Pianist, voice artist, doyen of tavern music (B. August 17, 1941, Izmir
D. January 28, 2013, Istanbul). He was born from the marriage of Cretan
immigrant Hasan Ozbegen and a Catholic Armenian woman from Ankara, Afet (Anita)
Özbeğen. He was a student at Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics. He sang
songs with a la Turca style and tavern music mostly. He was recognized with
1965 Golden Microphone Contest organized by Hürriyet newspaper. His albums “Yaşadıkça”, “Bir Sır Gibi” and “Seviyorum Delicesine” were very popular. He had 26 albums. Ferdi
Özbeğen has 12 years long cancer treatment and he died on August 17, 2013 in
Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital.
Ferdi Ozbegen was very popular in 1980s with his songs generated by his
close friend Ulku Aker writing Turkish lyrics to foreign songs. His first long
play was "45 Dakika" which was issued in 1977. Then he received a
golden LP with "Sohbet". And he won Platin LP and Golden Piano awards
with his album named "Mutluluklar" in 1980. His famous songs were ‘Eskimeyen Dost’, ‘‘Kandil’, ‘Bir Gülü Sevdim’, ‘Bir Sevgi İstiyorum’.
REFERENCE: Ferdi Özbeğen’i kaybettik (gazetevatn.com, 29 January 2013),
Ali Rıza Türker / Şöhret Dediğin - Ferdi Özbeğen'in Hayatı (2013), Türkiye
Yazarlar Birliği / Türkiye Kültür Sanat Yıllığı (2014).
