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TARKANEurope's musical phenomenon comes to Latin America
Millions of albums sold in Turkey and in various european countries, sold-out concerts, the covers of european and middle-eastern magazines, and the most important TV shows, make Tarkan one of the new stars of pop.
BIOGRAPHYTarkan (whose name means strong and very bold person) was born October 17, 1972 in Alzey, Germany, where he lived until the age of 15, when his family decided to move back to Turkey. There he started his classical music studies at the conservatories of Karamürsel and Istanbul. At 16 he was already performing in bars and clubs. In 1993, Tarkan meets the person that became his producer: Mehmet Sögütoglu, the owner of "Istanbul Records", one of the most important record companies in Turkey.
A STAR IS BORNIn less than a year, Tarkan became the most important star in turkish pop scene, thanks to his albums, "Yine Sensiz" (selling over 700,000 copies) and "Aacayipsin" (selling over 2 million copies). At the end of 1994, he moved to New York, where he studied English, and began to give an international dimension to his career.
TARKAN TAKES OVER EUROPE
When the single "Simarik" became an instant hit in Europe, Universal Music France decided to release an album for the european market, compiling the best songs of Tarkan's second and third albums. The result is the album "Tarkan". During the spring and summer of 1999, Tarkan toured in Germany, France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia, Russia and Australia. In May of that same year he received the award to the "Best selling turkish artist" in the World Music Awards, which got him worldwide attention, including Latin America.
His last album unleashed
a Tarkanmania in Latin America, especially in Mexico, where Universal
Music requested a promotional tour to the region at the end of 1999.
However, this His visit to Mexico in March 2000 was incredible for Tarkan, for he couldn´t possibly ever imagine he had thousands of fans in a country so far away and different from his. He appeared on TV shows, radio, and gave some interviews, promising to return later this year to perform at a concert in Mexico City.
KARMAAfter Simarik's world success, Tarkan began recording Karma, his new album, in July 2000. It has been produced in southern France, Egypt, Turkey, New York and Los Angeles, California; in this last city he worked on the mixing of the album. The first single of the new album was released on May 2001, and the album itself was released on August 2001. Karma is a great album, made up of beatiful songs, and recorded completely in turkish.
NEW PROJECTSAfter Karma, Tarkan performed in Turkey in a series of concerts. He also participated in advertising campaigns for Pepsi and Hazır Kart (turkish cellphone company). With Hazır Kart he released a calendar in 2002, which was sold out quickly, and a song called "Ozgürlük Içimizde" (Freedom is inside us). Tarkan supported the turkish national soccer team for the 2002 World Cup, by recording the song "Bir Oluruz Yoluna" (Together for you). Tarkan is preparing his next album, scheduled to be released in June 2003. He has been working in New York City, recording each of the songs. It was supposed to be an all-english album, however, it seems it will be in turkish again.
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Tarkan's
music is the perfect balance between western pop and eastern music;
his lyrics are sung in turkish and his way of dancing combines the
rythm of pop music with the sensuality of oriental dances.
His
third album "Ölürüm Sana" was released in
Turkey and in european countries like Germany, France, Belgium and
England; he toured, filling important european venues. In March 1997
he toured with Sezen Aksu, turkish "queen of pop", with
whom he has writen some songs (like "Simarik", first single
of his latest album "Tarkan"). That same year, Tarkan was
honored with the award to the "Most succesful artist of the
year" by the turkish association of journalists, an award
equivalent to the Grammy.
visit had to be postponed until the second week of March 2000,
because Tarkan should do his military service in Turkey. Military
service lasts about 18 months, but a new law came into effect, which
allows turkish men living abroad to pay a fee in order to reduce it
to one month. For that reason, he could finish his military service
in February 2000.