Biography
Sezen Aksu was born in Köşk, Turkey. Her family moved to Bergama when she was 3 years old and she spent her childhood and early youth there. Aksu's parents discouraged her singing because they wanted her to have a steady profession as a doctor or engineer. She used to wait until they left the house and sing on the family's balcony. After finishing high school, she began studying at the local agricultural institute, but left college to concentrate on music.
Along with her close friend Ajda Pekkan, Aksu is credited with laying the foundations of Turkish pop music in the 1970s. Her sound has also spread across the Balkans and Greece. It was this sound that changed the face of the Eurovision song contest when her protégé Sertab Erener won in 2003. Aksu has also toured in Europe and the U.S to critical appraise.
She has championed a variety of causes, including support towards the Justice and Development Party, women's rights, the environment, and educational reform in Turkey. Aksu has been married and divorced four times, but kept the name from her second marriage to Ali Engin Aksu, a doctor of geology who currently resides in Canada. She has a son with Sinan Özer.
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