Demet Akalın (born 23 April 1972) is a Turkish singer and former model. Thanks to the popular songs she has released since the middle of the 2000s, she has become one of the most recognizable names of Turkish pop music.

Akalın, who was born in Gölcük, Kocaeli, initially decided to pursue a career in modeling and started working as a model for Neşe Erberk’s agency. She also acted in a number of motion picture films and television series in the 1990s. Simultaneously with modeling, she started singing in the casinos, and released her first studio album, “Sebebim” in 1996 which was not successful. With the release of the album “Banane” in 2004, she became well-known in Turkey. The album’s lead single, “Aşkın Açamadığı Kapı”, earned Akalın a Turkey Music Award for the Song of the Year. “Kusursuz 19” (2006) received a gold certification from Mü-Yap and with the success of “Dans Et” (2008), she became one of the influential figures of Turkish pop music. Her album “Pırlanta” was the best-selling album in Turkey in 2015. Many of her songs, including “Afedersin”, “Mucize”, “Toz Pembe” and “Hayalet”, have been number-one hits in Turkey. Other songs such as “Tecrübe”, “Çanta”, “Olacak Olacak”, “Sabıka”, “İlahi Adalet” and “Ders Olsun” have ranked among the top 5 on Turkey’s music charts.

Akalın, who is considered by music critics to have created her own style, has frequently appeared on the cover of magazines and has been the subject of numerous tabloid reports. Since 2007, she has been in an on and off feud with Hande Yener, and their arguments are covered in the tabloids from time to time. After her marriages to Oğuz Kayhan in 2006 and Önder Bekensir in 2010 ended in divorce, she married Okan Kurt in 2012 and the couple’s first child Hira was born in 2014. The couple divorced in 2018. To this day, she has won two Golden Butterfly Awards and four Kral Turkey Music Awards, and has received numerous other awards and nominations.