ZEKI MUREN was a Turkish singer, born on this date (d: 1996) was a Turkish singer, composer, songwriter, actor and poet. Known by the nicknames “The Sun of Art” and “Pasha”, he was one of the prominent figures of Turkish classical music. Due to his contributions to the art industry, he was named a “State Artist” in 1991. He was the first singer to receive a gold certification in Turkey and throughout his career recorded and released hundreds of songs on cassettes and phonograph records.
In 1950, while he was a university student, he took part at TRT Istanbul Radio’s music competition and ranked number-one out of 186 contestants. In January 1951 he had his first live performance on Istanbul Radio, which was widely praised by critics. During this performance, he was accompanied by musicians Hakkı Derman, Serif İçli, Şükrü Tunar, Refik Fersan and Necdet Gezen. Hamiyet Yüceses subsequently called the program and congratulated him on his performance. In those years, TRT Ankara Radio was the most listened radio in Anatolia, and Istanbul Radio could not be heard clearly from all parts of Anatolia. At the same week, the clarinetist Şükrü Tunar, took Müren to his own recording studio in Yeşilköy and he recorded his song “Muhabbet Kuşu” on phonograph record. Thanks to this record, Müren became known all over Anatolia.
After the success of his first live performance and his first record, Müren began to perform different songs on Turkish radios. His radio programs went on air for fifteen years, most of which included live performances. Müren subsequently focused on giving concerts and recording new songs. He had his first live concert in May 1955. He would usually wear his self-designed clothes on stage. He brought various innovations such as dressing uniforms and using T podium.
Together with Behiye Aksoy, he performed at Maksim Casino for 11 years. In 1976, he became the first Turkish artist to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Throughout his career, Müren recorded 600 cassettes and phonograph records. His first song recorded on a phonograph was “Bir Muhabbet Kuşu” by Şükrü Tunar. With his song “Manolyam” in 1955, Müren became the first Turkish artist to receive a gold certification. In 1991, he was chosen as a State Artist.
Zeki Müren never married. In the 1950s, with his special patterns of behavior, dressing and his performance on stage, he managed to keep people constantly interested in himself. In the early years of his career, he chose to wear ordinary clothes and hair styles, but later showed a favor for feminine-styled clothes, and performed with new hair styles and make-up. He never commented on his sexual orientation and occasionally his name appeared alongside that of women. The general opinion was that he was gay. Müren’s date of birth (December 6) has been celebrated as the Turkish Art Music Day since 2012.
During the last six years of his life, Müren was away from the scenes and the media due to heart disease and diabetes. He was retired at his house in Bodrum. He described this period as a time for “listening to oneself”. On September 24, 1996, during the ceremony held for him at TRT İzmir Television, he had a heart attack and died. His funeral ceremony was attended by a large number of people. His body was taken to his birth place, Bursa, and buried in Emirsultan Cemetery.
He left all his assets in his will to the Turkish Education Foundation and Mehmetçik Foundation. TEV and Mehmetçik Foundation built Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa in 2002. In a statement in September 2016, TEV Bursa branch president Mehmet Çalışkan said that the foundation had helped 2,631 students with the Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund over the last 20 years.