Tarkan (whose name means strong and very bold person) was born October 17, 1972 in Alzey, Germany, where he lived until the age of 15, when his family decided to move back to Turkey. There he started his classical music studies at the conservatories of Karamürsel and Istanbul. At 16 he was already performing in bars and clubs. In 1993, Tarkan meets the person that became his producer: Mehmet Sögütoglu, the owner of "Istanbul Records", one of the most important record companies in Turkey.

A STAR IS BORN

In less than a year, Tarkan became the most important star in turkish pop scene, thanks to his albums, "Yine Sensiz" (selling over 700,000 copies) and "Aacayipsin" (selling over 2 million copies). At the end of 1994, he moved to New York, where he studied English, and began to give an international dimension to his career.

TARKAN TAKES OVER EUROPE

His third album "Ölürüm Sana" was released in Turkey and in european countries like Germany, France, Belgium and England; he toured, filling important european venues. In March 1997 he toured with Sezen Aksu, turkish "queen of pop", with whom he has writen some songs (like "Simarik", first single of his latest album "Tarkan"). That same year, Tarkan was honored with the award to the "Most succesful artist of the year" by the turkish association of journalists, an award equivalent to the Grammy.

When the single "Simarik" became an instant hit in Europe, Universal Music France decided to release an album for the european market, compiling the best songs of Tarkan's second and third albums. The result is the album "Tarkan".

During the spring and summer of 1999, Tarkan toured in Germany, France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia, Russia and Australia. In May of that same year he received the award to the "Best selling turkish artist" in the World Music Awards, which got him worldwide attention, including Latin America.

HERE COMES TARKANMANIA

His last album unleashed a Tarkanmania in Latin America, especially in Mexico, where Universal Music requested a promotional tour to the region at the end of 1999. However, this visit had to be postponed until the second week of March 2000, because Tarkan should do his military service in Turkey. Military service lasts about 18 months, but a new law came into effect, which allows turkish men living abroad to pay a fee in order to reduce it to one month. For that reason, he could finish his military service in February 2000.

His visit to Mexico in March 2000 was incredible for Tarkan, for he couldn´t possibly ever imagine he had thousands of fans in a country so far away and different from his. He appeared on TV shows, radio, and gave some interviews, promising to return later this year to perform at a concert in Mexico City.