Emel Sayın (born 20 November 1945) is a Turkish singer and actress.

Life

She was born in

Şarkışla Şarkışla is a town in the Central Anatolian Sivas Province of Turkey. The mayor is Ahmet Turgay Oğuz ( AKP). 2011 population of Şarkışla is 39.413. Aşık Veysel, one of the most famous Turkish folk poets and folk music singers of the 2 ...

district of

Sivas Province Sivas Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey. It is largely located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey by territory. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kayser ...

on 20 November 1945, to an Albanian father who immigrated from

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

, and a mother from

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location ...

. Her parents moved frequently and she had to attend primary and secondary schools in various cities such as Kayseri,

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

and

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

. Finally she graduated from Teachers College of Çapa in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. However by then, she had already chosen a career in music.Musicians bio page
/ref> Emel Sayın married three times. Her first marriage was to İsmet Kasapoğlu in 1966. The couple divorced in 1975, but remarried a year later. Their marriage ended in 1979. From June 1979 to September 1981, she was married to Selçuk Aslan. Her