Tanju Okan

He was born in İzmir on 27 August 1938. He received his primary and secondary education in Manisa and Balıkesir.[1] Afterwards, he went to Italy for vocal training. In 1961, he began singing professionally in Ankara and then in İstanbul. He married twice and was the father of a son. During the 1990s, he retired and began living in Urla, a small seaside town of the İzmir Province. He died from cirrhosis on May 23, 1996.

In the early 1960s, he was a solo singer in the Müfit Kiper orchestra. In 1964, he represented Turkey in the Balkan Music Festival, together with Tülay German and Erol Büyükburç.[2] In the same year, he produced his first 45 rpm record. He had a powerful sound and could easily sing three styles of music popular in the 1960s in Turkey: new compositions, covers of Western music and arranged Turkish folklore music (türkü). In the 1970s, he sang two songs which became instant hits; In 1972 Öyle sarhoş olsam ki ("I wish I was so drunk") and in 1974 Kadınım ("My Woman").[3] In 1973, he featured on the multi-singer melody Arkadaş Dur Bekle (Turkish version of Auntie) together with Modern Folk Üçlüsü and Nilüfer.

He also starred in eleven movies.

Albums

He also contributed to several multi singer albums.[4]

• Cübbeli Gelin, (1964)
• Şekerli Misin Vay Vay, (1965)
• Yalancının Mumu, (1965)
• Fakir Bir Kız Sevdim, (1966)
• Aşkın Kanunu, (1966)
• İçimdeki Alev, (1966)
• Berduş Kız]], (1970)
• Ah Bir Zengin Olsam, (1971)
• Cımbız Ali, (1971)
• Yırtık Niyazi,(1971)
• Kaynanam Kudurdu, (1973)
• Şiribim Şiribom, (1974)
• Ne Haber, (1976)
• Gazap Rüzgarı, (1982)