Hande Yener

Hande Yener — Biography

Hande Yener, born Makbule Hande Özyener (12 January 1973, Kadıköy, Istanbul), is one of the best-known names in Turkish pop music, active since the early 2000s as a singer and songwriter. Barred by her family from attending a conservatory, she enrolled at Erenköy Girls High School but left before finishing; introduced to Sezen Aksu by Hülya Avşar, she worked for a time as Aksu's backing vocalist before releasing her debut album "Senden İbaret," produced with Altan Çetin, in 2000. This was followed by the MÜ-YAP-certified "Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma..." (2002), "Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor" (2004) and "Apayrı" (2006); with "Nasıl Delirdim?" (2007) she shifted toward electronic music, a period that still produced chart hits such as "Kırmızı," "Kelepçe" and "Romeo."

Although her electronic-era albums won critical praise, their more modest commercial performance led her to change record labels twice before she returned to pop with "Hande'ye Neler Oluyor?" in 2010. Songs from later albums "Mükemmel" (2014) and "Hepsi Hit" (2016–17), including "Bodrum," "Naber," "Sebastian" and "Beni Sev," became some of the year's most popular hits. Frequently compared to Madonna for her image and stage presence, Yener was one of the few Turkish artists of the 2000s to sell over a million copies of a single album, and in 2013 she was the most-viewed Turkish singer on YouTube. In the second half of the 2010s she also branched into business, periodically operating nightclubs and beach clubs, and she has won dozens of honors over her career, including five Golden Butterfly Awards and four Kral Turkey Music Awards.