Işın Karaca

Born Işın Funda Büyükkaraca on 7 March 1973 in London, the Turkish Cypriot pop singer known professionally as Işın Karaca started out as vocalist for Turkish superstar Sezen Aksu before treading her own path as the frontwoman for the group Panic Attack. In 2000, she put herself forward to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Bir Kırık Sevda" and although she didn't get through, she had made her presence known nationally. 2001 saw the release of her debut solo album for Power Records, Anadilim Aşk ("My Native Language is Love"), which spawned a homegrown hit in "Başka Bahar," with which she represented Turkey in the OGAE song contest 2002. Her second album, İçinde Aşk Var, turned up two years later and yielded hits in "Yetinmeyi Bilir misin?" and "Bekleyelim de Görelim." She worked with Alper Narman and Fettah Can for her third solo album of 2006 Başka 33/3 (Different)—named Best Pop Female Artist at the İstanbul Fm Gold Awards Ceremony that year—before branching out into the arabesque music style for fifth LP Arabesque: Geçmiş, Geçmemiş Hiç... in 2010. Işın Karaca continued to put out albums into the 2010s and 2020s, from eighth studio album Ey Aşkın Güzel Kızı (2015) to 2023's classical crossover offering with the Işın Karaca Symphony Orchestra, The Best in Symphonic. She unveiled a new single in 2024, "Sen Mutlu Ol."