Tarkan Tevetoğlu

Turkish song by Tarkan

Tarkan was born in Alzey, West Germany, to Ali and Neşe Tevetçioğlu, and was named after a popular 1960s Turkish comic book character.The name is said to originate from an ancient Turkic king or title,meaning bold and strong (cf. Tarkhan).In 2009 it was discovered that Tarkan was in fact his middle name and his first name was Hüsamettin, which means "sword of faith".

Tarkan has charted both in Europe and in the Americas with his definitive song "Şımarık" (Spoilt/Kiss Kiss/Chanson Du Bisou/Besos). As a result of its widespread success and immediately recognizable sound of Tarkan kissing on the track, "Şımarık" was reincarnated into English as "Kiss Kiss" by Stella Soleil and later Holly Valance (which notched her a UK number one hit), after the composer Sezen Aksu sold the music rights. It has been covered by various artists across the world in various languages. Another successful Aksu collaboration was the hit single "Şıkıdım" (Shake).His entry into the European musical consciousness started a Turkish pop boom in Germany and Turkey in the 1990s, with his European successes signalling that the musical borders between Turkey and Europe, more specifically Germany, were dissolving.Because of his success, he became the prime example of Turkish pop obtaining an audience outside Turkey.Over the years his works have maintained their popularity, with Tarkan's 2007 studio album Metamorfoz selling over a quarter of a million copies in the first two weeks of its release on December 25, 2007.

n 2005, Tarkan finally announced that his English language album was ready after over a decade of effort. The plans for Come Closer began in 1995, when media mogul Ahmet Ertegün encouraged Tarkan to break into the international market.Eventually, he managed to break through without the aid of an English language album with "Şımarık", but Tarkan's manager, Ahmet San, entered Tarkan into contractual obligations that would hinder further success in Europe.

The album was not a breakthrough success. It was released only in a few European countries and Turkey, and Tarkan appeared on several television shows to promote the album in Germany, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia. The promised world wide tour effectively only included a few Central and Eastern European countries, Azerbaijan, Russia, Austria and Germany.Worldwide release was postponed and domestic sales did not approach the success of his previous albums, with only 110,000 copies sold in Turkey.

Tarkan released another Turkish language album on December 25, 2007, which was comprised almost solely of his own work. Called Metamorfoz ("metamorphosis" in English), seven of the songs were written by Tarkan, three other songs were collaborations with long-time engineer and producer Çolakoğlu.The album sold over 300,000 copies in the first two weeks of its release.Tarkan also became the most downloaded artist at TTNetMüzik, a digital music provider where his songs were made legally available in a digital format at the start of January 2008. Out of nearly two million tracks that were purchased after six weeks downloading, nearly 100,000 of those acquired were Tarkan songs, making him the highest grossing single artist at the music portal.

Tarkan is undoubtedly one of the most popular singers in Turkey. In addition to his record-breaking album sales, he is known for staging concerts that draw tens of thousands of people.In 2004, at the "Karadeniz Ereğli Love, Peace and Friendship Festival" approximately 700,000 people watched his concert, while in 2006 authorities reported almost the same numbers. "I've never seen such a sight before. I'll never forget this picture as long as I live," he said after the 2004 festival.In 2006 he also performed in Eastern Thrace, in front of an audience of 50,000.

Tarkan does not like to talk about his personal life, which has partly fueled the "is he-is he not gay" discussion, and the subject of his relationships often fills the front pages of Turkish newspapers and magazines. In 2001, when Tarkan was moving houses in New York, a worker stole what the domestic media tried to portray as compromising photos which suggested his homosexuality, but were simply photos with other men in swimwear in a public nude beach.