Yener was born in Kadıköy, Istanbul. After finishing her middle school she decided to go to a conservatory, but after facing objections from her family, she enrolled in Erenköy Girls High School. She left the school while in the second grade and got married. To achieve her dream of becoming a singer, she tried to get in contact with Sezen Aksu, and while she was working as a shop assistant she met Hülya Avşar who later introduced her to Aksu.
She worked as Aksu's backing vocalist for a while, before working with Altan Çetin who helped her with preparing her first studio album, Senden İbaret, which was released in 2000. She later released the MÜ-YAP certificated album Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma... (2002), followed by Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor (2004) and Apayrı (2006).
These albums made her one of the successful artists inside Turkey in the 2000s. With the album Nasıl Delirdim? (2007), she shifted her style to electronic music and distanced herself from pop music for a while. During this period, which formed the first decade of her career, many of her songs became hits, including "Yalanın Batsın", "Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma...", "Acele Etme", "Kırmızı", "Kelepçe", "Aşkın Ateşi", "Kibir" and "Romeo".
Although Yener's electronic songs received critical praise, she suffered commercial loss compared to her previous works, which resulted in several problems with her producing partners, causing a change in the production company and label twice. Hence, Yener's era of electronic music ended in a few years and with the pop album Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? (2010) she returned to pop music charts.
The pop albums released in this phase of her career were often compared to her initial albums, and although they received mixed reviews in general, many of their songs, especially those from Mükemmel (2014) and Hepsi Hit Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2016–17) topped the music charts in Turkey. Among these songs were "Bodrum", "Ya Ya Ya Ya", "Naber", "Sebastian", "Mor", "Bakıcaz Artık" and "Beni Sev".
Throughout her career, Yener has been influenced by a number of artists, including Madonna to whom her image, clips and performances were often compared. In the 2000s, she was one of the few artists who had an album that sold over 1 million copies in Turkey. In 2013, she was the Turkish singer whose music videos were viewed the most on YouTube.
By the end of the 2000s, she was known as a gay icon inside Turkey, and made some statements demanding the advancement of LGBT rights in Turkey, but she became the target of criticism after being silent about LGBT issues in the following years. In the second half of the 2010s, she expanded the scope of her work and worked periodically as the operator of various night clubs.
Yener has received five Golden Butterfly Awards, as well as four Kral Turkey Music Awards and has received various other awards and nominations.
Life and career
1973–99: Early life and career beginnings
"I used to think that I couldn't make music. That is why I decided to form a family instead. Then I started to have a crisis during my marriage. I started asking myself a question, 'why am I unhappy?' I loved working in the store, but nothing would reduce my energy. I had to do more, I've always had this energy inside me and limiting it had made me sad.
When I was home, I would start to be an unhappy person. So I spoke to my then-husband, my son's father. He reacted in a normal way, and said 'do it'"
Makbule Hande Özyener was born on 12 January 1973 in Kadıköy, Istanbul. She is the younger of Yıldız Yazıcı (c. 1942 – 16 March 2024) and Erol Özyener's (1934 – 30 December 2012) two daughters, being five years younger than her elder sister.
Her first name was chosen as Makbule, after her paternal grandmother. She had an economically moderate family. Her mother, Yıldız, was a housewife, while her father, Erol, worked as a professional football player for a while, and later worked at Ford Otosan. Yener grew up in Erenköy, Kadıköy, and since an early age made it known that she wished to become a singer.
After finishing middle school, she decided to go to a conservatory, but faced objections from her family, who sent her to Erenköy Girls High School instead. She left the school at the second grade, about which she later said: "My citizenship teacher was obsessed with me, on top of that I hated literature, I didn't even go to the exam sessions.
My music grades were always 10 though." After her father fell ill with alcoholism, her parents divorced when she was 17 years old, and Yener later said that it caused her "great sufferings". She married customs broker Uğur Kulaçoğlu in 1990 in Fatih. In the same year, her son Çağın was born in October. As she got older, Yener and her husband Uğur began to have disagreements on various issues. The couple eventually divorced in 1994.
During this period, she began to meet music mentor Erdem Siyavuşgil, who said that she had the potential of becoming a soloist. Yener later began to take singing lessons and made numerous efforts to get in contact with Sezen Aksu. Subsequently, she began working as a sales representative at the Mudo store in Suadiye, knowing that many artists would pass by the store, and that way she could "reach Aksu through the celebrities" who would shop in the store.
