Şenay (singer)

Şenay Yüzbaşıoğlu
Birth name	Şenay Ekiz
Also known as	Şenay
Born	1951 İstanbul, Turkey
Origin	Turkey
Died	4 January 2013 İstanbul, Turkey
Genres	Anatolian rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, musician
Years active	1968-1981

Şenay Yüzbaşıoğlu (1951 – 4 January 2013), commonly known as Şenay, was a Turkish singer-songwriter.

Life

Şenay Ekiz was born in İstanbul in 1951. In 1971, she married Şerif Yüzbaşıoğlu, a musician. Following her marriage she became one of the most active singers of Turkey. In addition to music, she made a name in politics by supporting Bülent Ecevit, the leader of the Republican People's Party.

After her husband's death in 1981, she almost abandoned music. She spent her last days in her brother's house in İstanbul, and died of respiratory failure on 4 January 2013. She was survived by a brother and a sister, Halil İbrahim Ekiz and Şaziye Çataloğlu, respectively.

Career

Although she began singing in 1969, her first hit, Sev Kardeşim, was in 1971, and became the song of the year. She produced a series of 45 rpm records, among which Hayat Bayram Olsa and Açıl Susam Açıl were most popular ones. In 1975, she represented Turkey in the Golden Orpheus international song contest in Bulgaria, where she ranked third.

She tried to participate twice, in the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contests. But in 1975, she withdrew due to her husband's membership in the professional jury. In 1981, she dropped the project after the death of her husband. The song Bigudi was sung by Füsun Önal in the contest and became the second after the song by Ayşegül Aldinç and the Modern Folk Üçlüsü. One of her songs, "Honki Ponki", released in 1980, was a protest song. "Honki Ponki" appeared in top lists of various European countries.

45 rpm discography

Name	Year
Ayrılalım Ağlamadan-Sil Gözyaşlarını	1968
Sen de İç Benimle-Sakla Kimse Görmesin	1969
Çapkın Adam-Beni Sevmekten Korkma	1970
Benim olursan-Sev Kardeşim	1971
Nerdeyiz-En Büyük Şansın Yaşıyor Olman	1972
Hayat Bayram Olsa-Nen Var Canım Kardeşim	1973
Beyaz Ülke-Gerçek Nerede	1974
Açıl Susam Açıl-Ve Ağlıyorum	1975
Varlar Yoklar-Dön Artık	1975
Sessiz Bir Yer -Dünden Bugüne	1977
Honki Ponki-Honkey Ponkey	1980
I address you-Who were you	1980 ?

Album discography

Name	Year
Шенай / Şenai (Balkanton/Bulgaria)	1979
Şenay (Honki Ponki) (EMI/ Turkey)	1980