Rüçhan Çamay
Turkish singer (1931–2025)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rüçhan Çamay (Albanian: Rygjan Camaj; 1 May 1931 – 9 July 2025) was a Turkish singer and actress.
Life and career
Early life
Çamay was born in Istanbul, the daughter of a Circassian mother and an Albanian father.[1] At 12, she became a member of Ankara Radio Children's Club choir.[2] After studying piano and singing at the Ankara University State Conservatory, she started his professional career in 1947.[2]
Career
In the 1950s, Çamay collaborated with Istanbul Radio as a host of jazz programmes, and started appearing in films.[3] She is regarded as the first Turkish singer to perform on television, as in 1953, when television had not yet been introduced in Turkey, she was a guest of The Linkletter Show on CBS.[2][4] In 1968, she released her first album, Gölgen Yeter Bana ('Your Shadow is Enough for Me').[3] She reached the peak of her popularity in the mid-1970s, thanks to hit songs like "Para Parra Parrra" and "Ne Haber?".[3][5]
Personal life and death
In 1953, Çamay married the film director and producer Turgut Demirağ, with whom she had two daughters.[2] Her daughter Melike Demirağ became a popular political singer, but was banned from Turkey following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, and forced to relocate in West Germany; Çamay herself faced repercussions and was forbidden from leaving and traveling abroad.[6]
Çamay died on 9 July 2025, at the age of 94.[7] She was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.[2]