She later found Aksu's phone number, and left her notes everyday, asking her for a chance to become her backing vocalist, but did not receive any response. Many singers who came to the store, including Nilüfer, Şehrazat and Sertab Erener, left her wish for contacting Aksu unanswered. Yener started to lose her hope of becoming a singer, until she met Hülya Avşar, who promised her that she would make an appointment for her with Aksu.
In April 1993, Yener met Aksu through Avşar's help, and performed the songs "Yalnızlık Senfonisi" and "Oyun Bitti" for Aksu during the meeting. After winning Aksu's favor, she began working for her and for two years served as her backing vocalist and assistant. In December 1994, she made her television debut as a vocalist in Cem Özer's program Laf Lafı Açıyor.
To work in bars, she stopped working for Aksu and for a number of years performed at various places in Turkey. To prepare her first album, she contacted Aksu again and started the preparation process. With Aksu's recommendation, she signed a contract with DMC.
2000–03: Senden İbaret and Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma...
Hande Yener's first studio album Senden İbaret was produced by Ercan Saatçi and released by DMC on 31 May 2000. Thus Yener became the first female vocalist introduced to the market by DMC. The album's preparations lasted for a year, and its songs were written by Altan Çetin. Yener described the album's style as "neither Western nor Arabesque, just Turkish pop".
Various Turkish newspapers started making predictions about the outcome of her collaboration with Altan Çetin, a well-known songwriter who had previously worked with İzel. Columnists said that Yener would "sit on İzel's throne", in response to which Yener said that she was different from İzel. Yener also made it clear that the album was initially meant to be prepared for İzel, but after she got into troubles with DMC, the original project was set aside. Senden İbaret's lead single "Yalanın Batsın", became the first song for which a music video was released.
The song became a hit inside Turkey in summer 2000 and successfully topped the music charts. Yener herself was surprised with the outcome saying: "I believed that I would succeed. But I was really surprised and immensely happy with the rapid development of everything." Hürriyet wrote that Yener had made a great debut and named her as one of the shining stars of the year.
Following the release of a music video for "Yalanın Batsın", separate clips were also released for "Bunun Adı Ayrılık" and "Yoksa Mani". Yener was put in danger of freezing while filming the music video for "Bunun Adı Ayrılık". In 2000, she won the Best Newcomer award at the Golden Butterfly Awards, and the music video for "Yalanın Batsın" was awarded with the Best Music Video award together with Candan Erçetin's music video for "Elbette".
At the award ceremony organized by Akademik Bakış magazine and later at the 2001 Kral TV Video Music Awards, Yener received the Best Female Newcomer award. Magazin Journalists Association chose her as the Promising Female Singer. Yener also appeared in the album Türk Marşları, prepared by Gendarmerie General Command together with Turkish pop singers and released at the end of 2000.
She performed the song "Biz Atatürk Gençleriyiz" in the album. For her first EP, Extra, which was released in 2001, she included new versions of the songs from her first studio album Senden İbaret. Meanwhile, she made a guest appearance in one of the episodes of Show TV's series Dadı.
In the early 2002, Yener began a relationship with basketball player Kemal Tunçeri. She also appeared in the commercials for Ülker's Petit-Beurre. In February 2001, Yener announced that she was working on a new album, and her second studio album Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma... was released in July by Erol Köse Production.
Radioman Michael Kuyucu praised the album by describing it as "a perfect work by Yener, who showed the same success again", while Milliyet's Naim Dilmener also noted that the album had made "a big noise" in the market upon its release as if it "has brought together the works of all the prominent female Turkish pop singers in one place". "Sen Yoluna...
Ben Yoluma..." became a hit and following the release of a music video for it, the songs "Şansın Bol Olsun", "Evlilik Sandalı" and "Küs" were turned into music videos as well. The album sold more than one million copies and received a platinum certification from MÜ-YAP. At the 2003 Kral TV Video Music Awards, Hande Yener won the Best Female Pop Artist award, and Sen Yoluna...
Ben Yoluma... was awarded as the Best-Selling Album. Magazine Journalists Association also chose "Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma..." as the Song of the Year. In 2017, Hürriyet's music critics published a list of Turkey's Best 100 Albums, on which Sen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma... ranked 81st. During that period, Yener played in the commercials for Filli Boya in June 2002, and in July presented one episode of the TV program Pazar Keyfi.
From March to June 2003, she presented her own TV program Hande Yener Show on Star TV. In the same year, she dated businessman Moris Kohen for a while.
2004–06: Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor and Apayrı
Yener's third studio album was recorded in Hamburg and Istanbul, and was released under the title Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor in July 2004 by Erol Köse Production. Yener later said that she had become more professional while working on this album and "I listen to the songs while being played by guitar with all my soul and feelings, as a listener.
