Müslüm Gürses

Personal life

He was born on 7 May 1953 in an adobe hut at Fıstıközü village in Halfeti district of Şanlıurfa Province, southeastern Turkey. His mother was Emine, his father Mehmet, a farmer. Müslüm was only three years old when the family migrated to Adana due to financial problems. There have been speculations that his family were Crypto-Armenians.

At the age of 13, Müslüm began singing in the cotton garden he was working in. In his childhood, he also worked as a tailor's and a cobbler's apprentice. In 1967, he participated in a song contest organized by Adana Family cotton Garden, and won the title. He then began to perform at Radio Çukurova. During this time, he adopted the surname Gürses, which means literally "stentorian voice".

In 1978, during a trip from Tarsus, Mersin to Adana, he was involved in a car accident. The crash scene was so terrible that he was assumed dead as he was pulled off the wreck, and therefore taken to the morgue instead of the hospital. After discovered by chance that he was alive, he was treated and underwent cranioplasty, getting a metal plate implemented for skull repair.

Another tragedy he experienced was that in addition to his brother's murder, his father murdered his mother. Mehmet Akbaş remarried after he was released from the prison. However, Müslüm Gürses remained all the time silent and resentful because of his father's doing.

In 1980, Müslüm Gürses was on a concert tour in Malatya, where Muhterem Nur (born 1932), already a well-known movie actress and singer, shared the stage with him. They started a quarrel during the evening. This became the beginning of the ever-lasting love between the two. The couple got married following after four years in 1986. He was her second husband.

Career

From 1967 on, he performed live türkü, Turkish folk songs, regularly on Saturdays within the state-owned radio station of TRT Adana-Çukurova. His debut record single "Emmioğlu/Ovada Taşa Basma" was released in 1968. The next year in 1969, he already landed a hit record titled "Sevda Yüklü Kervanlar/Vurma Güzel Vurma" released by Palandöken Records in Istanbul, which sold 300,000 copies.

After completing his conscription, he returned to Istanbul and successfully continued to record folk songs. He had 13 singles by label Palandöken, four by Bestefon, 15 by Hülya Records and finally two by Çin Çin Records. Müslüm Gürses stepped into Yeşilçam in the heyday of fanciful arabesque music, and starred in 38 movies singing songs in most of them.

Later in his life, Gürses's interest started to shift toward other musical genres. He included pop and rock music to his repertory, singing such titles as "Olmadı Yar" of Nilüfer, "Paramparça" of Teoman and "İkimizin Yerine" of Tarkan.

Müslüm Gürses mainly sang Turkish folk and Ottoman classical music in arabesque style. In his songs, he primarily expressed sorrow and painful feelings. He is considered a cult figure of Turkish folk music, and has a very dedicated group of fans, most of whom being young, low-income urban people, who call him "Müslüm Baba'" ("Papa Müslüm") affectionately.

Gürses had maybe the most interesting audience. At a time, his fans used to cut and bleed themselves using razor blades during his concerts. This phenomena led to Müslüm Gürses becoming a subject of scientific research at universities. For this reason, even intellectuals began to take an interest in him during the late 1990s.

Health issues

In November 2012, it was announced that Gürses was in critical condition following a heart bypass surgery he had undergone recently. On March 3, 2013 at 10:30, he died due to complications with his surgery and declining health during post-operative care. He had been in the intensive care unit continuously since his surgery. After a memorial ceremony held at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall the next day and subsequent religious funeral in the Teşvikiye Mosque, he was buried at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.

He is survived by his spouse Muhterem Nur and his stepmother Emine Akbaş.

