ABBA

He is a singer born in Istanbul, Turkey, to a family where his father was a journalist. He as raised in London, England from the time he was six until his father’s job took the family to New York when he was twelve.

He began to gain a strong interest in music after listening to music and records with his father while you, specifically jazz, and taught himself to play the piano when he was fourteen. This led to him entering the Mannes College of Music and then post graduate studies in Los Angeles’ Pepperdine University. Showing a real talent for singing he was persuaded to take a voice class while at the University and the result was him being name “the most talented vocalist in the school” by his Professor.

In 1980 he began performing in various jazz clubs with a trio that he had established and he wasn’t long before he managed to gain attention. This resulted in him singing in a concert for the United Nations and gaining the accolade of being dubbed “the new Frank Sinatra”.

The 1980s would prove to be continually busy for him with 1982 seeing him perform with Eartha Kitt at the Lincoln Center and in 1983 he landed a deal for his own television show which ran locally until 1985. Also in 1985 he was an American representative at The Golden Butterfly International Music.

In the 1990s he gave a much acclaimed performances at venues such as The Lighthouse and more recently he has worked on a solo CD with the composer Larry Meyers.

His career has resulted in him working with a 50-piece orchestra and having arrangements done for him by some of the top orchestrators and composers in the business that include Quincy Jones Billy May, Johnny Mandel and Nelson Riddle among others. His solo album Memories of You is a tribute to classic hits from the past and it was released with a bonus video of him in concert.

Sources: