Tarkan’s Album Dünyayı sesiyle resmeden sanatçı. Her not, bir başyapıtThe artist who painted the world with his voice. Each note,
by Sabrina Carbone
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Tarkan, who delighted his fans with his eleventh album, Kuantum51, in 2024, has been a prominent figure in the Turkish pop music scene since the 1990s. The Megastar has garnered a massive worldwide following thanks to his numerous hit songs.
While Turkish audiences have always been accustomed to listening to songs by foreign artists, Turkish singers rarely had the opportunity to perform for international audiences. The few Turkish artists who achieved global fame were generally popular among nations that share a similar historical background with Turkey.
International Conquest and “Şımarık”
The first Turkish pop singer to achieve such widespread notoriety abroad was indeed Tarkan. He began his career in the early 1990s and, over time, became a global pop star. His iconic song “Şımarık” charted in both Europe and America, with translated titles like “Spoilt,” “Kiss Kiss,” “Chanson du Bisou,” and “Besos.” Holly Valance’s version of “Kiss Kiss” even reached number one on the UK charts. The track also boasts numerous other versions and remixes created by various artists across different genres.
Thanks to the worldwide fame of “Şımarık,” Tarkan was awarded a gold record at the Midem Awards in Cannes. His album “Ölürüm Sana” sold approximately half a million copies in France alone.
The singer then recorded a self-titled album, “Tarkan,” specifically for the European audience, before embarking on a world concert tour that took him to Ukraine, Russia, Tunisia, Morocco, 17 different European cities, and even Latin America.
Throughout the 2000s, Tarkan’s many albums and singles continued to sell both domestically and internationally, even if not all of them were globally distributed. For instance, his album “Karma” was exported to Russia in massive shipments and became the best-selling non-Russian artist in the country, a testament to his extraordinary ability to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries.