The first man to be portrayed on the front-page of the Cosmopolitan Magazine, today Tarkan fills arenas with 100,000 people. With his hypnotic voice Tarkan has achieved the title of the King of Pop. With his stage show he especially bewitches the female fans, stripping his clothes off his body, swinging his hips and singing about love and passion.
But fame does not come cheap. Tarkan has had to bounce back from many setbacks.
While Tarkan was busy being popular in Europe, Turkish newspapers reported that he might be stripped of his citizenship by November 1998, because he had failed to complete his military service. An 18-month service is compulsory for every Turkish male, and Tarkan should have done this in November 1998. Due to his success in western Europe, however, Tarkan refused to start his service. Efforts to make him an honorary cultural ambassador for Turkey and thus postpone his military service failed.
Then came the tragic earthquake in Turkey on Aug. 17. Tarkan was on the agenda once again, offering a massive donation for the earthquake victims whilst trying to avoid discussing the subject of military service. Towards the end of 1999 a new law was passed permitting many young Turkish men to do military service for 32 days, as opposed to the traditional 18 months, provided they paid DM 15,000 to benefit the earthquake victims. Tarkan, like many other pop stars, had fallen into this group as well. And in March, he completed his 28-day military service.
But the problems did not end there. He was blackmailed over phootgraphs stolen from his New York home that supposedly showed him naked with other men and his pop video where he kisses his leading lady was almost banned for "indecency".
Plus he has had many setbacks in his professional career with management problems and an English album which has been put on hold for over 8 years.
And through it all his fans have never deserted him! He is a true SUPER BOY!
