Bülent Ersoy (; born Bülent Erkoç on 9 June 1952) is a Turkish singer, actress, and media personality. She is known as one of the most popular singers of Turkish music. Ersoy has many famous hits such as "Ümit Hırsızı" (Hope Thief), "Geceler" (Nights), "Beddua" (Curse), "Maazallah" (God Forbid), "Biz Ayrılamayız" (We Cannot Break Up), and "Sefam Olsun" (I Enjoy Myself). Ersoy has published more than thirty albums so far and has made a name for herself in Turkish music history. She remains an icon of the LGBTQ+ community in Turkey.
Early life Bülent Erkoç was born on 9 June 1952 in Istanbul as the only son of an urban middle-class family. Her father was from Bursa and her mother was from Trabzon. Neither of them were religious, however despite this she experienced religious guilt as a child, reciting the adhan under tables as a 5-year-old. Ersoy was a well-behaved but sensitive in her youth, who kept to herself for much of her childhood. Both of her parents were bankers, and she was expected to become one as well, being enrolled in Kadıköy Commercial High School.
She was introduced to Turkish classical music by her grandparents, who themselves played the zither and the lute. Showing to have talent from an early age, she took private music lessons with her grandparents, and would later study at the Istanbul Conservatory after graduating from high school. Her former teacher would later claim that she attended the Conservatory for only 2 months. During her education, she took private lessons with prominent classical singers like Melahat Pars and Rıdvan Aytan.
Music career
Early career and rise In 1970, she participated in a singing competition organised by the Sunar Concert Bureau and won first place, alongside a cash prize of ₺1,000 lira and a plaque. Around this period, she experienced her first stage experience at the Özlem Family GazinoThe word "gazino" is often literally translated as "casino", which is misleading. Rüstem Ertuğ Altınay explains: "...nightlife in the big cities, especially Istanbul, mainly consisted of Greek tavernas and nightclubs called gazinos. Those nightclubs provided... hours-long programs bringing together several singers as well as comedians and belly dancers." in Üsküdar, becoming its lead singer (assolist) and working there for three months. In 1971, she released her first commercial 45 rpm single through the Sanar Plak record label, with this record containing the two songs "Lüzûm Kalmadı" and "Neye Yarar Gelişin", which were originally credited to Muzaffer Özpınar.
In 1974, Ersoy began singing at the Maksim Gazino in Central Istanbul, where she would release her second classical record, "Tutî-i Mucize Gûyem Ne Desem Lâf Değil", in reference to the Ottoman poet Nef'i. In a period when pop and Arabesque were popular in Turkey, the decision to sing in the classical style stood out, with the record reportedly breaking sales records. The owner, Fahrettin Aslan, would subsequently promote Ersoy to become the assolist lead act of Maksim Gazino, where she began singing professionally under the new surname "Ersoy", meaning "brave lineage", changing it from her original "Erkoç" ("brave ram"), reportedly following Müjdat Gezen's recommendation.
Gender reassignment and stage prohibition
Ersoy began her transition from male to female around 1979, beginning hormone therapy and presenting herself as a woman, generating massive public attention from conservative Turkish society. In one instance, a Justice Party member of the Turkish Parliament, Ahmet Buldanlı, took the floor and argued that she was "trampl[ing] on the values of honor, chastity, and morality in Turkey", going on to call Ersoy "this goddamned freak". Curiously, he would say in this same speech that Ersoy was "more beautiful than any woman who claims to be beautiful". Buldanlı would then conclude by accusing Ersoy of tax evasion due to her expensive outfits, calling on the government to investigate her. In response, Ersoy would say: "For some reason, Ahmet Bey has fixated on me. Given that he speaks about me when the important problems of the country are at stake, he must have something in mind".
In March 1980, it was announced that Ersoy would undergo gender reassignment surgery, and that her role in the film "Beddua" ("Curse"), being released with an album of the same name, would be her last male role. That same year, she would at some point undergo a breast enlargement surgery, later exposing her new breasts at the İzmir International Fair in August that would lead to her being prosecuted and detained for 45 days. Her first hearing on 2 September would generate front page headlines over several days, only being overshadowed by the sudden 1980 Turkish coup that brought the conservative Kenan Evren to power. Later that same month, Ersoy would be arrested once more due to drunkenly insulting a judge, reportedly being housed in a separate ward in Buca Prison due to confusion on whether she was a man or a woman. Following the decision in October to show up to her hearings in male clothing instead of female, her prison sentence of nearly a year was suspended due to "good behaviour" in November, only having to pay a fine. In January 1981, she would be forced to sign a statement that banned her from appearing on stage in women's clothing, as part of Evren's wider crackdown on "social deviance".
Already one of Turkey's most popular singers and actors by this point, she gained international notoriety in April 1981 after having her previously-announced gender reassignment surgery at Charing Cross Hospital in London, keeping her name "Bülent" despite it being a typically masculine name. That same week of her surgery, an exaggerated semi-autobiographical film "Şöhretin Sonu" ("The End of Fame") would be released, detailing her struggles with gender dysphoria and her transition, paired with the release of her album "Yüz Karası" ("Disgrace").
