Özkan Uğur, one of Turkey’s most celebrated musicians as member of the band MFÖ, has sadly died from cancer at the age of 69.
Uğur was part of the group MFÖ since 1979, and the trio represented Turkey in Eurovision twice, winning two national finals to do so. The first instance was in 1985 with “Didai Didai Dai”, finishing 14th with 36 points. They returned to represent Turkey three years later, finishing 15th in 1988 with “Sufi”.
The band released eleven albums between 1984 and 2017, and their influence in the Turkish music industry also saw their songs covered in concert many times by some of Turkey’s biggest stars. They were also voted “Best Group” at the 2003 Kral TV Video Müzik awards.
Uğur performed in a number of other bands, such as Kurtalan Ekspres which he co-founded in 1972, and his early beginnings with the Şerif Yüzbaşıoğlu Orchestra as a bass guitarist.
Having first being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013, Uğur suffered from the disease on three occasions, sadly passing away on the third occasion on 8th July 2023.
Our thoughts and best wishes are with Özkan Uğur’s family, friends and bandmates at this sad time.
