish classical music with Ey Şuh-i Sertab, dedicated to her father, winning Best Female TSM Soloist at the Golden Butterfly Awards; the albums Sade (2013) and Kırık Kalpler (2016) added further chart hits.

Erener has won seven Kral TV Video Music Awards and two Golden Butterfly Awards, and in 2014 Hürriyet included her in its list of "91 Symbols of the Republic's 91st Year." Married three times, she wed Emre Kula in 2015 and marked their tenth anniversary in 2026. That summer she launched a concert tour across Turkey, performed alongside Pink Martini at the Gazimağusa Culture and Arts Festival in Cyprus, and was preparing for a September concert at Istanbul's Harbiye open-air stage.