Kayahan

Biography

Kayahan Açar (29 March 1949 – 3 April 2015) was a Turkish pop music singer-songwriter. He was an accomplished composer, consistently ranking among the best-selling Turkish musicians of all time. Kayahan composed all of his own material and released more than eight best-selling albums during a career spanning three decades. Kayahan released a number of compact cassettes, CDs and albums and had major singles. He represented Turkey in Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with "Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim".

Early years

Kayahan Açar was born in İzmir, Turkey on 29 March 1949. He spent his childhood and young adulthood years in Ankara before moving to Istanbul.

Career

He became known for his songs "Geceler" ("Nights"), "Kar Taneleri" ("Snow Flakes"), "Esmer Günler" ("Brunette Days"), which were sung by Nilüfer, all becoming later classical.
His album Yemin Ettim×Yemin Ettim1991 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Yemin Ettim6:202Sarı Saçlarından Sen Suçlusun5:093Çılgınım3:424Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim2:515Sen Mühimsin3:256İstanbul Hatırası3:347Bu Gece Sen Daha Güzelsin4:148Neden Olmasın?3:189Bekle Gülüm3:10 (I Swore), released on 3 June 1991, became a bestseller. He coined a motto "Yolu sevgiden geçen herkesle bir gün bir yerde buluşuruz" (One day, we will meet everyone somewhere, whose path goes through love". He wrote and composed also songs for children, and appeared in television shows for children.
On 30 April 1992, he released the album Odalarda Işıksızım×Odalarda Işıksızım1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Odalarda Işıksızım5:502İçimden Geldiği Gibi2:583Beni Anlamadın Ya3:474Başıboş Saatlerde3:325Bir Aslan Miyav Dedi3:016Sultanım4:357E Bebeğim4:138Ve Senin Sevgin4:319Beni Anlamadın Ya II5:27 (Lightless in the Rooms). Ten songs of Kayahan in the album titled Son Şarkılarım×Son Şarkılarım18 March 1993 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Sabahlar Uzak6:462Kara Saplantım3:293Elmanın Yarısı4:324Sensiz Olmaz ki3:405Sarı Şekerim3:266Yok Arkadaş4:187Vazgeçmem4:258Aman4:189Kardeşiz Senle5:281093 Rüzgarı3:57 (My Last Songs), released by the label Raks Müzik in March 1993, became very successful. He continued his career with the albums Benim Penceremden×Benim Penceremden1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Bir Garip Serçe5:392Anla Halimden4:353Allahım Neydi Gunahım4:344Ben Anadolu Çoçuğuyum3:415Unutma4:576Rüzgar Gibi Geçti4:477Kızıl Sıyah Bulutlar5:278Devamı Var3:399Remix3:34 (From My Window), released in January 1995. The song "Allah'ım Neydi Günahım" ("God, What Was My Sin?") has been sung by many singers, and brought him great success. With this album, he introduced to the music world a new, young and talented singer, İpek Tüter, whom he married later in 1999.
Kayahan's 1996 album, Canımın Yaprakları×Canımın Yaprakları1996 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Herşeyden Çok4:562Ben de İnsanım4:423Aşk Bayrakları4:244Şikayetim Var4:475Eyvah5:176Neler Olur Neler4:227Sana Kaldı4:288Herşeyden Çok (enstrümantal)4:52 (Leaves of My Life) had eight songs and expressed "Allah kimseyi sevgisiz bırakmasın" (May God not leave anyone without love), emphasizing the concept "love" with "Sevgisiz hiçbir şey yapılmaz. Herşeyin başı sevgidir" (Nothing can be done without love. The beginning of everything is love). The next year, he released the album Emrin Olur×Emrin Olur1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Emrin Olur4:332Atın Beni Denizlere3:273Eminem3:164Mavilim5:055Sevgilim Olmasan da4:366Şampiyon4:037Mektupların Eskidi3:528Artık Ağlamam Lazım3:559Emrin Olur (enstrümantal)4:31 (Your Call). His ninth album Beni Azad Et×Beni Azad Et1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Beni Azad Et4:592Yine Şişe Bitecek4:283Her Yerde Aynı3:424Her An4:215Gömeç3:246Gel Be4:077Yine Şişe Bitecek 25:168İlk Değil4:369Üç Nokta ...1:58 (Set Me Free) came out in April 1999, and featured nine songs, some of them becoming hits. Among them was a song, "Gömeç", the name of a seaside resort in Balıkesir Province, where he has a residence with a special music studio and where he spent most of his summer time. The album Gönül Sayfam×Gönül Sayfam2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Sevdaya Mahsus4:112Kağıttan Kayıklar4:253Söz Güzelim4:064Ölmem mi Lazım3:355Gönül Sayfam4:166Aman Beni Unutma4:437Tek Delikli Kaval (Taşlama)3:23817 Ağustos (Ağıt)3:539Ninni2:36 (My Soul's Page), released 26 November 2000, containing the songs "17 Ağustos" (17 August) commemorating the earthquake of 17 August 1999 and "Ninni" (Lullaby) for his new-born daughter Aslı Gönül. In Ne Oldu Can (What Happened Dear), released 17 December 2002, Kayahan emphasized the importance of the musicians and artists with his song "Bugün Aslında Bayram" (Today Is Indeed, Feastday), he wrote in memory of the late singer-songwriter Barış Manço.
Kayahan received his first important award "Altın Portakal" (Golden Orange) with the song "Geceler" (Nights) at the 1986 International Mediterranean Music Contest. He represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with his song "Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim" (I'm captive in your eyes), which came 17th. In 2003, he was honored with the Altın Kelebek (Golden Butterfly), and the MÜYAP (Music Producers Association) award for the bestselling-success of the album Ne Oldu Can×Ne Oldu Can2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Ne Oldu Can4:402Ay Dolunaydı3:273Gülüm Ömrüm Ne kadar4:314Hülyam3:575Bir Aşk Hikayesi7:246Onsuz Olmuyor4:047Büyük Aşkım3:578Bugün Aslında Bayram1:08. He released Kelebeğin Şansı (The Luck of the Butterfly) in 2005, and Biriciğime (To My One and Only) on 15 March 2007. He performed many concerts in Turkey and abroad. For his open-air concert held at Kızılay Square in Ankara on the occasion of the Republic Day in 1992, a crowd of about 160,000 people came together. Kayahan performed many relief benefit concerts to create or increase awareness about the environment.

