Serdar Ortac

Serdar Ortac (born 16 February 1970) is one of the leading singers of the pop folk since 1990s. He is from Crimean Tatar origin.

Early life

He was born in Istanbul on 16 February 1970. He started his education in Kocamustafapaşa primary school and finished secondary school education in Suadiye Lisesi. After graduating from Haydarpaşa Technical High School, he studied American language & literature at Bilkent University; but he did not graduate.

Ortac was a famous radio DJ and he was working at a radio station when he composed his hit song Karabiberim. He shared a simple version of Karabiberim with his listeners during a live radio broadcast. Then the song became a major hit and also made Ortaç a superstar.

Career

His first album was the best selling album of the year by 2 million copies. His album, Çakra was the best selling album of 2004 as well.

He composes most of the songs in his albums. He composed more than 150 songs.

His songs can be heard in other singers' albums like Sibel Can, Hulya Avsar, Muazzez Abacı, Seren Serengil, Alişan, Ebru Gundes and Gülben Ergen. His songs have been released in many languages like Arabic, Greek, Russian and Armenian.

He hosted the TV show "With Serdar Ortaç" for three years which was chosen the best show program of the year at the 2003 Turkish Radio & TV awards.

He also released a book on January 2005 titled "Bu Sarkilar Kimin İçin?" ("Who are these songs for?") which contains his poems, memories and some lyrics.

Ortac has enjoyed a large fan base and high album sales for more than 10 years. He never got support from big artists as others had from Sezen Aksu, Nazan Öncel and other famous singer-songwriters.

His latest album Mesafe was released in 2006. The album contains hits like Dansöz ("The Belly Dancer"), Mesafe ("Distance"), Gitme ("Don't go") and Sor ("Ask").