Dilber Ay

Born

1 January 1956

Place of birth

Kahramanmaraş

Died

29 April 2019 (aged 63)

On Avşar Film

appeared in 1 movie

Dilber Ay was born on 1 January 1956 in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş. The artist, whose original surname was Bağbuş, moved with her family first to Ankara and then to the Bolu and Düzce area. In 1969, during a voice survey conducted by TRT Radio in Düzce, her talent drew attention with a folk song she sang.

Having learned Barak-style long airs from Halit Arapoğlu, Ay took the TRT Radio exam in 1974 and released her first 45 rpm record the same year. She sang folk songs on many stages, notably the Konak Gazinosu in Ankara. With the folk song Meyrik, which she performed in 1981, and her Barak airs, she gained a wide audience in folk music and arabesque; she released numerous albums throughout her career.

She began acting in 2006 with the film Beynelmilel. For her role as a singer in this production, she received the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 14th Altın Koza Film Festival; the folk song she sang in the film's nightclub scene soon turned into a very well-known melody. In Yol Arkadaşım and its sequel she brought the car mechanic Muzaffer Usta to life.

Between 2011 and 2015 she hosted the music program Kadere Mahkûmlar on Flash TV. She died in Ankara on 29 April 2019. Her life story became the subject of the film Dilberay in 2021.

Ay played Ev Sahibi in Avşar Film's 2015 film Mazlum Kuzey.