Gülşen

Gülşen Çolakoğlu (née Bayraktar, pronounced [gylˈʃen bajɾakˈtaɾ]; born 29 May 1976) is a Turkish singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Istanbul, she graduated from Şehremini High School. After finishing high school, Gülşen enrolled in Istanbul Technical University and at the same time began performing at bars and later left the university. In 1995, while performing at a bar, she was discovered by a composer and contracted with Raks Müzik for her first studio album. Gülşen's debut album, Be Adam, was released in 1996, which made her known in the music industry, but she preferred to take a break from her professional career and instead focused on her marital life. In 2004, her fourth studio album Of... Of... became a hit in Turkey and a single with the same name as the album earned her both a Golden Butterfly Award and a Turkey Music Award. The Mü-Yap certified album Yurtta Aşk Cihanda Aşk (2006) and her subsequent albums had successful sales, and Beni Durdursan mı? (2013) became Turkey's best-selling album of the year, followed by Bangır Bangır (2015), which became the second best-selling album of 2015. The singles "Yurtta Aşk Cihanda Aşk", "Bi' An Gel", "Yeni Biri", "Sözde Ayrılık", "Yatcaz Kalkcaz Ordayım", "Kardan Adam", "İltimas", "Bangır Bangır" and "Bir İhtimal Biliyorum" all became number-one hits on Türkçe Top 20. Gülşen, who has received positive reception from music critics and alongside her singing career is a prominent figure as a songwriter, started singing her own songs, especially after the early years of her career, and has produced many hit songs for her colleagues as well. In 2015, she became the Turkish singer with the most number of viewers on YouTube and a year later she became the first Turkish singer to have a music video watched over 200 million times on the platform. Throughout her career, she has won numerous awards, including six Golden Butterfly Awards and nine Kral Turkey Music Awards.