Bendeniz

Bendeniz — Biography

Bendeniz is one of the best-known faces of 1990s Turkish pop. Born Deniz Çelik, she broke through at once with her 1993 debut album and the song Ya Sen Ya Hiç; her "Lampshade Girl" image and hairstyle also made her a fashion symbol of the decade. In 2026 she is back in the music conversation with the single Matmazel.

Born in Zurich to a family from Konya, she attended Erenköy Girls High School, then studied at an office-administration vocational college in Switzerland, and on returning to Turkey played football for a while with Dostlukspor. A song she sang at a friend's birthday drew the attention of Raks Müzik. The video for Ya Sen Ya Hiç got through the Turkish heats of MTV Europe's Euro Video Grand Prix and finished 11th in the 1994 final, and is described as the first Turkish video aired on MTV. In 1995 she won a gold record award in a competition run by a French TV channel. Bendeniz II (1995) is regarded as her best album, while the Anatolian-rock-flavoured Bendeniz III (1996) moved to a harder sound. In 1997 she produced Volkan Akyol's album and sang the duet Adını Koydum with him.

Later came Bendeniz'den, Kurtulamıyorum, Zaman, Demedim mi and Aşk Yok mu Aşk; on the 2006 album Değiştim she duetted with Kolçak again after twelve years. After Olsun (2009) and Benden İzler (2011), she released the single Evlenilir Mi Bu Zamanda in 2023.