If I like it myself, I'll give it a thumbs-up. I mean, questions like 'Does it become a hit, how much will it sell?' do not pop up in my head. I don't put myself in the mindset that we are preparing this album for Hande Yener. The team also worked with the same energy, very intensely, everyone put their most precious and valuable songs together for this album.
All the songs they made were very successful and they were songs that could be considered classic in terms of quality. They just gave me the songs that matched with my style." The album was well-received and found successful by music critics. The hit songs "Acele Etme", "Kırmızı" and "Acı Veriyor" were all turned into music videos, followed by separate clips for "Armağan", "Hoşgeldiniz" and "Bu Yüzden". "Acele Etme", "Kırmızı" and "Acı Veriyor" became number-one hits on many radio's music lists. Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor sold 400,000 copies in 2004, and received a gold certification from MÜ-YAP.
At an award ceremony organized by İstanbul FM, the album received the Golden Album award. From 20 to 21 August 2005, Yener gave concerts at Rumelihisarı with the help of Italian dancer and director Luca Tommassini.
For her fourth studio album, Yener chose "songs that were in harmony with her voice." The album, titled Apayrı, was released by Erol Köse Production in January 2006. Yener classified the album as an alternative pop album, and later discussed her change of music style in this album: "Some people are made unhappy when doing something new, they don't like it or think they don't need it.
But in my opinion, my job is a work that requires change. As the technology progresses, the sound effects also change so quickly, it was indispensable that I had to be part of this change. I stand behind every album that I've ever made, but it's not possible to develop by making similar things again and again. The albums and clips I've made so far have caused surprise at first and then they have been accepted." Some critics described the album as a turning point in Yener's career and, compared to her previous albums, found European elements inside her new works, categorizing the album as not only a pop album, but also an album that consists of house, R&B, and rock songs as well.
Some music critics reacted negatively to Yener's style change, while others found it successful. Hürriyet's Tolga Akyıldız said that the album was based on the Western dance infrastructure. "Kelepçe", "Aşkın Ateşi" and "Kim Bilebilir Aşkı" were the songs from this album for which separate music videos were released. Apayrı sold 165,000 copies in 2006 and received a gold certification from MÜ-YAP. Apayrı won the Best Album award at the 2007 PowerTürk Music Awards.
NTV later named Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor and Apayrı as the two of Turkey's best albums in the 2000s. In September 2006, Yener released another version of Apayrı in the form of an EP titled Hande Maxi. The song "Biraz Özgürlük" from this EP was turned into a music video, and received the Best Music Video award at the 2007 Kral TV Video Music Awards.
2007–09: Nasıl Delirdim?, Hipnoz and Hayrola?
Following Eurovision Song Contest 2007, the TRT committee contacted producer Erol Köse, asking him to clarify whether he's open to having Yener represent Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, to which he agreed. After a while, the TRT announced that no bid was offered to anyone for the contest. Yener's producer Erol Köse said in a press release that the singer had received a preliminary offer to join the Eurovision from TRT, but as he had hastily reacted and announced it before TRT, they denied that they had given him such offer. Köse added that they had then rejected the informal proposal for Eurovision following the earlier events.
In May 2007, Yener's fifth studio album Nasıl Delirdim? was released. 72,000 copies were pre-ordered before its release, and Yener changed her music style to the electronic music with this album. Her transition from pop to electronic music brought out some negative reviews. She responded to the criticism by saying: "To make everyone happy is so hard, even impossible.
It is not the right thing to do something that pleases everyone. First of all you need to please yourself and show your music quality. It doesn't really appeal to me to do something that's produced and consumed instantly." Music website Gerçek Pop gave the album 5 out of 5, and some critics gave positive reviews for the album.
The song "Kibir (Yanmam Lazım)", written and composed by Sezen Aksu, was chosen as the album's lead single and a music video was released for it. The second music video was released for the song "Romeo", which was written for her then-boyfriend Kadir Doğulu, and he also appeared in the music video. Both of these songs became hits and topped music charts in Turkey.
Just like the two previous albums, Nasıl Delirdim? was chosen by NTV as one of Turkey's best albums in the 2000s. İstanbul FM awarded the album as the Best Pop Album by a Female Artist. In August 2007, Yener became engaged to Kadir Doğulu.
In 2007, Yener had an argument with various other singers after she used the term "grocery music" and her name started to appear in court cases and lawsuits. Due to these arguments, her feud with Demet Akalın started and their fight became among the hot topic of tabloids for years. After being compared to Akalın in an interview, Yener made a response which eventually started the feud and said: "I do Western music, so I can not compete with those who make fantasy music.
