Ferdi Özbeğen (19 August 1941 – 28 January 2013) was a Turkish singer of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and popular music.

Early life and education

Ferdi Özbeğen was born on 17 August 1941, in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. His father was Hassan Özbeğen, an

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, and his mother Afet "Anita" Özbeğen, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

from

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. Their son's name was originally "Ferdinand." At some point, the family moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, where young Ferdi enrolled for his secondary education into the Mıhitaryan School. At the age of 11, Özbeğen, along with his secondary school tuition started taking music lessons at home. He graduated from

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

in Economics in 1960. When his father died in 1963, he turned to music in a professional capacity.

Career

In 1965, Özbegen, along with the orchestra he'd put together, participated in the "Golden Microphone" competition organized by the ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'' newspaper, performing the songs "Kes Kes" ("Cut Cut") and "Sandığımı Açamadım" ("I Can't Open My Chest"). He soon established himself as a performer of '' fantezi'' urban folk music. On 1977, he released his first album and won a sales award for "Sohbet" ("Conversation") as well as a golden-piano award for "Mutluluklar" ("Happiness"). He recorded overall some 28 albums in his career. In 1980, he starred in the movie ''Tanrıya Feryat'' ("Howl to God") in 1980 with Gülşen Bubikoğlu, Tanju Gürsu, and Hulusi Kentmen. He also worked a guest actor in the television series ''Perihan Abla'' (''Sister Perihan''), one of the most popular productions of the 1980s.

Personal life

Özbeğen opened up about his homosexuality as an adult and, gay marriage being illegal in the 1990s, he adopted his life partner.

Death

In 2001, he was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, which he survived for more than a dozen years. He died on 28 January 2013 at the Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital of Istanbul. After a memorial ceremony held at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall on 30 January and a religious funeral at the Levent mosque, he was buried in the Ulus Cemetery.

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Death

See also

References

Further reading