The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization.
Anatolian rock, or Turkish psychedelic rock, is a fusion of Turkish folk music and rock. It emerged during the mid-1960s, soon after rock groups became popular in Turkey. Most known members of this genre includes Turkish musicians such as Barış Manço, Cem Karaca, Erkin Koray, Selda Bağcan, Fikret Kızılok alongside bands such as Moğollar, Kurtalan Ekspres, 3 Hürel, and Altın Gün.
Athena is a rock/ska band from Istanbul, Turkey, founded by twin brothers Hakan Özoğuz and Gökhan Özoğuz in 1987. It is regarded as one of the best Turkish rock groups by many listeners. They have released 8 albums and featured as the Turkish entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "For Real", finishing fourth.
Duman is a Turkish rock band. Founded in 1999, the band features Kaan Tangöze on vocals and guitar, Ari Barokas on bass guitar and backing vocals, Batuhan Mutlugil on lead guitar and backing vocals and Doğaç Titiz on drums. The band's music combines elements of traditional Turkish folk music with modern rock and grunge.
Rock'n Coke was the biggest open Turkish rock festival sponsored by Coca-Cola. It was traditionally held at the Hezarfen Airfield in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous headliners like Limp Bizkit, Motörhead, Travis, Moby, Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, The Cure, Korn, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop, Gogol Bordello, The Prodigy, Linkin Park, Within Temptation, The Rasmus, Juliette Lewis performed at the festival over the years.
Manga is the self-titled album of Turkish rock band Manga, released in December 2004 by Sony Music/GRGDN. It was reissued in 2006, with two additional tracks and a bonus DVD.
Yağmur Sarıgül is a Turkish songwriter and the electric guitarist of the rock band maNga. He writes both lyrics and music.
Vega is a Turkish alternative rock band, founded by keyboardist Gökhan Mert Koral, vocalist Deniz Özbey, and guitarist Esat Tuğrul Akyüz in 1996. Gökhan Mert Koral left the group in early 2003. They played in many Turkish festivals like Rock'n Coke. Their biggest hits were "Bu Sabahların Bir Anlamı Olmalı", "Serzenişte", and "Elimde Değil".
RockIstanbul is the name of an old large scale open air rock festival series annually had been organized in Istanbul, Turkey. Highlights from recent performers include Kraftwerk, Garbage, Megadeth, Faithless, Queensrÿche, Starsailor, and Anathema.
Emre Aydın is a Turkish rock singer-songwriter. The singer won the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 in the "Europe's Favourite Act" category. He is also the former lead singer for the Turkish rock band 6. Cadde.
Göksel Demirpençe is a Turkish singer-songwriter.
Gripin is a Turkish rock band based in Istanbul. The members are Birol Namoğlu (vocals), Murat Başdoğan (guitar), Arda İnceoğlu, and İlker Baliç (drums). The band's name is derived from a flu medicine brand in Turkey.
Manga+ is the re-released version of the first, self-titled album of Turkish rock band Manga, released in 2006 by Sony Music/GRGDN. Two new songs were added to it, along with a special DVD.
Levent Çoker is a Turkish musician, arranger, conductor, and composer who represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer, arranger and conductor in 1996 and 1997. His song "Dinle" won 3rd place in Eurovision Song Contest 1997 and was the country's best result since it began participating in the Contest, and remained so until 2003, when soprano pop star Sertab Erener attained the top spot.
GRGDN is a Turkish music production and artist management company and record label based in Istanbul. The name of the company originates from the Turkish word gergedan which means rhinoceros.
Ozan Çolakoğlu is a Turkish composer, songwriter and music producer; famous for his work with various Turkish pop singers and his multiple film scores. He co-founded the production company Sarı Ev, but left it in 2010 to work for dB Müzik.
Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "We Could Be the Same" written by Evren Ozdemir, Fiona Movery Akıncı and Manga. The song was performed by Manga. The entry was selected through an internal selection organised by Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT).
"We Could Be the Same" is a song by Turkish band maNga that was performed as the Turkish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway, and which came in second place.
İbrahim Ferman Akgül is a Turkish singer, songwriter, TV host and actor. He is the lead singer of Turkish rock band maNga. In 2015 he opened the independent record label 06 Records and released his first solo single "İstemem Söz Sevmeni" in early 2016.
Can Bonomo is a Turkish-Jewish singer who represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
