Sibel Can

Career beginnings

At the age of 14 she started her career as a belly dancer. She worked as both a belly dancer and a soloist with her father during their tour's across Turkey. Can who appeared in the clubs such as Galata Tower and Astorya, accepted Nükhet Duru and Fahrettin Arslan's offer to perform at Maksim Casino at the age of 17. Due to Can's minority, the casino became under the threat of closure, and after court proceedings her date of birth was changed to 1964.^[5] At Maksim Casino she worked with the likes of Muazzez Abacı, Neşe Karaböcek and Emel Sayın. In 1987 she released her first album Günah Bize which was produced by Kervan Plak. Orhan Gencebay helped her for the album's preparations. In 1988 she started performing at Maksim Casino as a singer. Orhan Gencebay served as the producer for her first albums.

1990s: Rise to fame

In late 1980s and early 1990s, Can released a new album each year and in 1995 she signed a contract with Raks Müzik. Her ninth studio album Bu Devirde was released in 1997 with its lead single "Padişah" being written by Serdar Ortaç. Following the success of the album^[6] Can released a music video for the lead single directed by Tayfun Dinçer. With the release of this music video Can got a massive fan base and the album topped the selling charts in Turkey.^[7] Following this success, Can started to perform at many concerts. The artist Kadir Has famously praised her at a business dinner saying "Sibel, all my money is yours", while President Süleyman Demirel also complimented her by saying "I swear to God, this girl is valuable".^[8]

2000s–present

In 2000, Can's new album İşte Türk Sanat Müziği İşte Sibel Can was released. In 2001, she started working with the production company Emre Plak. In 2002, Can was cast for a leading role in the movie Papatya ile Karabiber In 2006, her album Özledin mi? sold 200,000 copies and received a diamond certificate from MÜ-YAP.^[9] At the award ceremony for receiving the certificate, Can performed the song "Lale Devri" from the same album together with Sezen Aksu who had written and composed the song. In 2007, the album Akşam Sefası was released which featured the song "Çakmak Çakmak". The song which was written and composed by Tarkan was well-received by fans and critics. In 2009, a new album titled Benim Adım Aşk was released,^[10] followed by Seyyah in 2011. The song "Hançer" from the latter became a hit song in Turkey. In April 2012, Can released another album titled Meşk. In February 2014, her twentieth album Galata was released. Can also played in Cashmere Carpet advertisements for a while and was the face of this brand for many years.

In April 2016, Can's new album Arabesque was released under the label DMC. The composer and songwriter Burhan Bayar composed all of the songs of this album including "Gülüm Benim", "Sevmek", "Bu da Geçer", "Mavi Mavi", "Seninle ilk defa", "Yalnızım dostlarım", "Mutlu Ol Yeter", "Hasret Rüzgârları", "Benim Hatım", and "Gurbet Geceleri" all of which were in the style of the 1980s Turkish songs.^[11][12] On 9 April 2016, Can performed at the Bostancı Performing Arts Center,^[13] followed by another concert at Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre on 10 August 2016 during which she performed her new songs and said: "The great master of Arabesque music, Orhan Gencebay, discovered my talent; I love Arabesque music ever since". At her concert on 10 August 2016 she performed the song "Bağdat" together with Ayla Çelik followed by the performance of the song "Günah Benim" with rappers Eypio and Burak King in the form of arabesque and rock. Before the concert Can said "I got to know Eypio and Burak King thanks to my children. Their music video has been watched over 100 million times. I'm so excited to rap for the first time".^[14][15] In October 2016, she joined the singing competition O Ses Türkiye as a judge. In November 2016, she was chosen as the Best Arabesque-Fantasy Music Artist at the Golden Butterfly Awards. Following the award ceremony, people reacted to Okan Bayülgen's jokes about Can's weight. The greatest backlash came from Can's ex-husband, Hakan Ural, and Bayülgen was heavily criticized. In 2017, Can was cast in a leading role on the TV series Sevda'nın Bahçesi.^[16]

Albums

• Günah Bize (1987)
• Bulursun Beni (1988)
• Rüyalarda Buluşuruz (1989)
• Hasretim (1990)
• Bir Güneş Batışında (1991)
• Seni Sevmek (1992)
• Hayat Devam Ediyor (1993) with Orhan Gencebay
• Hatirasidir (1994)
• Şarkılar Senden Yana (1995)
• Bu Devirde (1997)
• Daha Yolun Basindayim (2000)
• İşte Türk Sanat Müziği (2000)
• Canim Benim (2001)
• Sen Benimsin (2003)
• Özledin Mi? (Did You Miss Me) (2005)
• Akşam Sefası (2007)
• Benim Adım Aşk (2009)
• Seyyah (2011)
• Meşk (2012)
• Galata (2014)
• Arabesque (2016)
• Yeni Aşkım (2018)