Ferdi Özbeğen, a renowned Turkish musician and pianist, has passed away following a respiratory failure on Monday at the age of 72. Özbeğen, who gave his last interview over the weekend, had said that he had been suffering from cancer for more than 12 years.
The so-called “Prince of Romaticism,” Özbeğen started his career by winning the 1965 “Golden Microphone” in a contest organized by daily Hürriyet. His fame peaked during the 1980s.
Over a four-decade-long career he produced hundreds of songs and adapted a number of western pop songs to Turkish, such as “La Boheme” by Charles Aznavour and “Hello” by Lionel Richie. In his last album, released in 2009 after a long hiatus, Özbeğen sang songs in six different languages.