Following her return to Turkey, she applied to be officially recognised as a female, and following a physical examination that determined there was "no difference from those who are born female and Ersoy", a judge approved her application. However, a public prosecutor appealed this decision in January 1982, leading her case's rejection and eventual retrial by the Supreme Court after six months of inaction. In May 1982, Ersoy was subjected to multiple physical examinations by two new medical authorities as part of her retrial, with them concluding that Ersoy was not a female, but in fact a "male homosexual", resulting in her losing the retrial, and again in 1984. Simultaneously, Ersoy was banned from performing in Istanbul in June 1981 due to "promoting homosexuality", leading to following stage bans in all other cities across Turkey and on TRT, Turkey's only radio and television company at the time. Attempts to lift this ban by Ersoy were rejected by the courts on several occasions, often on paradoxical arguments. These issues facing her would lead to her attempting suicide by overdose in January 1982. She would leave Turkey some time in 1983 in protest of the Evren regime's crackdown against her and to continue performing despite the stage ban within her country.
Exile and continued fame Ersoy would continue her music career mainly in West Germany, performing to the growing Turkish community there. She would also tour across the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, and became the first Turkish artist to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1983. Along with her music, she would make several Turkish movies whilst in exile. Despite her exile, Ersoy would maintain her fame both outside Turkey and within it, despite the government's hostility towards her in this period.
In January 1988, then-Prime Minister Turgut Özal would roll back many of Evren's regressive policies, including Ersoy's stage ban, thus allowing her to return to Turkey that same month. In May, Özal's reforms would also allow for transgender people who had undergone reassignment surgery to legally change their gender, allowing Ersoy to gain her "pink identity card" later that year.
The Abla years As soon as she returned to Turkey in January 1988, she launched her "Hasret Konserleri" ("Longing Concerts"), which were free public concerts, held at venues such as the İnönü Stadium, the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, and the Abdi İpekçi Arena, drawing in huge audiences. In August, she would release her album "Biz Ayrılamayız" ("We Cannot Break Up"), which would feature her famous song "Geceler" ("Nights"), marking a new era in her music career. Ersoy's return was welcomed by Turkish society, with many now referring to her as "Bülent Abla", meaning "Big Sister Bülent" in Turkish, showing their acceptance of both her transition and her music career as she became even more popular than before.
On 13 October 1989, Ersoy was performing in İzmir, when ex-member of the Grey Wolves Hacı Tepe requested her to sing the patriotic folk song "Çırpınırdı Qara deniz". When she refused twice, Tepe shot at Ersoy five times, seriously wounding the singer. She would survive her injuries, but lose one of her kidneys. Tepe would be arrested and sentenced to 16 years in prison, with his family disowning him and apologising to Ersoy personally. Tepe, who was released in early October 2006, would later express regret over the incident, saying that it was a "youthful mistake" due to being embarrassed in front of his friends and saying about Ersoy: "She is a doyen, I respect her, I kiss her hands".
The 90s are often considered the period in which her career flourished, and her "Alba" and later "Diva" status was consolidated. She would release multiple albums in quick succession, such as "Öptüm" ("Kisses") in 1990, and "Bir Sen Bir de Ben" ("Just You and Me") in 1991. Her album "Ablan Kurban Olsun Sana" ("Your Big Sister Would Sacrifice Herself for You"), released in 1992, cemented her status as Turkey's "Abla". Other albums like "Sefam Olsun" ("I Enjoy Myself") in 1993 and "Akıllı Ol" ("Be Smart") in 1994 would soon follow. This era of her career was characterised by incorporating the popular pop-Arabesque style into her classical style, especially in albums such as "Ablan Kurban Olsun Sana" and "Sefam Olsun".
In February 1995, she would release the album "Alaturka 95", which was a return to the more classical style she was known for. The song "Aziz Istanbul", which opens the album, included recordings of her reciting the adhan in Arabic. This sparked a fierce and complex debate amongst Muslim clerics and the wider populace, both regarding the use of the Islamic adhan in music and whether she was even permitted to recite the adhan as a transgender woman. That same year, the "Bülent Ersoy Show" would begin, where she became a media personality and culture commentator, alongside often singing duets with other famous Turkish singers on the show. Later that year in December, her album "Benim Dünya Güzellerim" ("My World's Beauties") would be released.
From Abla to Diva On 30 March 1997, Ersoy would perform a four-hour long concert with a 50-piece orchestra at the Olympia Music Hall in Paris, performing new songs from her previously-unannounced album "Maazallah" ("God Forbid"). Following this performance, the nation of Azerbaijan would grant her the title of "State Artist". Prior to the album's release, Turkish media created mass anticipation for it, enhanced by Ersoy's camp and dramatic persona, generating high pre-orders. The album would be released on 11 April, with the title track "Maazallah" having huge success, with it being noted for its dramatic and theatrical tone. The success of "Maazallah" and her dramatic, and often aggressive, public persona led many to affectionately refer to her as "Diva" from this point on.
2011–12: Aşktan Sabıkalı