Tarkan Tevetoglu was born in October 17, 1972 in Alzey, which is near Frankfurt in Germany.He has two brothers and three sisters. When Tarkan was 14 years old the father decided that they should go back to Turkey.

In Turkey he started studying at the Music High School in Karamursel where he worked together with famous and successful Turkish composers. After that, he continued his musical education in Istanbul. At the age of 16, he already performed in Turkish bars and clubs to earn his pocket money.

In 1993, Tarkan and his family were still having problems adjusting to the Turkish way of life and decided to move back to Germany. Tarkan would have moved too and would probably have been living an anonymous life over there, if it hadn't been for Mehmet Sogutoglu. He is the owner of Istanbul Plak, one of the most succesful record companies in Turkey. Someone gave him a demo cassette with Tarkan's songs and he liked it instantly. If he would have reacted a few days later, Tarkan would already have moved back to Germany and his life would have taken a complete different direction.

After having met Mr. Sogutoglu, who is still his producer, Tarkan's musical carreer started. His debut album "Yine sensin" (Again without you) was released in December 1993 and it sold over 700.000 copies. The second album "Aacayipsin" (You are wonderful) was released in May 1994, and sold over 2.000.000 copies in Turkey and 700.000 copies in Europe, which hadn't been accomplished by any other Turkish pop star before.

Tarkan broke sales records and rose to the top of the Turkish rock- and popscene. He was constantly in the media's attention. His life was documented on every frontpage and every TV programme. In fact, he was the first male ever to appear on the cover of the Turkish Cosmpolitan. Finally, he had the succes he always dreamed of, but as we all know, succes has its price. When he couldn't take a step without a bodyguard and the paparazzies following him around, Tarkan decided to move to the United States at the end of 1994.

When Tarkan came to New York he started studying English and continued that for two years at the Baruch College in New York. As a result, he speaks fluent English today.
Ahmet Ertegun, who is the founder of the giant record company Atlantic Records, was eager to support Tarkan in becoming the first Turkish top act in America. He heard Tarkan perform in Istanbul, and immediately knew that he could reach the top in America too. This is also one of the reasons Tarkan moved to New York. Rumour's say that he will probably release his first album in English soon.