Composer, vocal artist (B. January
21st,1939, Bursa- D. November, 2000, Istanbul). He was the husband of vocal
artist, Ulviye Ayla Gürses (Özben). His father was an officer at Ziraat Bank, Nasuhi
Bey and his mother is Müeyyet Cevriye Hanım.
His father Nasuhi Bey was a talented
lute player. He especially charmed the people while he was singing religious
songs. His elder sister, Cahide Hanım accompanied him with her beautiful voice
and the family members were holding music nights with the zither and lute. Because
of the assignment of his father to Bursa, he finished the primary school in
Yenişehir, Bursa. Then, the family returned to Bursa and he graduated from Çelebi
Mehmet Secondary School and Bursa Trade High School. Later, he graduated from
economics department of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences in
Ankara University (1961). In 1951, his
music career started when he was selected as Bursa Vocal King. He was selected
as “Interuniversity Voice King” in 1959. He passed the examination of
the Ankara Radio at the age of twenty. He ranked first in the entrance
examination of the State Opera in 1961 and worked there for a few months. During
those years, he sang his own songs in Kazablanka Night Club. He participated to
the “Golden Microphone” competition
by the Hürriyet newspaper in 1965 with
his own composition called “Gençliğe Veda”
and became first.
After the success in the Golden Microphone competition; Yıldırım
Gürses accelerated his works and he became one of the most prominent names of
the popular music. He became popular with his songs like; “Son Mektup”,
“Mazideki Aşk”, “Bir Kırık Kalp”, “Bir Garip Yolcu”, “Sonbahar Rüzgârları”.
At the beginning of 80s, he made a
new attempt together with the famous pop singer, Ajda Pekkan with an album
named “Affetmem Asla Seni.” The songs
in the album like “Dertliyim Arkadaş” and later “Eller Eller” and “Gül Dudaklım”
became hits. Some prominent songs of him are “Mevsimler Yas Tutup Çöller
Ağlasın”, “Liseli Kız”, “Çal Kanunum Çal”, “Mazideki Aşk”. His composition
of the poem of Arif Nihat Asya named Fetih
Marşı attracted great attention. One of his outstanding songs is “İçime hep hüzün doluyor” in the rast maqam.
Again, his album named “Hoş Sada” became a hit in Turkey in the 80s,
he gave very successful concerts, also performed in the musical named “Neşe-i
Muhabbet” together with Emel Sayın. The musical consisted of the songs of Yıldırım
Gürses and he was also the musical director. The musical broke the rating
records in Turkey.
He was founded and directed MESAM as
the president with his team in 1986. Thus, an organization was founded to
protect the rights of the composers and authors for the first time in Turkey
with the name Musical Work Owners Society of Turkey (MESAM).
Having released nearly 30 albums in
his life, he released a “best of” named “Anılarla Yıldırım” in 1999.
Considered
as the founder of the polyphonic music in Turkish Artistic Music, he died on 18th
November 2000 at the age of 62. He was buried in Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. He has more
than three hundred compositions and his best known songs were collected in an
album named “Anılarla Yıldırım”. He married
Ulviye Ayla Gürses who was also a vocal artist in 1961 and had a son named
Yıldırım Beyazıt Gürses.
WORKS:
İçime Hüzün Doluyor, Gençliğe Veda, Son Mektup,
Aşkın Bahardır, Senin Aşkına Doyum Olmaz, Gurbet, Bir Garip Yolcu, Feryat,
Eller, Affetmem Asla Seni, Güller Ağlasın, Sonbahar Rüzgârları, Sarsam Seni Gül
Dudaklım, Liseli Kız, Mazideki Aşk.