Gaye Su Akyol

Gaye Su Akyol — Biography

Gaye Su Akyol (born 30 January 1985 in Istanbul) is a Turkish singer and painter. Her father is the painter Muzaffer Akyol. She studied anthropology at Yeditepe University between 2002 and 2007, and after graduating she first pursued painting, holding exhibitions both in Turkey and abroad. Drawn to music since middle school, she played in the bands Mai, Toz ve Toz and Seni Görmem İmkânsız — the latter alongside Tuğçe Şenoğul — before embarking on a solo career.

Her solo debut Develerle Yaşıyorum appeared in 2014, followed by Hologram İmparatorluğu (2016), İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir (2018) and Anadolu Ejderi (2022). She is known for a distinctive style that merges Anatolian traditions with Western sounds, and in 2017 she wrote songs for Ferzan Özpetek's film Red Istanbul. The world music magazine Songlines named her best artist of 2019. She counts Selda Bağcan and Nirvana among her inspirations, is an outspoken supporter of LGBTQI+ rights, and appeared in Volkan Güleryüz's 2020 documentary İris.