Personal life

Açar was married three times. He made his first marriage to Nur in 1973. From this marriage, which lasted 18 years long, he became father of a daughter Beste (Turkish for music composition), born in 1975. Beste was runner-up for Miss Turkey in 1995. Kayahan remarried to Lale Yılmaz in 1992. The couple divorced in 1993. In 1999, at age fifty, he remarried to his third and current wife 1976-born İpek Tüter. In August 2000, İpek gave birth to their daughter Aslı Gönül.

Illness and death

In 1990, Kayahan was diagnosed with soft-tissue cancer. He caught the same disease in 2005 again. The illness repeated in 2014, and he was under treatment for cancer.
Kayahan died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome on 3 April 2015, aged 66, in a hospital in Istanbul. He had been battling small-cell lung cancer since one-and-half years. He had overcome the disease twice before. After a Valentine's Day concert he lately performed with Nilüfer on 14 February 2015, he bid a public farewell to his fans.
He was buried in Kanlıca Cemetery, which overlooks Bosphorus, following a memorial ceremony in Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, and the religious funeral service at Teşvikiye Mosque, attended also by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a great number of renowned musicians. He was survived by his wife İpek Açar, and daughters Aslı Gönül and Beste.

Tribute

Turkish musicians contributed to and sang for a tribute album, Kayahan'ın En İyileri No.1 to celebrate his music and legacy. Of the popular Turkish artists, taking part were Tarkan, Sezen Aksu, Sıla, Nilüfer, Gülşen, Ajda Pekkan, Mustafa Ceceli, Emre Aydın among several others.

Albums

1975 – Bekle Gülüm – Ateş (Wait, My Rose – Fire!)
1978 – İstanbul Hatırası – Neden Olmasın (A Souvenir from Istanbul – Why Not?)
1981 – Canım Sıkılıyor Canım (I Get Bored)
1987 – Merhaba Çocuklar (Hello Kids)
1988 – Benim Şarkılarım (My Songs)
1989 – Benim Şarkılarım 2 (Siyah Işıklar) (My Songs Vol. 2: Black Lights)
1991 – Yemin Ettim (I Swore)
1992 – Odalarda Işıksızım (Lightless in the Rooms)
1993 – Son Şarkılarım (My Last Songs)
1995 – Benim Penceremden (From My Window)
1996 – Canımın Yaprakları (Leaves of My Life)
1997 – Emrin Olur (Your Call)
1999 – Beni Azad Et (Set Me Free)
2000 – Gönül Sayfam (My Soul's Page)
2002 – Ne Oldu Can? (What Happened? My Dear)
2004 – Kelebeğin Şansı (The Luck of the Butterfly)
2007 – Biriciğime (To My One and Only)
2011 – 365 Gün (365 Days)