Mustafa Sandal

One of Turkey’s most successful pop singers, Mustafa Sandal made a name for himself as a songwriter for other artists before making his debut in 1994 with Suç Bende. Born in Istanbul on January 11, 1970, he spent most of his formative years studying abroad and returned to Turkey in 1989 to pursue a career in music. After penning songs for the likes of Sezen Aksu, Zerrin Özer, Muazzez Abacı, and Ayşegül Aldinç, Mustafa Sandal debuted as a solo artist with the full-length Suç Bende (1994), which helped establish him as one of the fastest rising stars in Turkish pop. In 1996, his sophomore album Gölgede Aynı became the best-selling album in his native country with more than 3,600,000 copies sold. Following the great reception of his third album Detay (1998), Mustafa Sandal had his big breakthrough in 2000 with the classical music-influenced Akışına Bırak, which included the hits “Tek Geçerim,” “Hatırla Beni,” and “Gidesim Gelmiyor.” In 2003, he collaborated with Greek singer Natalia on the duet “Aşka Yürek Gerek,” included in the maxi-single Maxi Sandal 2003 / Moonlight. Subsequently, he successfully crossed over into the European market with the 2005 single “İsyankar,” an R&B-flavored tune that enjoyed great popularity in German-speaking countries, and continued to deliver chart-topping hits such as İndir (2007), Şıkır Şıkır (2011), Tesir Altında (2013), and Reset (2018).