Ahmet Kaya was a Turkish artist of Kurdish ethnicity born in Malatya (Turkey) in 1957. He was one of the leading singers of the Turkish protest music movement and an award-nominated popular singer. He was a productive musician with close to 20 albums in his lifetime and several others have been released since his death in in France in 2000. Later in his life, he was outspoken about his Kurdish ethnicity. At the time of his death in France, he was an outlaw in Turkey, charged with several crimes associated with Kurdish terrorist groups.
Ahmet Kaya was the last born in a family of five children. He stated playing guitar when he was 9 years old. After his family's migration to Istanbul, he studied in the junior high school, however, soon after, he decided to become a professional musician. His debut album, "Ağlama Bebeğim" (Don't Cry Baby), has barely cleared the censoring agency, and the controversy provided publicity at the beginning of his career.
Ahmet Kaya's first widely popular album was Şafak Türküsü, made in 1985. His album called Şarkılarım Dağlara sold close to 3 million.
Although he sang mostly in Turkish, he made a few songs in Kurdish as well. When he died of a massive heart attack in 2000, he was 42 years old.
Biography in Turkish 5 çocuklu bir işçi ailesinin en küçük üyesi olan Ahmet Kaya ilkokulu Malatya'da okudu ve 9 yaşında muzige merak saldı. Ailesinin İstanbul'a göç etmesiyle ortaöğretimden sonra muzisyenligi profesyonelliğe dökmeye karar verdi. Çıkardığı Ağlama Bebeğim albümünün sansürden geçmesinin gazetelere yansıması, eserin duyulmasını sağladı ve album büyük bir beğeni topladı.
Geniş kitlelere ulaşmasını sağlayan albüm, 1985 yılında yaptıgı Şafak Türküsü oldu. 1990'lara değin özgün çizgisinden ayrılmadı. Ancak albümlerinde piyasaya yönelik çalışmalara da yer verdi. Şarkılarım Dağlara albümü 2.800.000 basildi. 1990'ların sonuna değin çıkardığı albümler listebaşı oldu.
Albumlerinin cogu Turkce olmasina karsin Kurtce sarkilar da seslendirmistir. Masif bir kalp krizi sonucu 42 yasinda vefat etmistir.
