Remembering the ‘Sun of Art’

On the 16th anniversary of his death, Zeki Müren continues to stand tall as a legendary figure in pop culture. A career of over 200 records, films, concerts, spanning over 45 years, is only the tip of the phenomenon

It’s been 16 years today since Zeki Müren, Turkey’s “Sun of Art” and the “Paşa of pop culture,” died in İzmir at the TRT studios, the very institution that had kick-started his musical career half a century earlier.

Müren might just be the most interesting figure modern Turkey has seen in its short history. He was a singer, a songwriter, a composer, a published poet, a performer, an actor, a designer and an illustrator. He was also a visionary, an innovator and a revolutionary. Whatever Müren was, he sure was always larger than the sum of his parts.

Müren’s career in music began in 1951, when he recorded his first album and began performing on the state radio station Istanbul Radyosu. In 1955, he became the first Turkish singer to win a Gold Disc for a record that included the famous song Manolya. Having been chosen as Artist of the Year for many years, Müren made over 200 records and composed over 100 songs in the 45 years of his artistic career. His acting career began around the same time, with his debut feature of 1953, Beklenen Şarkı (Anticipated Song), starring opposite the legendary actress Cahide Sonku, becoming an instant success, and opening the way for a movie career of 18 films, Müren writing the score for some of them as well.

Click here for full article (Hürriyet Daily News)