Bülent Ersoy (TR)
From Istanbul
Popularity
Bülent Ersoy has one upcoming show in the Netherlands: on October 25, 2026 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht.
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About
Also known as: Bulent Ersoy
Few Turkish singers carry the weight of cultural history quite like Bülent Ersoy. Known to fans simply as Diva or Abla, she built her reputation in the early 1970s by doubling down on classical Turkish music at a time when pop and arabesque dominated, and her LP of classical songs broke sales records that nobody expected. Over a career spanning more than thirty albums, she has given the world hits like "Ümit Hırsızı", "Geceler", "Beddua", and "Maazallah", the last of which became a massive hit after its 1997 release. Her story goes well beyond the music. Ersoy underwent gender reassignment surgery in London in 1981 and faced a stage ban, arrests, and very public condemnation from conservative Turkish authorities, yet she kept performing and became a lasting icon for the LGBTQ+ community in Turkey. She performed at Madison Square Garden in 1983, the first Turkish female singer to do so, and has also taken the stage at Olympia in Paris. Alongside her music she has built a substantial film career and spent years as a judge on the talent show Popstar Alaturka.
