Kayahan

Kayahan
Background Information
Origin	İzmir, Turkey
Birth date	29 March 1949
Death date	3 April 2015
Age	66
Eurovision Song Contest
Country	Türkiye
Year	1990
Song	Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim
Semi Position	--
Semi Points	--
Final Position	17th
Final Points	21

Kayahan Açar, better known by his first name only, was a Turkish singer-songwriter.

He was born in  İzmir, Turkey; however, he spent most of his youth in Ankara before moving to Istanbul. Kayahan released his debut single in 1971; due to a lack of commercial success, he took a hiatus until 1978, releasing one album at the time. Then, he submitted a song in Turkey's national final for the chance to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 in Paris, but it didn't make it to the final five. He also submitted songs in 1980, 1984, and 1987, to no avail.

Despite this, Kayahan became a big name due to his composing skills. His songs "Geceler" ("Nights"), "Kar Taneleri" ("Snow Flakes"), "Esmer Günler" ("Brunette Days"), which were sung by Nilüfer, became well-known classics in Turkey, with the former winning the Altın Portokal at the 1986 International Mediterranean Music Contest.

He finally got his chance to represent Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 in Zagreb with the self-penned Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim, which placed 17th on the night. Despite this, his album, Yemin Ettim, which was released the following year, was a major success. A number of successful albums followed, with the 1995 Allah'ım Neydi Günahım ("God, what was my sin") becoming a highly-covered song in the country. In addition, he won a number of awards and toured across Turkey and abroad.

Along with his success as a singer-songwriter, he also sung for a number of children's shows beginning in 1986.

Kayahan survived cancer twice, in 1990 and 2005. In 2014, he was afflicted with the disease for the third time; he died a year later on April 3, a few days after his 66th birthday.