Cem Karaca
Biography
Cem Karaca (1945-2004) was a prominent Turkish rock musician and one of the most important figures in the Anatolian rock movement.
Karaca was born on 5th April 1945. His first group was called Dynamites, and was a classic rock cover band. Later he joined Jaguars, an Elvis Presley cover band. In 1967, he started to write his own music, forming the band Apaşlar, his first Turkish-language group. In 1969, Karaca and bass-player Serhan Karabay left Apaşlar and started an original Anatolian group called Kardaşlar (Brothers).
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In 1972, Karaca joined the group Moğollar (Mongols), and wrote one of his best-known songs, "Namus Belası". However, Cahit Berkay, the leader of Moğollar, wanted an international name for his band, and he left for France to take the group to another level. Karaca, who wanted to continue his Anatolian beat sound, left Moğollar and started his own band Dervişan (Dervishes) in 1974. Karaca and Dervişan sang poetic and progressive songs.
He died on 8th February 2004 of heart and respiratory failure at the age of 58.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.