What Demet does is not similar to my style." Akalın continued the argument by saying: "If she does not like me, why is she after my works? It is obvious that she takes all the works that I don't like or refuse to do for herself." Yener subsequently took a case to the court asking for ₺50,000 on the grounds that Akalın had insulted her and attacked her verbally, but the court said that they did not find any insult in Akalın's words.
Akalın later won ₺10,000 in the court in a case against Yener. At the same time, Serdar Ortaç talked about other singers, saying that he does not prefer "Neither Hande, nor Mustafa [Sandal]! Bengü is the best." to which Yener responded: "I'm not making music only for commercial purposes and I don't make a music that can't be understood.
I don't want to be compared to those who make 'grocery music'." Yener's definition of grocery music to describe the songs that she found to be of poor quality came with responses from various people including Akalın, Bengü and Ortaç. Bengü found Yener's statements wrong and said: "If the most popular songs are grocery music based on what she said, then the songs that most probably fall in that category are her own songs." Istanbul Chamber of Groceries also reacted to Yener's statement, but the singer said that her description was only about music and she did not intended to humiliate grocery stores.
As the feud and arguments about the grocery music continued to grow, Ortaç made fun of Yener's song "Romeo" at one of his concerts, to which Yener responded by saying, "Serdar needs to find himself a Romeo." Ortaç filed a lawsuit against Yener, stating that her words were implying that he was "gay-homosexual and undermined his personal dignity".
He won the case and received ₺3,000 in compensation. Hürriyet chose the phrase 'grocery music' as one of the core words of 2007 and Sırma Karasu from Habertürk described the grocery music debate as one of the breaking points of Turkish pop music and said: "If the local pop has been taken outside of its cliché, it is with no exaggeration to say that it happened thanks to Yener's 2007 album Nasıl Delirdim? and her 'grocery music' polemic. ...
Other musicians and singers saw how electronic music applies to our domestic audience thanks to Yener's courage." In later years Erol Köse confessed that he included Bengü in the feud to enhance her reputation and that he planned parts of the feud himself.
In the early 2008, Yener produced Kemal Doğulu's first single "1 Yerde" and also appeared in its music video. She then released the final music video from Nasıl Delirdim? for the song "Yalan Olmasın". She also presented an episode of Show TV's program Pazar Keyfi. In May 2008, her sixth studio album Hipnoz was released by Erol Köse Production.
It sold 40,000 copies. During the same period she found the production company TPA (Turkish Pop Alternative) Production together with Kadir Doğulu. All of the songs in Hipnoz were written by Yener herself. Music critics reacted with both positive reviews and negative criticism to the album and wrote that the singer had moved away from pop music in this album.
The song "Hipnoz" from the album ranked 10th on Billboard Türkiye's Türkçe Top 20. After the song's music video was released, news surfaced that it had been banned by RTÜK. Yener made it clear that the news were not true and the video had not been banned from radio and TV, describing the situation as a conspiracy against herself.
However, the damage was already done and some channels refrained from broadcasting the music video. Later on, a document published by RTÜK revealed that no broadcast ban was applied to the clip. Events before and after this situation, caused Yener to end her contract with her production. As a result of further disputes, she terminated the album contract with the company by paying compensation, so that she left Erol Köse Production in a controversial manner.
On 1 November 2008, Yener signed a new album contract with Avrupa Müzik. In March 2009, her seventh studio album Hayrola? was released. She wrote seven songs in the album by herself, changed her style of writing and performed the songs with a more natural tone. Teoman was featured on the song "Arsız". Music critics found the album as an electronic music album with high quality and more successful than Hipnoz, but said it didn't have a song that could be as successful as "Romeo".
According to MÜ-YAP, the album sold 37,000 copies by June 2009. The album's lead single, also titled "Hayrola?", ranked 3rd on Turkey's Official Music Charts and its music video was directed by Kemal Doğulu. The withdrawal of the second music video of the album caused problems between Yener and Avrupa Müzik. Yener issued a warning to the company, saying that the second clip of the album could not be withdrawn, and unilaterally terminated the contract.
Avrupa Müzik later took the case to the court and demanded $10,000 from Yener for causing material damages and ₺50,000 for causing moral damages. As a result of the lawsuit, the court decided to pay Yener ₺20,000 from the company together with interest.
In late 2009, Yener announced that she had been diagnosed with swine flu and had already prepared a song to leave it behind after her death, but it was later announced that she was getting better. For the 2010 New Year, she appeared on NTV's special program and together with Müslüm Gürses performed the song "Sorma Ne Haldeyim".
