| Art Profile |
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Ajda Pekkan was born in Istanbul in 1946. She spent her childhood at the naval base in Gölcük, surrounded with a modern environment, in the middle of American families. In 1962, at the beginning of her musical career, she appeared as a singer at a very popular club of the time called Cati with support of her sister Semiramis Pekkan. One year later, Ajda won first place in a cover star contest which was organized by SES Magazine, searching for new talents for the movie industry. This marks her professional career. In 1963, she first acted in the film “Adanalı Tayfur” and became a recognized star in the Turkish movie industry. From 1963 to 1967, Pekkan acted in 47 movies with well known actors such as Ayhan Işık, Cüneyt Arkın, İzzet Günay, and Ediz Hun until her last movie, “Harun Resid’in Gozdesi”. She was one of the first to sing western style popular songs in their native languages such as Italian, French and English at early years, later singing the same songs in Turkish.
In 1965, her own single “Her Yerde Kar Var – 17 Yasinda" was released. In 1967, her single “Iki Yabanci” broke sale records. In 1968 and 1969, Pekkan represented Turkey at the International Apollonia Music Festival in Greece with a Turkish song “Özleyiş” and “Perhaps One Day”. She also represented Turkey at the Mediterranean Song Festival in Barcelona and sang a song “Ve Ben Şimdi”.
At the beginning of the seventies, with her growing reputation, Ajda Pekkan drew the attention of foreign music companies and settled in France for many years. The first success was a song composed by Mort Schuman and Etien Roda Gil just for her, “Babylone Babylone”. Pekkan was at one of her peaks with a series of concerts that took place at the world famous Olympia Music Hall in Paris with a world famous French singer, Enrico Macias. It was no later than that time that she recorded songs in French, German, Greek, Spanish, and Japanese. She had already acquired international fame. In the middle of the seventies, Ajda Pekkan boomed. Each and every one of her songs became a Pekkan Classic, Tanri Misafiri, Kimler Geldi Kimler Gecti, and Hosgor Sen.
In 1977, Pekkan represented Turkey at The Yamaha Music Festival (Japan) with a French song, “A Mes Amours”, and earned two great awards, one for the best performer, one for the best song. Following this success, she released two singles in Japan. In the same year, Pekkan’s album “Superstar” was one of a kind with astonishing design and production, followed by concerts, stage performances, and international tours. With her “Superstar 2” album in 1979, she once again was at her peaks in her musical career. She also represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song “Pet’r Oil”, but din not get the expected result. She then moved to United States for a while.
In 1998, Pekkan was awarded the title of State Artist by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. Following the USA years, Pekkan performed “Superstar 83 show”, followed by an album with the popular group, Bes Yil Once On Yil Sonra. Her marriage caused her to suspend her musical career for many years, until she broke her silence with “Ajda 90” Album. “Ajda 91”, “Ajda 93”, “Ajda 96” albums followed. In 1998, she released “The Best of Ajda”, followed by the “DIVA” albums in the year 2000. In 2003, she released the single “Sen Iste”. In 2005, she presented “Superstar Show” on Kanal D channel. With her album “Ben Aslında O Gördüğün Cool Kadın Değildim” released in 2006, Pekkan was awarded Golden Plaque by MÜYAP. In 2007, she had a concert series of “Ajda Disco’da” with many DJs. Her latest album “Aynen Öyle” was released in 2008. Series of concerts followed the album with new concepts, visual affluence, and her consistently amazing performance.
Albums:
1968, Ajda Pekkan
1969, Fecri Ebcioğlu Sunar: Ajda Pekkan
1972, Ajda Pekkan Vol. III
1977, Süperstar
1978, Pour Lui
1979, Süperstar II
1981, Sen Mutlu Ol
1982, Sevdim Seni
1983, Süperstar III
1985, Ajda Pekkan ve Beş Yıl Önce On Yıl Sonra
1987, Süperstar IV
1990, Ajda 90
1991, Seni Seçtim
1993, Ajda 93
1996, Ajda Pekkan
2006, Cool Kadın
2008, Aynen Öyle
Reference: ajdapekkan.com, wikipedia.org, google.com.tr/images
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