How do you say "Yas, queen!" in Turkish...? - presenting Zeki Müren

 

Zeki Müren (6 December 1931, Bursa - 24 September 1996, İzmir), Turkish singer, composer, songwriter, actor, and poet. Known by the nicknames "The Sun of Art" and "Pasha", he was one of the most prominent figures of Turkish classical music. In 1955, he was the first singer to receive a gold certification in Turkey and throughout his career released hundreds of recordings. For his artistic contributions to the nation, he was named a "State Artist" in 1991.

Born the only child of a timber merchant, he attended Bursa Osmangazi School (later Tophane School and Alkıncı School) where his musical ability was discovered by his teachers and he began to play a prominent role in school musicals. When he finished secondary school in Bursa, his father allowed him to go to Istanbul, where he attended the Istanbul Boğaziçi High School. After finishing at the top of his class, he was enrolled at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (now Mimar Sinan University) where he studied the decorative arts from 1950 to 1953.

In 1950, aged nineteen, while still at university, he participated in a TRT Istanbul Radio music competition and took first place out of 186 contestants. On 1 January 1951, he gave his first live performance on Istanbul Radio, which received much critical praise, and that same year he recorded his first record. He made his first film appearance two years later, and gave his first live concert on 26 May 1955. 

After the success of his first live performance and first record, he began performing regularly on Turkish radio. His various programs continued on the air for fifteen years, most of then including live performances. He subsequently focused on concerts and recording. As his career progressed, he began to be known for the increasing uniqueness of his onstage wardrobe. Most, if not all, of it was self-designed, becoming more outrageous as time went on. 

From 1953 to 1975 he appeared in eighteen films, usually as himself. In 1965, he played the leading role in the play "Tea and Sempati" and, in 1976, he became the first Turkish artist to perform at London's Royal Albert Hall. In 1965, he published a book of poetry titled Bıldırcın Yağmuru (The Quail Rain), which contains nearly one hundred poems.

Five album covers.

He never commented on his sexual orientation. But because of his rather effete mannerisms, and his performance attire, hair and make-up - more and more "feminine" as his career progressed - it was generally assumed that he was gay.

During the last six years of his life, he was mostly out of the public eye due to heart disease and diabetes, having retired to his house in Bodrum. And in 1996, during a ceremony held for him at TRT İzmir Television, he had a heart attack and died at the age of sixty-four. After his funeral ceremony, attended by great crowds of mourners, his body was taken to his birth place, Bursa, and buried in Emirsultan Cemetery. 

In his will, he left all of his assets to two educational foundations. Together, they opened the Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa in 2002, and the Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund has helped thousands of students since his death. His birthday, 6 December, has been celebrated as the Turkish Art Music Day since 2012.