Soner Sarıkabadayı

Soner Sarıkabadayı — Biography

Soner Sarıkabadayı is a pop singer and songwriter known both for the songs he performs himself and for the lyrics and compositions he has written for others. A well-liked name in Turkish pop, he still keeps a busy schedule that runs from concert halls to festival stages.

He came to music as an economics student: while studying economics at Yıldız Technical University he began taking classical guitar lessons, and in 2008 he entered and graduated from the classical guitar department of the same university's Faculty of Art and Design. He played guitar in Sibel Can's orchestra for a time, first made his name with "Gümbür Gümbür", written for Tarık, and then supplied songs to Demet Akalın, Alişan and Murat Boz. His first album, Kara (2001), did not get the attention he hoped for; his real breakthrough came in 2009 with the song "Buz", whose CD he sold for 1 lira for 28 weeks. Pas and Sadem followed in 2010, İtiraz in 2011 and Trio in 2012.

Between 2008 and 2009 he received Kral TV's Talent of the Year, the Golden Butterfly for best new artist, Beykent University's Song of the Year ("Uçurum") and Pal FM's best lyrics and composition award for "Buz". In later years he released songs such as "Tuzlu Su" and "Tarifi Zor". In 2025-2026 he performed on a tour of Turkey that included Antalya, Trabzon, Erzurum and the Hitit Festival in Çorum, as well as on the Salamis stage in Cyprus. He is married and has two sons.