Bahadır Akkuzu

Bahadır Akkuzu — Biography

Bahadır Akkuzu, whose full name was Mehmet Bahadır Akkuzu, was a rock musician, singer and composer best known as the guitarist of Kurtalan Ekspres, the band that played alongside Barış Manço. He taught himself guitar and singing, and after Manço's death he went on working as the band's voice on stage.

A native of Gebze by origin, he started performing around 1970 with an orchestra called Libyssa that played weddings, then passed through the groups "4 Adam" and "Sinyal". In 1978 he joined Kurtalan Ekspres as guitarist after Ohannes Kemer and stayed in the line-up until his death. Only his military service kept him off the 1985 album 24 Ayar. He also composed for Manço: "Al Beni" on Değmesin Yağlı Boya, "Gönül Ferman Dinlemiyor" on the following album and "Sakız Hanım - Mahur Bey", later also sung by Sezen Aksu, are his. The Kurtalan Ekspres discography includes Hal Hal (1981), the film score Fourteen Numara (1986) and, after Manço's death, 3552 (2003); he also sang pieces such as "Dönence" in his own voice. He also worked with Cem Karaca in the latter's last period.

Known for an experimental rock approach, he cited Western bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Genesis among his influences. He died of a heart attack on 6 August 2009 and was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.