2010–13: Hande'ye Neler Oluyor?, Teşekkürler and Kraliçe
Hande Yener's announcement at the end of 2009 that she would make pop music again created a sensation in the Turkish press and caused critics to question the decision. Sadi Tirak from Hürriyet attributed her return to pop based on the understanding that she could not make a revolution with her current style. It was later claimed in the news that the reason she had set electronic music aside was due to the falling number of her concerts and album sales.
However, Yener said these allegations were put forward by the producers, who aimed to make money, to try to punish her for trying a different style. She said that her return to pop music was because of her love for new changes, and that she had no desire to make an electronic album anymore. While the preparations were being done, in February 2010 she was forced to close her fan website handeyenerfanclub.com, after users began insulting her stylist Kemal Doğulu, which made Doğulu demand that it be closed immediately. Vatan later announced the title of the album's lead single, "Sopa".
In April, Yener ended her relationship with her fiancé Kadir Doğulu, whom she had dated since 2006. In the same month, her eighth studio album, which she said she had made for "both listening and playing in the clubs", was released under the title Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? by Poll Production. All of the songs in the album were written by Sinan Akçıl.
Music critics mentioned that Yener did not completely return to her old style with the album, and they had both positive and negative reactions to it. To promote the album, Yener appeared on Okan Bayülgen's program Medya Kralı in May 2010, but left it while it was airing live on TV. She later clarified that she left the program because "she could not make herself sing".
The album sold 80,000 copies in the year it was released, and two of its songs, "Sopa" and "Bodrum", became hits. On Turkey's Official Music Chart, "Sopa" ranked fourth, while "Bodrum" rose to number one. The album's first music video was released for both the songs "Sopa" and "Yasak Aşk" in a combined format. Following the release of this music video, the songs "Bodrum" and "Çöp" were turned into music videos as well.
İstanbul FM awarded "Bodrum" with the Best Lyrics, Song, and Composition award. "Çöp" was nominated for the Best Composition award at the 2011 Kral Music Awards. In September 2010, the remix album Hande'yle Yaz Bitmez was released, which included the remixed version of some of the songs found in Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? and the new song "Uzaylı". "Uzaylı" ranked third on Turkey's Official Music Chart. In December, Yener made a guest appearance in the New Year episode for Star TV's series Geniş Aile.
In April 2011, Yener appeared as the featured artist on two of Sinan Akçıl's songs from the album Kalp Sesi: "Atma" and "Söndürülmez İstanbul". In June 2011, after receiving the award for the Turkish Female Pop Music Soloist of the Year at the 38th Golden Butterfly Awards, she performed the song "Bana Anlat".
The song was in fact part of her ninth studio album Teşekkürler, which was released in September 2011 by Poll Production. Released as a nutshell for her 11th year of career, she said the album's genre was primarily pop. Teşekkürler was released as a result of Yener's experimentation with her style in her earlier projects.
All of the songs in the album were written and composed by Sinan Akçıl. Teşekkürler divided the minds of critics into two parts, some of whom described it as far-fetched and commented on how Yener had finally become a musician with a single and distinct style. "Bana Anlat", "Unutulmuyor", "Teşekkürler", "Havaalanı" and "Dön Bana" were the songs from this album for which separate music videos were released.
Sinan Akçıl was also featured on the song "Teşekkürler". According to MÜ-YAP, the album sold 59,000 copies in the year it was released.
In March 2012 she played in a commercial for Morhipo together with Demet Akalın. In the commercial, they engage in a competition to reach a new product, while fighting and dragging each other on the floor. In April 2012, together with Seksendört, Yener released a new version of the song "Rüya", originally performed by the group Ünlü.
In June, they released the remix album Rüya. "Rüya" was nominated as the Best Duet at the 2013 Turkey Music Awards, and won the Best Cover award at the award ceremony organized by Pal FM. Yener later performed the song "Kaderimin Oyunu" for the album Orhan Gencebay ile Bir Ömür, released in September in honor of Orhan Gencebay's 60th year of career.
Her own studio album, Kraliçe, was released on 12 December 2012. All of the album's songs were again written by Sinan Akçıl. Music critics criticized Yener, saying that the singer should do good works again such as the ones found in her previous album. The album's lead single "Hasta", ranked second on Turkey's Official Music Charts and was the first song from the album to get a music video. Kraliçe won the Best Album award at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Academy Awards, and Album of the Year award at the Magazine Awards, and sold 79,000 copies.
Yener stopped the album's promotion after her father's death on 30 December 2012, and did not perform anywhere for about two months.