Filmography

Ağlattı Kader - 1984

Amerikalılar Karadeniz'de 2 - 2006

Anlatamadım - 1983

Balans ve Manevra - 2005

Bağrı Yanık - 1980

Beleşçiler - 1986

Bir Akıllı Bir Deli - 2002

Bir Yıldız Doğuyor - 1984

Çare Sende Allah'ım - 1984

Çığlık - 1986

Dertler İnsanı - 1990

Dünya Boştur - 1990

Esrarlı Gözler - 2008

Garibanlar - 1984

Güldür Yüzümü - 1985

Hasret - 1980

İkizler - 1985

İsyankar - 1979

İtirazım Var - 1980

Kader Rüzgarı - 1986

Kısmetin En Güzeli - 1986

Kul Kuldan Beter - 1985

Kul Sevdasi - 1980

Küskünüm - 1986

Muhabbet Kuşları - 2002

Mutlu Ol Yeter - 1981

Oğlum - 1987

Ömerçip - 2002

Seher Vakti - 1986

Sev Yeter - 1984

Sevmemeli - 1988

Şov Bizinıs - 2011

Talihsizler - 1987

Töre - 1986

Yalnızlık Korkusu - 1988

Yaranamadım- 1985

Yıkıla Yıkıla - 1986

Zeytin Gözlüm - 1980

Composer

Soundtrack

1975 Müslüm Gürses 1 Çınçın Plak

1976 Müslüm Gürses 2 Çınçın Plak

1976 Öldürdüğün Yetmedi Mi Uzelli

1977 Müslüm Gürses 3 Çınçın Plak

1978 Müslüm Gürses 4 Çınçın Plak

1979 Gazla Soför Çınçın Plak

1980 Bağrıyanık Saner Plak

1980 Umutsuz Hayat Arma Müzik

1981 Esrarlı Gözler Emre Plak

1981 Mutlu Ol Yeter Modern Plak

1982 Müzik Ziyafeti Akdeniz Plak

1982 Tanrı İstemezse Uzay Plak

1983 Anlatamadım Kale Plakçılık

1983 Dertliler Meyhanesi Dünya Müzik

1984 Yaranamadım Elenor Müzik

1985 Güldür Yüzümü Elenor Müzik

1986 Gitme Elenor Müzik

1986 Sevda Yolu Elenor Müzik

1986 Yıkıla Yıkıla Elenor Müzik

1986 Küskünüm Bayar Müzik

1986 İlk Aşkım Son Sevgilim Çınar Müzik

1986 Hayatımı Sen Mahvettin Dünya Müzik

1987 Farketmez Uzelli Kaset

1987 Talihsizler Elenor Müzik

1988 Aldatılanlar Özbir Plak

1988 Dertler İnsanı Elenor Müzik

1988 Vefasız Alem Elenor Müzik

1988 Maziden Bir Demet Sedef Müzik

1989 Arabeskin Devleri Bayar Müzik Mine Koşan ile

1989 Bir Fırtına Kopacak Akdeniz Plak

1989 Bir Kadeh Daha Ver Sarp Müzik

1989 Mahsun Kul Elenor Müzik

1989 Müslüm Gürses Konseri Elenor Müzik Konser albümü

1990 Meyhaneci / Kırık Sazım Elenor Müzik

1990 Hüzünlü Günler Disco Plak

1990 Arkadaş Kurbanıyım Uğur Plak

1990 Güle Güle Git Bayar Müzik

1991 Bir Bilebilsen / Zalim Bayar Müzik

1991 Sen Nerdesin Ben Nerdeyim Bayar Müzik

1991 Yüreğimden Vurdun Beni Sarp Müzik

1991 Bir de Benden Dinleyin Elenor Müzik

1991 Her Şey Yalan Elenor Müzik

1991 Yaşamalısın Elenor Müzik

1992 Müslümce 92 Elenor Müzik

1993 Ah Gülüm Dünya Müzik

1993 Dağlarda Kar Olsaydım Elenor Müzik

1994 Senden Vazgeçmem Elenor Müzik

1994 İnsan - Kahire Resitali Uğur Plak

1995 Benim Meselem Elenor Müzik

1995 Bir Avuç Gözyaşı Elenor Müzik

1996 Topraktan Bedene (İsyanım Var) Elenor Müzik

1996 Şiirlerim Şarkılarım (Haklısın) Kılıç Müzik

1997 Sultanım İdobay

1997 Usta - Ne Yazar Elenor Müzik

1997 Nerelerdesin Elenor Müzik

1998 Müslüm Gürses Klasikleri Elenor Müzik Toplama albüm

1999 Arkadaşım Elenor Müzik

1999 Garipler Elenor Müzik

1999 Vay Canım Ulus Müzik

2000 Biz Babadan Böyle Gördük Ulus Müzik

2000 Zavallım Elenor Müzik

2001 Müslümce Türküler Elenor Müzik

2001 Sadece Elenor Müzik

2001 Yanlış Yaptım (Kaçamam Ki Kaderimden) Özdemir Plak

2001 Dünya Yalan Universal

2002 Açık Hava Konseri - 1 Universal Konser albümü

2002 Açık Hava Konseri - 2 Universal Konser albümü

2002 Açık Hava Konseri - 3 Universal Konser albümü

2002 Paramparça Bayar Müzik

2003 Yanarım Bayar Müzik

2003 İkimizin Yerine Dirlik Müzik

2004 Uyanma Zamanı (Kıyak Bitti) Kadırga Müzik

2005 Ayrılık Acı Bir Şey Görüntüevi

2005 Bakma Sun Müzik

2006 Gönül Teknem Seyhan Müzik

2006 Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever Pasaj Müzik

2009 Sandık Pasaj Müzik

2010 Yalan Dünya Pasaj Müzik

2013 Veda - Ervah-ı Ezelde Kadırga Müzik

2013 Baba Şarkılar Eflatun Müzik